A comparative analysis of global environmental assessments shows the importance of policy salience, scientific credibility, and social and political legitimacy in determining the influence of scientific assessments on global environmental policy.

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.

This unique sourcebook provides a global, state-of-the-art review of the rapidly evolving field of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) that is intended to serve as a baseline for the work of an OECD Task Team on SEA and a UNEP initiative on integrated planning and assessment. It describes trends in application and experience in different contexts worldwide, providing in-depth coverage of the status of SEA systems, and practice in developed, transitional and developing countries by a range of development agencies. The book draws on a large body of published and unpublished material, and contributions from a wide range of individual experts, organizations and agencies. It provides an unparalleled and invaluable understanding of the emerging scope and potential of SEA and describes how, when and where it is being used. The sourcebook includes a probing review of concepts, terminology, approaches and tools of SEA, and a comparative analysis of the different types of existing SEA systems. The volume also contains many case examples illustrating SEA practice in different countries and contexts, a full set of references and a number of appendices containing source materials.

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a new approach to environmental assessment, global in scope, which considers the environmental impacts of policies, plans and programmes. It is already in use in a number of countries and is rapidly being adopted by those involved with environmental management and regulation, including governments, official and voluntary sector agencies, academic courses and consultancies. This text defines and analyzes SEA within the overall context of environmental assessment. It introduces and reviews the current state of SEA, evaluates its application in a number of countries with a range of detailed case studies, provides a critique of its techniques and an analysis of its importance for the future.

'A wonderfully international and up-to-date perspective on strategic environmental assessment of land use plans by leading experts in the field. Strategic Environmental Assessment and Land Use Planning covers not only how much such SEAs are carried out and in what context, but whether they are effective and why. It provides invaluable insights for practitioners and researchers in this rapidy evolving field'Riki Therivel, author of Strategic Environmental Assessment in ActionStrategic Environmental Assessment and Land Use Planning provides an authoritative, international evaluation of the SEA of land use plans. The editors place the SEA of land use plans in context, and uniquely qualified contributors then evaluate systems in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and the World Bank. These chapters provide a description of the context in each country, a case study of the use of SEA in land use planning and an evaluation of each SEA system against a set of generic criteria specially designed to anlayse different aspects of SEA. The contributors critically review each SEA system, SEA process and SEA outcome, and conclude by summarizing their findings. The editors draw the various national perspectives together in a final chapter and derive widely applicable conclusions about SEA and land use planning.This book is a core text for all students in environmental assessment, land use planning, environmental science, environmental management, development studies, geography, landscape design and law and engineering. It is also essential reading for all governments and environmental regulators, academics, researchers and environmental and planning consultants worldwide who are involvedin SEA research, practice and training.

Today's most pressing environmental problems are planetary in scope, confounding the political will of any one nation. How can we solve them? Global Environmental Governance offers the essential information, theory, and practical insight needed to tackle this critical challenge. It examines ten major environmental threats-climate disruption, biodiversity loss, acid rain, ozone depletion, deforestation, desertification, freshwater degradation and shortages, marine fisheries decline, toxic pollutants, and excess nitrogen-and explores how they can be addressed through treaties, governance regimes, and new forms of international cooperation. Written by Gus Speth, one of the architects of the international environmental movement, and accomplished political scientist Peter M. Haas, Global Environmental Governance tells the story of how the community of nations, nongovernmental organizations, scientists, and multinational corporations have in recent decades created an unprecedented set of laws and institutions intended to help solve large-scale environmental problems. The book critically examines the serious shortcomings of current efforts and the underlying reasons why disturbing trends persist. It presents key concepts in international law and regime formation in simple, accessible language, and describes the current institutional landscape as well as lessons learned and new directions needed in international governance. Global Environmental Governance is a concise guide, with lists of key terms, study questions, and other features designed to help readers think about and understand the concepts discussed.

Environmental policy is often practiced reactively with each crisis addressed as an isolated event. Focusing on development of proactive policies, Global Environment Policy: Concepts, Principles, and Practice provides the essential scientific and socioeconomic framework for formulating pragmatic and comprehensive environmental policies. It discusses topics of interest to American and international audiences. Beginning with basic concepts, the book proceeds successively on to more advanced principles, theories, and practices for developing and implementing comprehensive environmental policy solutions. Topics are introduced in a logical, yet connected, user-friendly manner. Using practical case studies and examples, the book illustrates both the power and limitations of theoretical approaches. It defines the scope and nature of the environmental policy problem, outlining its origins and evolution, and introduces the policy frameworks of the United Nations, European Union, and the United States. Each chapter begins with a case study and ends with a problem set; the questions are designed to elicit practical and critical thinking. The book ends with two capstone problems that exemplify nearly every major topic and aspect presented in this book. Upon completion, students should possess the competency required to examine a real world problem, evaluate it in terms of the concepts, principles, and tools described throughout the book, and develop a practical policy solution for resolving that problem.

Climate change poses many challenges that affect society and the natural world. With these challenges, however, come opportunities to respond. By taking steps to adapt to and mitigate climate change, the risks to society and the impacts of continued climate change can be lessened. The National Climate Assessment, coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is a mandated report intended to inform response decisions. Required to be developed every four years, these reports provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation of climate change impacts available for the United States, making them a unique and important climate change document. The draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) report reviewed here addresses a wide range of topics of high importance to the United States and society more broadly, extending from human health and community well-being, to the built environment, to businesses and economies, to ecosystems and natural resources. This report evaluates the draft NCA4 to determine if it meets the requirements of the federal mandate, whether it provides accurate information grounded in the scientific literature, and whether it effectively communicates climate science, impacts, and responses for general audiences including the public, decision makers, and other stakeholders.

Case Studies for Integrating Science and the Global Environment is designed to help students of the environment and natural resources make the connections between their training in science and math and today's complex environmental issues. The book provides an opportunity for students to apply important skills, knowledge, and analytical tools to understand, evaluate, and propose solutions to today's critical environmental issues. The heart of the book includes four major content areas: water resources; the atmosphere and air quality; ecosystem alteration; and global resources and human needs. Each of these sections features in-depth case studies covering a range of issues for each resource, offering rich opportunities to teach how various scientific disciplines help inform the issue at hand. Case studies provide readers with experience in interpreting real data sets and considering alternate explanations for trends shown by the data. This book helps prepare students for careers that require collaboration with stakeholders and co-workers from various disciplines. - Includes global case studies using real data sets that allow readers to practice interpreting data and evaluating alternative explanations - Focuses on critical skills and knowledge, encouraging readers to apply science and math to real world problems - Employs a system-based approach, linking air, water, and land resources to help readers understand that cause-effect may be complex and solutions to environmental problems require multiple perspectives - Includes special features such as links to video clips of scientists at work, boxed information, a solutions section at the end of each case study, and practice exercises