The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has just published Global Environment Outlook 3 (GEO-3): Past, Present and Future Perspectives. This comprehensive 410-page report examines the policies and environmental developments over the past 30 years regarding eight environmental themes - land, forests, biodiversity, freshwater, coastal and marine areas, atmosphere, urban areas and disasters. It then outlines four policy approaches for the next three decades and compares and contrasts their likely impacts on people and the natural world. The final section of the report includes eight fields of suggested action, one of which is to harness technology for the environment and manage the associated risks to maximise the potential of new technologies to deliver substantial environmental and social gains. See http://www.unep.org/geo/ or contact [email protected] for more information.

17/05/2002