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.

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.

This report draws attention to the multiple benefits and threats of human nutrient use. It highlights how nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers are estimated to feed half the human population alive today, and how they will remain critical in the future, especially given increasing population and potential bioenergy needs. Yet high nutrient use has created a web of pollution affecting the environment and human health, while insufficient access to nutrients has led to soil degradation, causing food insecurity and exacerbating loss of natural ecosystems.

To mark its 40th anniversary, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has sponsored a new book detailing the history of the Nairobi-based organization over the last four decades.

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.

This Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report (IPCC-SRREN) assesses the potential role of renewable energy in the mitigation of climate change.

Nearly 20 years after the Earth Summit, nations are again on the Road to Rio, but in a world very different and very changed from that of 1992.

Over the last two years, the concept of a “green economy” has moved into the mainstream of policy discourse. Heads of state and finance ministers increasing speak about the green economy; it is referred to in the text of G20 communiqués and discussed in the context of sustainable development and eradicating poverty (United Nations General Assembly 2010).

This innovative publication, which is based in statistical evidence, illustrates major global environmental, economic and social changes since 1992.

One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment provides a comprehensive, visual presentation of scientifically variable information, on changes in the global environment—both the good and the bad—acquired and assessed through state-of-the-art remote sensing technology. NB: OWING TO THE WEIGHT OF THE ATLAS THIS PUBLICATION IS SUBJECT TO A SHIPPING CHARGE OF 15USD (for delivery in Europe) and 20USD (for delivery to the rest of the world).

 In this volume of the Earthscan’s TEEB publication series, the key concepts of the project are applied to local and regional policy and public management.

Based on his Review of Small Cetaceans first published online in 2001, Boris M. Culik describes in this encyclopaedia all 72 toothed whale species (odontocetes), from the smallest, the Gulf of California vaquita to the largest, the giganti sperm whale. This book presents the most recent scientific findings on the distribution, migration, behaviour and threats related to all odontocetes. Up-to-date maps provided by the IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group show the currently known distribution of each species. Colour illustrations by Maurizio Würtz, Genoa University and Artescienza, Italy, provide a realistic view of these marine mammals and nicely complement the book. 

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.