Rapid change in the Arctic resulting from climate change is threatening ecosystems and providing new development opportunities – including easier access to oil, gas and minerals. The UNEP Year Book 2013 shows that changes in the Arctic will have consequences far beyond this fragile region and that they require an urgent international response.

The 2012 Annual Report details UNEP’s wide-ranging activities in what proved to be the most momentous year in the organizations history. At Rio+20, Heads of State and governments decided to strengthen and upgrade UNEP; this was followed by the adoption of a resolution at the 67th session of the UN General Assembly later in the year that granted UNEP universal membership and called for increased resources.

erosion through a variety of protection strategies, from the defences of the Venice lagoons to coastal land reclamation in the Netherlands. This book provides a comprehensive review of the entire coastline of Europe and a comparative analysis of erosion problems and solutions in each country. Each chapter discusses the natural and anthropogenic factors in the erosion process and in defence projects design and maintenance, including coastal morphology and wave climate, land use changes and use of coastal areas, the evolution of coastal protection, climate change and political and administrative assessments.

This book explores environmental protection relevant to security and armed conflict from a sustainable development perspective. The author details how at each stage of the armed conflict life cycle, policy, law and enforcement have fallen short of the sustainable development model and concludes with a set of suggestions for how to address this pressing concern.

The Global Casino is an introduction to environmental issues which deals both with the workings of the physical environment and the political, economic and social frameworks in which the issues occur. Using examples from all over the world, the book highlights the underlying causes behind environmental problems, the human actions which have made them issues, and the hopes for solutions. It is a book about the human impact on the environment and the ways in which the natural environment impacts human society.

GEO-5 is the latest report in the series outlining the current and projecting the future environmental trends. It focuses far more on the smart policies that can transform world-wide sustainable development from theory into defining practice.

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.

The Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) was approved and accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on 18 November 2011 in Kampala, Uganda. SREX integrates expertise in climate science, disaster risk management, and adaptation to inform discussions on how to reduce and manage the risks of extreme events and disasters in a changing climate.

This powerful book shows us that we are in deep denial about the magnitude of the global environmental challenges and resource constraints facing the world. Despite growing scientific consensus on major environmental threats as well as resource depletion, societies are largely continuing with business as usual, at best attempting to tinker at the margins of the problems.

Children growing up today are confronted by four difficult and intersecting challenges: dangerous environmental change, weakening democracies, growing social inequality, and a global economy marked by unprecedented youth unemployment and unsustainable resource extraction. Yet on streets everywhere, there is also a strong, youthful energy for change.

The Business Case for a Green Economy, complements and extends the UNEP Green Economy Report.¹ Written for a corporate audience, it illuminates and clarifies the business benefits to companies that pro-actively participate in – perhaps even lead – the transition to a resource efficient and Green Economy.

Effective means of transport are critical under both normal and extreme conditions, but modern transport systems are subject to many diverse demands. This path-breaking book uniquely draws together the typically conflicting arenas of transport, the environment and security, and provides collective solutions to their respective issues and challenges.