Special edition for the Mauritius International Meeting for the 10-year Review of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the regional focus was designed both to adapt the generalisations of the global assessment to the considerably different environmental, political, economic and cultural realities of the LAC region, and to support regional, national, local and thematically focused groups to use the same methods to assess their immediate concerns. As with its global cousin, GEO-LAC aims to provide scientifically credible, policy-relevant, up-to-date assessment of, and outlook for, the state of the environment in Latin America and the Caribbean, using the GEO conceptual framework and process refined by UNEP over the past 12 years. As result, GEO analysts provide an impartial, scientifically sound analysis of the state of the environment, major impacts, drivers and options for action for decision makers and other regional actors concerned with the state of the environment. In addition, it analyses a number of possible scenarios.

GEO is both a series of periodic reports and an international participatory assessment process. GEO projects two major objectives are to provide an overview of major environmental concerns and to set in motion a global participatory assessment process. This document reports on a study commissioned in response to the Governing council's request for a Global Environment Outlook user profile and qualitative analysis of the actual use of the first and second Global Environment Outlook reports.

Published to coincide with the Fourth United Nations Environmental Assembly, UN Environment's sixth Global Environment Outlook calls on decision makers to take bold and urgent action to address pressing environmental issues in order to protect the planet and human health. By bringing together hundreds of scientists, peer reviewers and collaborating institutions and partners, the GEO reports build on sound scientific knowledge to provide governments, local authorities, businesses and individual citizens with the information needed to guide societies to a truly sustainable world by 2050. GEO-6 outlines the current state of the environment, illustrates possible future environmental trends and analyses the effectiveness of policies. This flagship report shows how governments can put us on the path to a truly sustainable future - emphasising that urgent and inclusive action is needed to achieve a healthy planet with healthy people. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Special Edition for the 10-Year Review of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In 1995, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) launched the Global Environment Outlook process for integrated environmental assessment & reporting at global & regional levels. SIDSs have been recognized as a special category of countries, with particularly vulnerable & delicate ecosystems due to their small size & other character. In 2003, UNEP initiated the preparation of environment outlook reports for the Caribbean, Pacific & the Atlantic & Oceanic SIDS. Chapters of this report: State of the Environ.; Policy Responses; Current Needs & Considerations for the Future. Charts & tables.