Vital GEO Graphics

D ownload G raphic 2

Mapping environmental problems according to management and reversibility

Solutions are emerging Management difficulty

Atmosphere

Land

sea-level rise

climate change

Water

persistent air pollutants

tropospheric ozone

species extinction

land degradation acid rain

ocean acidification

landscape fragmentation

habitat destruction

large- scale fishery destruction

invasive alien species

ozone depletion

urban air pollution

harmful algal blooms

local contamination by hazardous chemicals

overexploitation of water resources

microbiological contamination

Proven solutions available

oil spills

Source: Based on GEO-4 Chapters 2-5

Irreversible

Reversible

Governance on a Global Scale

Environmental problems appear as impacts on nature and human well-being, through the atmosphere, in fresh and marine water, and on land. Environmental problems vary in terms of the difficulty of management, and the extent to which the problems can be seen as having reversible or irreversible consequences, making local, regional or even global environments progressively unin- habitable. An overview of the landscape of environmental governance over the last 20 years shows that states have created a growing number of institu- tions, authorities, treaties, laws and action plans to conserve and safeguard the environment, and more recently, to respond to new understanding of the extent and implications of global environmental change.

41 ENV I RONMENTAL GOVERNANCE