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RRojas Databank Journal/     January 1997
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SHAPING THE ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA OF THE 21ST CENTURY

UNEP CHIEF SAYS MAJOR ATTITUDE CHANGE NEEDED TO SAVE ENVIRONMENT

UNEP'S GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT OUTLOOK REPORT SAYS 
PROGRESS ON THE ROAD FROM RIO UNEVEN

UNEP ISSUES NEW PUBLICATION ON EMERGING TRENDS 
IN CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING

UNEP ISSUES UPDATES OF SOURCEBOOKS OF TECHNOLOGIES 
FOR PROTECTING THE OZONE LAYER

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UNEP PRESS RELEASE
  
SHAPING THE ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA OF THE 21ST CENTURY
     
UNEP Governing Council to Hold 19th Session Beginning Monday, 27 January
     
NAIROBI, 15 January 1997 - The nineteenth session of the 
Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme 
(UNEP) - perhaps the most important in the organization's 25 year 
history - opens on Monday, 27 January, at UNEP headquarters in 
Nairobi.  Ministers and high-level government representatives 
from over 100 countries are expected to attend the two-week 
meeting which culminates in a "high-level" segment from 5-7 
February.
     
"When the Governing Council meets at its nineteenth session, 
Governments will not only have the occasion to commemorate the 
25th Anniversary of UNEP, they will also have the opportunity and 
responsibility to set UNEP on a clear path for the next 
millennium", said Ms. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, UNEP Executive 
Director.  "After all, the Governing Council is the only forum 
that environment ministers and leaders have to put in place the 
programme, funding and governance that will ensure that UNEP 
evolves into a global organization that acts clearly and 
unambiguously as the world's environmental agency."
     
1997 will be a milestone year for the environment.  In June 1997, 
world leaders will gather at a special session of the United 
Nations General Assembly for the sole purpose of reviewing and 
appraising the progress of implementation of Agenda 21 - the 
Global Plan of Action agreed by Governments at the 1992 Earth 
Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  This meeting represents a 
pivotal point in the future of many organizations which are 
critical in the implementation of sustainable development, 
including UNEP.
     
With the June meeting in mind, the "high-level" segment of the 
Governing Council will be opened on 5 February by H.E. Ambassador 
Razali Ismail of Malaysia, President of the United Nations 
General Assembly.  During the segment, the focus will be on two 
central policy issues.  First, ministers will be asked to define 
the nature and substance of UNEP's participation at the June 
special session.  This will require a thoughtful review and 
articulation of UNEP's role and mandate.  Second, ministers will 
review the governing structures of UNEP, and determine what 
changes to these structures might be necessary as the 
organization moves toward the twenty-first century.
     
To assist ministers in their deliberations several documents have 
been developed, including: an appraisal of UNEP's efforts to 
implement Agenda 21; the first edition of the biennial world-wide 
environmental assessment report, Global Environment Outlook 
(GEO); and a paper on the future of UNEP, in which the option to 
radically redesign, reorient and refocus UNEP is outlined.
     
"In one way or another, assessment of the environment; analysis, 
evaluation and the development of policy instruments, and 
building consensus among Governments have always been regarded 
as UNEP's mandate", said Ms. Dowdeswell, "but they should be 
redefined, restructured, refocussed, given new vitality, and 
pursued with new vigour."
     
"Notwithstanding an impressive slate of achievements, it is clear 
that far-reaching reform is needed in UNEP", said Ms. Dowdeswell. 
"In Rio, and Stockholm before it, UNEP was given an almost 
impossible task.  My hope is that Governments attending the 
Governing Council will embark on bold reform that will result in 
a strong and comprehensive environmental organization.  UNEP 
needs to be given the tools to become the strong and vibrant 
organization Governments agree the world needs."
     
The first week of the Governing Council will be devoted to work 
in two integrated committees that will consider administrative 
and budgetary matters, and also new substantive programmatic 
issues, including the chemicals agenda, environmental law, and 
the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine 
Environment from Land-based Activities.
     
Another key issue will be adequate and predictable financing of 
UNEP.  UNEP is witnessing shrinking financial resources at a time 
when its workload is increasing as a response to serious 
environmental problems worldwide and to countries' demands.  A 
"pledging session" will be held on the evening of 5 February 
whereby Governments will be invited to announce their pledges for 
1997 and for the coming biennium, 1998-1999.
     
Also attending the meeting as observers will be representatives 
of UNEP National Committees, other United Nations organizations 
and accredited non-governmental organizations.  As a complement 
to the formal agenda of the Governing Council, a special panel 
discussion on "Global Environmental Citizenship:  UNEP's Special 
Contribution to Agenda 21" will be held on 4 February.  Mrs. 
Bella Abzug, Chair of the Women's Environment and Development 
Organization (WEDO), and Mr. Tom Spencer, President of GLOBE 
International, will participate and speak about the partnerships 
that UNEP has fostered in order to deliver on Agenda 21. 
Exhibitions profiling the work of UNEP will also be prominent at 
the session.
     
     
For more information, please contact:
     
Tore J. Brevik                               Jim Sniffen
Chief, Information and Public Affairs        Information Officer 
UNEP Headquarters                            UNEP Regional Office 
P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya               New York
Tel: 254-2-62-3292, Fax: 254-2-62-3927       Tel: 1-212-963-8094;
                                             Fax: 1-212-963-7341
Email: Tore.Brevik@unep.org                  Email: sniffenj@un.org
     
UNEP News Release 1997/2
     
Note to Editors
     
Located in Nairobi, UNEP is headed by an Executive Director, Ms. 
Elizabeth Dowdeswell.  Its Governing Council, the members of which 
are elected by the United Nations General Assembly for a four-year 
term, assesses the state of the world environment, establishes 
UNEP's programme priorities and approves the budget. The Governing 
Council is composed of 58 members selected on the following basis: 
 16 seats for Africa; 13 seats for Asia; 6 seats for Eastern 
Europe; 13 seats for Western Europe and other States; and 10 seats 
for Latin America and the Caribbean.
     
UNEP is built on a heritage of service to the environment.  As 
one of the productive consequences of the 1972 Stockholm 
Conference on the Human Environment, UNEP provides an integrative 
and interactive mechanism through which a large number of 
separate efforts by intergovernmental, non-governmental, national 
and regional bodies in the service of the environment are 
reinforced and interrelated.  UNEP was established as the 
environmental conscience of the United Nations system, and has 
been creating a foundation for comprehensive consideration and 
coordinated action within the United Nations on the problems of 
the human environment.
     
From the very beginning, UNEP recognized that the environment 
could not be compartmentalized.  The environment is a system of 
interacting relationships that extends through all sectors of 
activity and to manage these relationships requires an integrated 
approach.  Recognizing that environment and development must be 
mutually supportive, UNEP advocated a concept of environmentally 
sound development, which later led to the adoption of the 
"sustainable development" concept in the Brundtland Commission 
Report and the United Nations Environmental Perspective Document 
for the Year 2000 and Beyond.  This concept was embodied in an 
action programme called Agenda 21, which was adopted at the 1992 
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. 
     
UNEP's uniqueness lies in its advocacy of environmental concerns 
within the international system.  In this, it makes a particular 
effort to nurture partnerships with other United Nations bodies 
possessing complementary skills and delivery capabilities as well 
as enhancing the participation of the private sector, the 
scientific community, NGOs, youth, women and sports organizations 
in the achievement of sustainable development.
     
One of the most important functions of UNEP is the promotion of 
environmental science and information.  The United 
Nations-system-wide research and synthesis of environmental 
information, promoted and coordinated by UNEP, has generated a 
variety of state-of-the-environment reports, and created 
world-wide awareness on emerging environmental problems - some 
of which triggered international negotiations of several 
international environmental conventions.
     
UNEP derives its strength and influence from the authority 
inherent in the importance of its mission - environmental 
management: the extent to which Governments face common 
environmental problems, are disturbed by environmental threats 
beyond their jurisdiction, or need to harmonize policies relating 
to the environment.  In this, UNEP has and will continue to play 
a pivotal role.
     
UNEP's integrated work programme for the biennium 1996-1997 
emphasizes relationships between socio-economic driving forces, 
environmental changes and impacts on human well-being.  Equipped 
with stronger regional presence and marked by a process of 
continuous monitoring and assessment of its implementation, 
UNEP's programme of work for 1996-1997 focuses on the following 
areas: sustainable management and use of natural resources, 
sustainable production and consumption, a better environment for 
human health and well-being; and globalization and the 
environment.
     
UNEP's programmes are financed by the Environment Fund which is 
made up of voluntary contributions, and by trust funds, 
counterpart contributions and the United Nations regular budget. 
Budgetary appropriations for the Environment Fund for financing 
UNEP's programme activities for the biennium 1996-1997 were 
approved by the 18th session of the Governing Council at 
US$90-105 million.
     
                               * *** * 
--------------------------------------------------------------
     
UNEP CHIEF SAYS MAJOR ATTITUDE CHANGE NEEDED TO SAVE ENVIRONMENT
     
Despite Rio rhetoric, environmental destruction continues apace
     
NAIROBI, 27 January 1997 - Human use and pollution of water,  soils,
forests, fisheries and urban air is depleting these  renewable resources
faster than they can naturally recover, according to the new Global 
Environment Outlook (GEO-1) released by UNEP today.
     
"If we allow these trends to continue, we will ultimately run out 
of the essential ingredients for life on this planet.  We may not 
know when, but it is clear we are on an unsustainable 
trajectory," said UNEP Executive Director, Ms. Elizabeth 
Dowdeswell, at the launch of the report in Nairobi, Kenya.
     
Among its findings, the GEO-1 cites greenhouse gas emissions as 
still being far in excess of internationally agreed targets, 
biological diversity as still vanishing at alarming rates, and 
hazardous chemicals continuing to contaminate the environment and 
damage human health.  An estimated one quarter of the world's 
population will suffer from chronic water shortages in the 
beginning of the next century says the report.  
     
The GEO-1 is the first in a series of reports on the global 
environment that will be published by UNEP on a biennial basis. 
But, more than simply another downbeat catalogue of the world's 
environmental woes, the GEO-1 breaks new ground in attempting to 
analyze the effectiveness of what is being done to address 
environmental issues.
     
The report differs significantly from the approach taken by other 
assessments, which have come out recently.  It approaches 
environmental problems from a regional perspective. 
     
In preparing the report, UNEP identified 20 internationally 
renowned environmental institutions as GEO collaborating centres, 
and instituted a mechanism for regional consultations, four 
scientific working groups and United Nations agency participation 
through the United Nations system-wide Earthwatch.  In all, some 
500 experts were involved in a worldwide drafting and 
consultative process to produce the GEO-1 report.
     
The report concludes that "From a global perspective, the 
environment has continued to degrade during the last decade, and 
significant environmental problems remain deeply embedded in the 
socio-economic fabric of nations in all regions."
     
"It is entirely within human knowledge and ability to solve even 
the worst environmental problems.  But, it is simply the will to 
act and the funds to do the job that are both vastly insufficient 
to the task," said Ms. Dowdeswell.
     
     
                                   *************************
     
     
For further information, please contact:
     
Veerle Vandeweerd                           Tore J. Brevik, Chief 
Chief, State of the Environment Reporting   or Robert Bisset, 
Environment Information and Assessment      Info. Officer
UNEP, P.O. Box 30552                         UNEP, P.O. Box 30552         
    
     
Nairobi, Kenya                               Nairobi, Kenya 
Tel: 254-2-62-3527                           Tel: 254-2-62-3084 
Fax: 254-2-62-3943/4                         Fax: 254-2-62-3692
E-Mail: geo@unep.org                         E-Mail: ipa@unep.org
     
Jim Sniffen
UNEP Regional Office
New York
Tel: 1-212-963-8094
Fax: 1-212-963-7341
E-mail: sniffenj@un.org
     
Please Note:
     
Global Environment Outlook is co-published with Oxford University Press. 
To order a copy, contact:
Oxford University Press, Order Department, 
2001 Evans Road, Cary, NC 27513, USA. 
Tel: +1 800 451 7566, Fax: +1 919 677 1303, 
Email: orders@oup-usa.org
     
Hardback:      US$ 39.95 (plus mailing costs) 
Paperback:             US$ 24.95 (plus mailing costs)
     
Where GEO-1 can be accessed on the Internet:
     
Japan          http://www-cger.niesgo.jp/geo1/ 
Kenya          http://www.unep.org/unep/eia/geo1/ 
Mexico         http://www.rolac.unep.mx/geo1/ 
Norway         http://www.grida.no/geo1/ 
Switzerland    http://www.grid.unep.ch/geo1/
USA            http://grid2.cr.usgs.gov/geo1/
     
     
UNEP News Release 1997/3 
. 
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UNEP INFORMATION NOTE
     
UNEP'S GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT OUTLOOK REPORT SAYS 
PROGRESS ON THE ROAD FROM RIO UNEVEN
     
Governments need to adjust course and map out new strategies to 
meet environmental challenges in the next millennium     
     
NAIROBI, 27 January 1997 - Five years after the groundbreaking 
"Earth Summit" at Rio de Janeiro, "the global environment has 
continued to deteriorate and significant environmental problems 
remain deeply embedded in the socio-economic fabric of nations 
in all regions", concludes the Global Environmental Outlook
report released today by the United Nations Environment Programme 
at Nairobi.
     
"Internationally and nationally, the funds and political will 
remain insufficient to halt further global environmental 
degradation and to address the most pressing environmental issues 
- even though the technology and knowledge are available to do 
so", the reports explains.  The report points out that "the 
recognition of environmental issues as necessarily long-term and 
cumulative, with serious global and security implications, 
remains limited..... The continued preoccupation with immediate 
local and national issues and a general lack of sustained 
interest in global and long-term environmental issues remain 
major impediments to environmental progress internationally".  
     
The report singles out worldwide progress in the realm of 
institutional development, international cooperation, public 
participation and the emergence of private-sector action as an 
indicator of growing environmental awareness. Legal frameworks, 
economic instruments, environmental impact assessment 
methodologies, environmentally sound technologies and cleaner 
production processes are being increasingly developed and applied. 
"As a result" the report points out, "several countries reported 
marked progress in curbing environmental pollution and slowing the 
rate of resource degradation, as well as reducing the intensity of 
resource use.  The rate of environmental degradation in several 
developing countries has been slower than that experienced by 
industrial countries when they were at a similar stage of economic 
development".
     
The Global Environment Outlook report produced by UNEP differs 
significantly from the approach taken by other assessments, which 
have come out recently. The report approaches environmental 
problems from a regional perspective. This methodology stems from 
UNEP's unique experience in dealing with regional environmental 
issues over the last twenty five years. 
     
In preparing the report, the United Nations Environment Programme 
identified 20 internationally renowned environmental institutions 
as Global Environment Outlook collaborating centres, and 
instituted a mechanism for regional consultations, four 
scientific working groups and United Nations agency participation 
through the United Nations system-wide Earthwatch.  In all, some 
500 experts, including many government experts, participated in 
the preparation of Global Environment Outlook report.
     
The report argues that although there is repeated acknowledgement 
of both the vicious cycle of poverty and its intrinsic linkages 
with the environment and the urgency to address poverty 
alleviation, little evidence had emerged from the regional reports 
that effective and concerted actions have been taken since Rio to 
ensure that environmental policies benefit the poorest members of 
society. "A vacuum still remains at the national level for linking 
environmental protection to social investment, such as education, 
better health care and employment generation for the poor, 
especially women", says the report.
     
At the same time, the report sees encouraging signs in the 
empowerment of communities and the growth of environment-oriented 
non-governmental organizations in civil society and their 
increasing recognition in all regions as powerful mechanisms to 
advance sustainable development. The tendency to strengthen 
regional and subregional cooperation worldwide is another 
heartening signal which "might well prove to be one of the most 
powerful mechanisms to move national and global institutions 
forward towards sustainable development".
     
The Global Environment Outlook identifies principal environmental 
issues confronting the major regions. In regions where food 
security and poverty alleviation are priorities, such as Africa, 
West Asia and parts of the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America, 
the primary concern is related to land - its availability, the 
prevention and control of land degradation, and efficient land and 
water management.  "Half a billion hectares of land in Africa is 
moderately to severely degraded. Some 47 per cent of Latin 
America's grazing lands have lost their fertility as a result of 
erosion, overgrazing, salinization and alkalinization" says the 
report. The limited availability of arable land and loss of land 
to urban expansion are of particular importance to small island 
States and the West Asia region.  Degradation of drylands is an 
urgent global problem, placing some one billion people in 110 
countries at risk, mainly in developing regions.  In highly 
industrialized regions, ameliorating soil contamination and 
combating acidification are priorities.
     
A decline of some two per cent in the area of the world's forests 
and wooded land  over the last decade is another aspect that the 
report touches upon.  While the area under forest cover in 
developed regions remained fairly unchanged during this period, 
natural forest cover in developing regions declined by eight per 
cent.  African forests are the most depleted of all the tropical 
regions, with only 30 per cent of historical stands remaining, 
the report points out. Asian timber reserves may last for no more 
than a further 40 years. West Asia has lost 11 per cent of its 
remaining forests during the 1980s. In Europe, air pollution 
(including acid rain), pests and diseases, and forest fires were 
the main causes of forest degradation. The report recognizes 
that, whilst total deforestation has been greatest in Latin 
America and the Caribbean, deforestation rates have decelerated 
as a result of international initiatives and national programmes 
to abolish subsidies, tax incentives and special credits that 
encouraged deforestation. Biological diversity is of particular 
concern in both the Latin American and Caribbean region and the 
Asia and Pacific region, which together house 80 per cent of the 
world's ecologically megadiverse countries.  Worldwide habitat 
loss and fragmentation, the lack of biological corridors and the 
decline in biological diversity outside protected areas 
constitute the primary threats to biological diversity.
     
One common factor that links all regions is the problem related to 
either groundwater or surface water, or both. Every day, 25,000 
people die as a result of poor water quality.  Some 1,700 million 
people, more than one third of the world's population, are without 
a supply of safe water and, in the absence of an adequate 
sanitation infrastructure, the problem of pathogenic pollution is 
severe in many developing countries.  An estimated one quarter of 
the world's population will suffer from chronic water shortages in 
the beginning of the next century.  The development and efficient 
management of water resources are of particular concern in West 
Asia, Africa and Asia and the Pacific. In Europe and North 
America, the protection of water resources from contamination, 
acidification and eutrophication feature high on the agenda.  One 
million rural Americans are without piped water and supplies to a 
further 5.6 million do not meet safe drinking water standards. 
Water supply to regions hosting megacities is a worldwide concern, 
mainly with regard to groundwater resources, the intrusion of salt 
into freshwater supplies and land subsidence.  More than 1,500 
million people depend on groundwater for their drinking water.  
"Other global priorities are the equitable distribution of water 
between riparian countries sharing international river basins and 
the impacts of major dams and diversion projects. The depletion of 
aquifers on the western side of the Persian Gulf, for example,
is leading to the loss of a unique ecosystem of natural 
freshwater springs. Many countries in West Asia suffer from water 
scarcity, with Bahrain having less than 18 per cent of the 
minimum threshold; yet levels of water consumption are now very 
high - ranging from 300 to 1500 liters a day per capita", the 
report points out.  Currently, Africa has 19 of the 25 countries 
that have the highest percentage of populations without access
to safe drinking water. 
     
The report points out that one third of the world's coastal 
regions are at high risk of degradation, particularly from land- 
based activities. Currently, about 60 per cent of the global 
population lives within 100 kilometres of the coastline and more 
than three billion people rely on coastal and marine habitats for 
food, building sites, transportation, recreation, and waste 
disposal. European coasts are the worst affected, with some 80 per 
cent at risk, followed by Asia and the Pacific, with 70 per cent 
at risk. In Latin America, some 50 percent of the mangrove forests 
are affected by forestry and aquaculture activities.  Oil spills 
are particular threats in West Asia and the Caribbean, while 
infrastructure development for the tourism industry is placing 
severe stress on natural coastal areas around the world, 
particularly in small island developing states.  There is 
widespread anxiety in Asia and the Pacific, North America, Europe 
and West Asia regarding the over-exploitation of marine fisheries 
and the consequent decline in stocks of commercial fish species. 
Globally, over 60 per cent of marine fisheries are heavily 
exploited.
     
Acid rain and transboundary air pollution, once considered a 
problem only in Europe and parts of North America, are now 
increasingly apparent in parts of Asia and the Pacific and Latin 
America.  Large regions are at risk from the effects of both 
climate change and acidification.  All major cities in the world 
suffer urban air quality problems.  In Eastern Europe, air 
quality is considered the most serious environmental problem. 
Despite coordinated action worldwide, damage to the ozone layer 
continues faster than expected, with the next ten years predicted 
to be the most vulnerable.  Non-compliance and growth in illegal 
trade in ozone depleting substances are emerging problems. 
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay experience the 
effects of increased ultraviolet-B radiation due to ozone 
depletion more acutely than any other inhabited region. All 
regions express concern over global warming but special emphasis 
is placed by the developing countries on the need for adaptive 
mechanisms to cope with accompanying climate variability and sea- 
level change.  
     
"The rapidly rising demand for energy to fuel economic 
development will aggravate these problems," states the report, 
"particularly in Asia and the Pacific, where a 100 per cent 
increase in energy use is predicted for the period 1990 - 2010 
and in Latin America, with a predicted energy growth of 50 -77 
per cent for the same period".  
     
Currently, the impacts of current consumption and production 
patterns and associated waste generation, particularly on 
personal health and well being, are high on the priority list of 
both North America and Western Europe, and of concern to the 
other regions as well. Subregions with emerging economies, such 
as those of Eastern Europe, South-East Asia, and parts of Latin 
America and West Asia, face problems associated with rapid 
industrialization.  The accumulation of radioactive waste and the 
continued impacts of the Chernobyl disaster and the effects of 
past radioactive spills remain of particular concern in Eastern 
European countries.  These problems are compounded by rapidly 
increasing urbanization, particularly in coastal zones, and the 
widening gap between the rich and the poor. 
     
The polar regions, representing the largest remaining natural 
ecosystems on Earth are also coming under increasing stress, 
particularly from long-range pollutant transport and deposition. 
"Their crucial role in climate regulation and the vulnerability 
of their fauna and flora warrant special attention". recommends 
the report.
     
The Global Environment Outlook identifies seven fundamental 
global environmental trends that could be crucial in halting 
environmental degradation and implementing sustainable 
development:
     
(a)      Current use of renewable resources, land, forest, 
freshwater, coastal areas, fisheries and urban air which is 
beyond their natural regeneration capacity and therefore 
unsustainable;
     
(b)      Emission of greenhouse gases which are still being emitted 
at levels higher than the stabilization targets internationally 
agreed upon under the United Nations Framework Convention on 
Climate Change;
     
(c)      Natural areas, and their attendant biological diversity 
which are diminishing as a result of the expansion of 
agricultural land and human settlements; 
     
(d)      The increasing, pervasive use and spread of chemicals which 
are causing major health risks, environmental contamination and 
disposal problems; 
     
(e)      The continued heavy reliance on hydrocarbons in the energy 
sector to fuel economic development -  a practice which is
clearly unsustainable; 
     
(f)      Rapid unplanned urbanization, particularly in coastal areas, 
which is placing severe major stress on adjacent ecosystems; and
     
(g)      Interactions among global biogeochemical cycles which are 
leading to widespread ecosystem damage and change.
     
The report also explores four key priority areas for action by the 
global community that emerge from the Global Environment Outlook 
report. "Current patterns of energy use require drastic changes, 
because of their destructive impacts on land and natural 
resources, climate, air quality, rural and urban settlements, and 
human health and well-being.  Alternative energy sources need to 
be vigorously pursued and their application enhanced.  Energy 
efficiency still needs to be greatly improved, and emissions need 
to be reduced". The second priority relates to the need for a 
wider dissemination of appropriate and environmentally sound 
technologies worldwide. "Despite years of deliberation, countries 
have yet to agree on how to reach consensus on international 
mechanisms to serve the vital interests of both developers of 
technologies and those countries that need access to them, as well 
as on international finance mechanisms".
     
The report lists Global action on fresh water as its third 
priority. Greater efforts are needed to resolve issues related 
to land-based sources of pollution, non-point source runoff from
agricultural and urban areas, protection of groundwater reserves, 
water pricing, the impact of development projects on ecosystems, 
and competing demands for water among different social sectors, 
among rural and urban communities, and among riparian countries. 
Fourthly, the report identifies the need for investment in new 
and better national data collection methods and in the 
acquisition of global datasets and in enhanced capabilities for 
integrated assessment and forecasting, and the analysis of the 
environmental impact of alternative policy options.
     
Releasing the report, UNEP Executive Director, Ms. Elizabeth 
Dowedswell said, "The analysis of the state of the environment in 
the Global Environment Outlook takes us into several fields. It 
takes us into politics, because environmental policy is made in 
an intensely political atmosphere where interests and values 
often collide. It takes us into science, which enables us to 
understand problems and attempt to solve them. It takes us into 
the field of ethics, because few areas of policy present more 
difficult choices: how to preserve shared resources, how to 
distribute costs and benefits, how this generation's actions will 
affect future ones. It also takes us into economics, because a 
society's choices about the environment relate directly to how
it produces, consumes and preserves its resources".
     
"Solutions to environmental problems do not come from awareness 
alone", Ms. Dowedswell remarked. "They have to be relentlessly 
sought after and striven for. Rio was the start of a process: a 
unprecedented basic framework was agreed upon and many important 
commitments were made, but some vital issues remained to be set 
in place. UNEP's Global Environment Outlook report confirms that 
there still remained an unfinished agenda".
     
For further information, please contact:
     
Veerle Vandeweerd                           Tore J. Brevik, Chief 
Chief, State of the Environment Reporting   or Robert Bisset, 
Environment Information and Assessment      Info. Officer
UNEP, P.O. Box 30552                         UNEP, P.O. Box 30552 
Nairobi, Kenya                               Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: 254-2-62-3527                           Tel: 254-2-62-3084 
Fax: 254-2-62-3943/4                         Fax: 254-2-62-3692 
E-Mail: geo@unep.org                         E-Mail: ipa@unep.org
     
Jim Sniffen
UNEP Regional Office
New York
Tel: 1-212-963-8094
Fax: 1-212-963-7341
E-mail: sniffenj@un.org
     
Please Note:
     
Global Environment Outlook is co-published with Oxford University 
Press.  To order a copy, contact:
Oxford University Press, Order Department, 2001 Evans Road, Cary, 
NC 27513, USA. 
Tel: +1 800 451 7566, Fax: +1 919 677 1303, 
Email: orders@oup-usa.org
     
Hardback:      US$ 39.95 (plus mailing costs) 
Paperback:             US$ 24.95 (plus mailing costs)
     
Where GEO-1 can be accessed on the Internet:
     
Japan          http://www-cger.niesgo.jp/geo1/ 
Kenya          http://www.unep.org/unep/eia/geo1/ 
Mexico         http://www.rolac.unep.mx/geo1/ 
Norway         http://www.grida.no/geo1/ 
Switzerland    http://www.grid.unep.ch/geo1/
USA            http://grid2.cr.usgs.gov/geo1/
     
     
UNEP Information Note 1997/1 
. 
------------------------------------------------------

UNEP INFORMATION NOTE
     
UNEP ISSUES NEW PUBLICATION ON EMERGING TRENDS 
IN CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING
     
PARIS, December 1996 -- "Engaging Stakeholders" is a two-volume 
report published by the United Nations Environment Programme 
(UNEP) and SustainAbility Ltd., with the active support of 16 
sponsoring companies and more than a dozen organizations whose 
work increasingly involves using the environment reports produced 
by companies worldwide.   Volume 1 is entitled "The Benchmark 
Survey:  The Second International Progress Report on Company 
Environmental Reporting", and Volume 2 "The Case Studies:  Twelve 
Users Respond to Company Environmental Reporting".
     
Building on the internationally recognized 1994 UNEP Technical 
Report: "Company Environmental Reporting:  A Measure of the 
Progress of Business and Industry Toward Sustainable 
Development", the latest publication focuses on emerging trends 
and requirements in corporate environmental reporting from both 
the report writer's and the report user's perspectives.
     
Volume 1 examines the latest developments in company 
environmental reporting (CER) from the angle of the report-maker, 
emphasizing the role of external stakeholders, such as markets 
and public authorities, and demonstrates that leading-edge 
companies are breaking through the traditional boundaries of 
green reporting to bring a social dimension and a new 
"stakeholder" focus to their reports.   A key feature of Volume 1 
is an updated five-stage benchmarking tool which maps out 
sustainability -- or Stage 5 -- reporting.  Volume 1 also 
features a revised set of 50 reporting elements -- or ingredients 
-- and presents the findings of the 1996 CER Benchmark survey of 
the 40 report-makers at Stages 3 and 4 in 1994, and reports on 
how they fare against the new tools.  It concludes with a 
discussion of 10 key transitions in environmental management and 
reporting, outlining the emerging agenda for report-makers.
     
Volume 2 focuses upon the emerging agenda from the perspectives 
of report-users, and includes key recommendations on how 
companies can better grasp and address evolving stakeholder 
needs.  In Volume 2, the perspectives of "report-users" are 
explored by means of 12 case studies ranging from Greenpeace to 
the Thai Stock Exchange.  Volume 2 argues that a better 
understanding of emerging stakeholder expectations and agendas is 
a vital starting point for expanding and improving the reporting 
process.  In particular, the issue of how to create demand for 
CERs and how to widen their appeal needs to be tackled if 
companies are to continue reporting, and if the resulting data is 
to be of real value in helping to manage the transition to 
sustainable development.
     
Five years after the first corporate environmental reports, 
"Engaging Stakeholders" demonstrates that the public reporting of 
company environmental performance is a rapidly evolving and very 
powerful environmental management tool.
     
UNEP Information Note 1996/26
     
ORDER FORM
Volume 1:  ISBN 0 9521904 3 5 and Volume 2:  ISBN 0 9521904 4 3 
Price:200 FF / 50o per copy or 80o for both
To order "Engaging Stakeholders", please fill in the form on the 
reverse and send to:
SMI (Distribution Services) Limited
P.O. Box 119 Stevenage
Hertfordshire SG1 4TP England
FAX: +44 (1438) 748 844
     
About UNEP Industry and Environment
     
UNEP established its Industry and Environment office (UNEP IE) in 
1975 to bring industry and Government together to promote 
environmentally sound industrial development.  UNEP IE is located 
in Paris.  Its goals are: 1) to encourage the incorporation of 
environmental criteria in industrial development plans; 2) to 
facilitate the implementation of procedures and principles for 
the protection of the environment; 3) to promote preventive 
environmental protection through cleaner production and other 
pro-active approaches; 4) to stimulate the exchange of 
information and experience throughout the world.  UNEP IE 
provides access to practical information and develops 
co-operative activities backed by regular follow-up and 
assessment. To promote the transfer of information and the 
sharing of knowledge and experience, IE has developed three 
complementary tools: technical reports; the quarterly "Industry 
and Environment" review and a technical query-response service.
     
Some recent UNEP Industry and Environment publications
     
"Industry and Environment", a quarterly review.  Each issue 
focuses on a specific topic and also covers news and events in 
the worldwide industrial environment. Contact UNEP IE for 
subscription information.
     
"Cleaner Production Worldwide", Volume II, 48 p., 1995.  Price FF 
100/US$ 20
     
"Energy Savings in the Transport Sector", Technical Report no 25, 
79 p., 1995.  Also available in French.  Price FF 150/US$30
     
"Environmental Codes of Conduct for Tourism", Technical Report no 
29, 70 p., 1995.  Price FF 150/US$ 30
     
"APELL Annotated Bibliography", Technical Report no 21, 117 p., 
1994.  Also available in French.  Price FF 175/US$35
     
"Health Aspects of Chemical Accidents.  Guidance on Chemical 
Accident Awareness, Preparedness and Response for Health 
Professionals and Emergency Responders", Technical Report no 19 
(a joint IPCS/OECD/UNEP/WHO publication: OECD Environment 
Monograph no 81), 147 p., 1994.  Free of charge
     
"Company Environmental Reporting:  A Measure of the Progress of 
Business and Industry Towards Sustainable Development", Technical 
Report no 24, 118 p., 1994.  Also available in French.  Price 
FF250/US$50
     
"Hazard Identification and Evaluation in the Local Community", 
Technical Report no 12, 86 p., 1992.  Price FF 200/US$40
     
"Company Environmental Reporting: A Measure of the Progress of 
Business and Industry Towards Sustainable Development" (TR 24), 
1994, 118 p., Price FF 250/US$50
     
To order "ENGAGING STAKEHOLDERS" or other UNEP IE publications, 
please fill in and return the following form.
     
Please send me ____ copies x 640 FF per volume or 400 FF per volume 
OR o50 per volume or o80 for both OR $128 for both or $80 each of 
"ENGAGING STAKEHOLDERS".  Discounts are available for students, 
non-for-profit organizations and for bulk orders.
     
Total amount:   _________________
     
Please send me ____ copies of (title)
     
Total amount:  _________________
     
Cheque to the order of SMI (Distribution Services) Limited 
enclosed.  Institutions and public libraries may request billing. 
Commercial firms and individuals, please send payment along with 
order form.
     
Name:                                                    Date: 
Title:
     
Department:                                         
Organization:
     
Address:
     
Country:  ____________________________  Tel/Fax: 
 
. 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UNEP INFORMATION NOTE
     
UNEP ISSUES UPDATES OF SOURCEBOOKS OF TECHNOLOGIES 
FOR PROTECTING THE OZONE LAYER
     
PARIS, December 1996 -- The United Nations Environment Programme 
(UNEP) has issued updates to its Technology Sourcebook series 
which facilitate the transfer of environmentally-sound 
technologies to developing countries which seek to phase out the 
use of various ozone-depleting substances (ODS).
     
Produced by the Paris-based OzonAction Programme of UNEP's 
Industry & Environment Centre, and funded under the Multilateral 
Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol on 
Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the updates involve 
sourcebooks dealing with aerosols, foam and specialized solvents 
industry use sectors.
     
Information about where to obtain specific technologies, as well 
as guidance about how to select an appropriate one, is not always 
readily available to developing countries.  These sourcebooks 
meet that need by bridging the information gap between the 
technology suppliers (mostly in developed countries) and those 
who seek such information to assist industry and government 
decision-makers in their countries.
     
Originally released in 1994, the revised sourcebooks now include 
up-to-date data provided by hundreds of companies worldwide that 
supply non-ODS technologies, equipment and chemicals to replace 
ODS controlled under the Montreal Protocol.  The publications 
were reviewed by a team of internationally-recognized experts 
drawn from and led by chairpersons and members of the UNEP 
Technical and Economic Assessment Panel and its Technical Options 
Committees.  Other reviewers with specific technical expertise 
came from the World Bank's Ozone Operation Resource Group, and 
dozens of representatives of individual companies and leading 
industry associations, such as the Alliance for Responsible 
Atmospheric Policy and the International Cooperative for 
Environmental Leadership.
     
Each sourcebook consists of:
     -      Introduction & Guide for Selecting an Appropriate 
     Alternative, which assists in the selection process by 
     providing technical, environmental, health and safety, cost, 
     availability, and legislative considerations of the 
     alternatives.
     -      Datasheets and/or Supplier Lists, which identify worldwide 
            sources of alternative technologies, as well as the suppliers
            of equipment and chemicals.
     -      Sources of additional expert assistance worldwide, in both 
            the private and public sectors.
     
UNEP Information Note 1996/27
     
     
"Aerosols, Sterilants, Miscellaneous Uses & Carbon Tetrachloride 
Sourcebook":  470FF/US$85
"Flexible & Rigid Foams Sourcebook":  470FF/US$85 
"Specialized Solvent Uses Sourcebook":  385 FF/US$70
     
To order any of the three "Sourcebooks of Technologies for 
Protecting the Ozone Layer", please fill in the form below and 
send to:
     
SMI (Distribution Services) Limited
P.O. Box 119 Stevenage
Hertfordshire SG1 4TP England
Fax: +44 (1438) 748 844
     
These sourcebooks are part of the information exchange services 
provided by UNEP to developing countries to help them meet their 
obligations under the Montreal Protocol.  The OzonAction 
Programme also provides other clearinghouse services (training & 
networking of ODS officers) as well as assistance with the 
development of national ODS phase out strategies (country 
programmes) and institutional strengthening support.  For more 
information, please contact the OzonAction Programme at: UNEP IE, 
Tour Mirabeau, 39-43 quai Andre Citroen, Paris 75739 cedex 15, 
France or Tel: (33.1) 44.37.14.50, Fax: (33.1) 44.37.14.74, 
email: ozonaction@unep.fr, http://www.unepie.org/ozonaction.html
     
SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS ADDRESSED BY THE SOURCEBOOKS
     
"Aerosols, Sterilants, Carbon Tetrachloride, and Miscellaneous 
Uses"
     -      Aerosols where ODSs are used as propellants and/or solvents. 
     -      Sterilants, where CFCs are used as a carrier gas.
     -      Cleaning applications where carbon tetrachloride (CTC) is 
            used as a solvent. 
     -      Tobacco expansion where CFCs are used to restore the volume 
            of tobacco leaves during the production process
     
Flexible and Rigid Foams
     -      Flexible polyurethane foam: slabstock and moulded foam, used 
            as cushioning material for furniture, bedding, vehicle
            interiors, as carpet linings, and for packaging. 
     -      Rigid polyurethane foam: injected foam,
            boardstock/flexible-faced lamination, sandwich panels, spray 
            foam insulation, slabstock, pipe-in-pipe/preformed pipe, and 
            one-component foam.
     -      Phenolic foams: open-cell and closed-cell foams used in the 
            construction industry, for roof and wall insulation, and for
            pipe insulation.
     -      Polystyrene foams:  extruded polystyrene sheets, used for 
            food packaging, and extruded polystyrene board, used for 
            building insulation.
     
Specialized Solvent Uses
     -      Aerosol mould release agents
     -      Printed circuit board "freeze sprays" & use in semiconductor 
            manufacturing
     -      Aerosol dusters & fabric protectants
     -      Aerosol cleaners/flux removers & film cleaning 
     -      Aircraft windshield sprays & coatings
     -      Typing & writing correction fluids
     -      Mobile air conditioning flushing agents
     
About UNEP Industry and Environment
     
UNEP established its Industry and Environment office (UNEP IE) in 
1975 to bring industry and Government together to promote 
environmentally sound industrial development.  UNEP IE is located 
in Paris.  Its goals are: 1) to encourage the incorporation of 
environmental criteria in industrial development plans; 2) to 
facilitate the implementation of procedures and principles for 
the protection of the environment; 3) to promote preventive 
environmental protection through cleaner production and other 
pro-active approaches; 4) to stimulate the exchange of 
information and experience throughout the world.  UNEP IE 
provides access to practical information and develops 
co-operative activities backed by regular follow-up and 
assessment. To promote the transfer of information and the 
sharing of knowledge and experience, IE has developed three 
complementary tools: technical reports; the quarterly "Industry 
and Environment" review and a technical query-response service.
     
     
To order "SOURCEBOOKS OF TECHNOLOGIES TO PROTECT THE OZONE LAYER" 
or other UNEP IE publications, please fill in and return the 
following form.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
- - - -
Please send me ____ copies x 470FF/US$85 of the Aerosols, 
Sterilants, Miscellaneous Uses & Carbon Tetrachloride Sourcebook 
Please send me ____ copies x 470FF/US$85 of the Flexible & Rigid 
Foams Sourcebook
Please send me ____ copies x 385FF/US$70 of the Specialized Solvent 
Uses Sourcebook
     
   Total amount:   _____________________     Cheque to the order of SMI
(Distribution Services) Limited enclosed.  Institutions and public
libraries may request billing.  Commercial firms and individuals, please
send payment along with order form.
     
Name:
Date:  ___________________
Title:
     
Department:
Organization:
Address:
     
Country:
     
Tel/Fax:
 
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RRojas Research Unit/1997
  
                    United Nations Development Programme  
                       Sustainable Human Development  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
   Reconciling Economic Reform and Sustainable Human Development: Social  
                       Consequences of Neo-Liberalism  
  
                       by Lance Taylor and Ute Pieper  
  
This paper offers a "state-of-the art" summary of the literature on  
evaluating structural adjustment programmes. It argues that such programmes  
have not performed well when it comes to social indicators - leading to  
worsening income distribution and, in certain cases, more poverty. Even in  
their own economic terms the programmes have often had an unimpressive  
record of slower growth, higher inflation, lower rates of investment and  
financial instability. The paper analyses how South and East Asian  
countries have managed to stay immune to these ills. It assesses both the  
economic and social effects of structural adjustment programmes and  
discusses what alternative programmes of "adjustment with development"  
might be possible.  
  
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   This database is maintained by the UNDP Webmaster webmaster@undp.org  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  
                    United Nations Development Programme  
                       Sustainable Human Development  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
                             ODS LECTURE SERIES  
  
  1. Paul G. Hoffman Lecture 1995: "The Arms Bazaar"  
     by Oscar Arias Sanchez  
  2. Paul G. Hoffman Lecture 1996: Global Competitiveness and Human  
     Development: Allies or Adversaries?"  
     by Robert Kuttner  
  
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   This database is maintained by the UNDP Webmaster webmaster@undp.org  
===========================================================================
RRojas Research Unit/1997