The UNEP Year Book 2012 examines emerging environmental issues and policy-relevant developments, while providing an overview of the latest trends based on key environmental indicators. Soil carbon plays a vital role in sustaining food production, which will be required to support the world’s growing population. The top metre of soil contains three times as much carbon as the atmosphere. Yet soil carbon is being lost at unprecedented rates. How can soil carbon and its multiple benefits be retained for future generations? As many of the world’s nuclear power reactors reach the end of their design lives, the number of these reactors that will need to be decommissioned is increasing rapidly. The Year Book explores options and considerations in the  face of this expected growth in nuclear decommissioning.