The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has come out with its sixth edition of the Global Environment Outlook 2019, entitled, ‘Healthy Planet, Healthy People’. The report is the UN’s most comprehensive report on the state of the global environment, and is generally referred to as UN Environment’s Flagship Environmental Assessment. Its fifth edition had appeared in 2012. It was originally requested by member states, and was first published in 1997. It fulfils the core functions of the organisation, dating back to the UN General Assembly resolution which established the UNEP in 1972.
The Global Environment Outlook (GEO) 2019 invites the decision-makers to take immediate action to address pressing environmental issues to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other globally-agreed environmental goals like the Paris Agreement.
The outlook reviews the state of the environmental health, health of people, and prospects for meeting the SDGs of the UN’s agenda 2030. Achieving the SDGs will require a complete change in the style of living and activities related to industry, buildings, transport, agriculture, and the energy system.
The past editions have already presented substantial evidence that the degrading environment of the earth has undermined present and future developments and posed a challenge to various aspects of human life.
Challenges Man-made pollution and degrading environment are the key factors behind one-fourth of the pre-mature deaths and diseases globally.
The global economy is affected and hampered by a worldwide epidemic, driven by deadly emissions, chemicals polluting drinking water and the increasing damage to ecosystem, which is again of importance to the lives of billions of people.
Another reason for hunger, poverty and disease is large-scale overconsumption, pollution, and food waste in the developed world.
Impact on Man and Environment Politically, there is a rising consensus that climate change will pose a challenge to billions because greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise amid excessive droughts, floods, and super storms, made worse by rising sea levels.
However, the health impacts of deforestation, mechanised food chain, and pollution are less well-understood. Around ‘twenty-five per cent of global disease and mortality is poor environmental conditions.
There is a lack of access to clean drinking water. About 1.4 million people die annually because of poor sanitation and water-borne diseases.
Potentially multigenerational adverse health effects are caused because of chemicals pumped into the seas. Mega-farming and deforestation lead to environmental degradation. Species extinction rates also continue to increase at a fast pace.
Highlights The highlights of the report are as given below:
- Healthy Planet Supports Healthy People The report says that a healthy planet is necessary for the health and well-being of all people. The value of the biosphere is effectively infinite and essential for human survival and civilisation.
- Unhealthy Planet leads to unhealthy People The report says that the planet is becoming increasingly unhealthy, and this has enormous social costs for the formal economy across the world. Some 24.2 million people were internally displaced in 118 countries because of sudden disasters in 2016. Rich countries are no exception. Billions of people have been affected by extreme weather events between 1995 and 2015.
- Need for the Redressal of Challenges To avoid drivers and pressures, environmental and health impacts should be internalised into economic growth processes, technologies, and city design. Massive use of chemicals, huge waste streams, and intensifying climate change impacts create pressures, as does inequality that causes demographic changes.
On the environmental degradation and consumption by the poor and the rich, the report stated that poorer people have a lower environmental footprint compared to rich people. In rich countries, the monthly emission per capita is mostly higher than the yearly emissions in poor countries. The consumption ratio between the poorest and the wealthiest countries is 1:10.
- Need for More Detailed Knowledge As per the report, the existing knowledge is sufficient for the mobilisation of action. However, in national policy and more broad accounting, new knowledge consisting of disaggregated data from earth observation, in situ data, citizen science, ground truthing and local knowledge is required.
Accounting systems are very beneficial as they register details such as who causes damage to the environment, how and why; to what extent nature contributes to human welfare; who is affected; and the loss of goods and services related to ecosystems.
Accounting also recognises the realities of the majority of poor people in the informal economy. These poor people are specifically dependent on nature’s contributions, and face great risk from environmental degradation.
- Need for Effective Policy It is pointed out by the report that the policies are not effectively working in line with the aspirations of the SDGs and fail to address the key challenges. Policies for the economic growth, technological developments, and urban design should robustly include the potential and actual implications for natural resources and the environment. As a result, there will be long-term and effective coupling between economic growth, resource use and environmental degradation.
Climate mitigation and the policy for equitable adaptation to committed climate change should go hand in hand. An effective policy should be well-designed and should involve clear goals. They should be flexible and mix of policy, containing monitoring and instruments to achieve the goal.
- Healthy People, Healthy Planet and Healthy Economy Labour productivity can be increased if diets and lifestyles are healthy, cities have good waste management, and the built-up areas use green infrastructure. Not only this, the need for land for agriculture, and the costs associated with urban congestion and pollution can be effectively reduced if the above-mentioned measures are taken up. The report states that modern technological and social innovation can be used as an attractive alternative to the ‘grow now, clean up later’ approach. The rights of access to clean water and food, tenure rights and gender equality can be implemented through healthy-people approach. To enhance the ability the poor to defend biodiversity and the eco-systems that sustain them, tenure rights for poor and indigenous people should be secured. It is felt that food security and many health issues pertaining to women and children may be better addressed, provided gender equality is promoted along with the right to inherit and own land.