UNEP

While Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have bountiful supplies of renewable resources and an island culture that is iconic of paradise, the challenges ahead are daunting. While the future cannot be predicted, the development of plausible futures built on combinations of realistic outlooks can offer a basis for policy choices. This report shows that there is much that SIDS can do proactively to anticipate environmental problems and their economic consequences or even avoid

Despite the impressive number of legal texts and many good intentions, real progress in solving the environmental challenges themselves has been much less comprehensive. This report outlines findings from a UNEP study that has catalogued and analyzed existing "Global Environmental Goals" contained in the international agreements and conventions. It highlights gaps in our ability to measure progress, including the absence of clear numerical targets and important data gaps on many issues.

Published to coincide with the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, UNEP's 2012 Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-5) calls on world leaders to take immediate action to address international environmental degradation and turn world-wide discussion of sustainable development into practice.