Global Environment Outlook 3 (GEO 3)

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INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT: 1972–2002

One of the world’s largest dams — the Itaipu hydroelectric plant in Brazil. The future of such projects is called in question by a new report

Source: Julio Etchart, Still Pictures

examine the processes that support life such as the world’s grasslands, forests, rivers and lakes, farmlands and oceans. The US$21 million, four-year effort will involve 1 500 of the world’s leading scientists (MA 2001). ‘The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment will map the health of our planet, and so fill important gaps in the knowledge that we need to preserve it,’ said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in announcing the study. ‘All of us have to share the Earth’s fragile ecosystems and precious resources, and each of us has to play a role in preserving them. If we are to go on living together on this earth, we must all be responsible for it.’ The study was launched to provide decision- makers with authoritative scientific knowledge concerning the impact of changes to the world’s ecosystems on human livelihoods and the environment. It will provide governments, the private sector and local organizations with better information about steps that can be taken to restore the productivity of the world’s ecosystems. The MA has been recognized by governments as a mechanism to meet the assessment needs of three international environmental treaties — the UN

thousands more had been involved in regional preparatory meetings. It is hoped that mass participation in these events will keep issues of water quality and quantity at the forefront of the environment agenda so that the new regional visions can be successfully implemented. Over the previous decades, large dams had emerged as one of the most significant and visible tools for the management of water resources. In November 2000, the World Commission on Dams released its report Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making which stated that over the past 50 years, dams have fragmented and transformed the world’s rivers, displacing 40-80 million people in different parts of the world (WCD 2000). The report questions the value of many dams in meeting water and energy development needs when compared with alternatives. It thus represents a significant change of view of the value of dams, and may pave the way for different approaches to water development in the future. Assessments and early warning The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), launched on World Environment Day 2001, will