Categories
Climate Change

I Make My Own Eco-friendly Cleaning Products

Our grandmothers cleaned with less aggressive products than we do today but I have never gotten the feeling that their homes were much dirtier than our homes. They relied on such things as baking soda, ash, vinegar, lemon… Thier techniques have been lost in time in favor of chemical detergents that are toxic to our health and to the environment.

I would like to recover those simple, cheap, ecological recipes and hang on to them, to spread this knowledge so that others might share in on the resource. If you know of any that would fit this category then I for one would love to know about it. You can either include it in an email or share it in a comment and I will add it to the post.

Let's help nature and our economy. Let's make these products with our children so that they too can learn an ecological way to clean through an activity they will enjoy.

To begin I think I will share a plant, one that has been used since time immemorial: Saponaria Officinalis (soapweed which can be found through out North America).

If you are interested to know more about the plants that are used as natural soap I suggest a quick search.

There are a number of products that make use of this plant. But it is also fun to find and process it like our ancestors once did.

I had never used echoballs, before until my grandma gave me one. Apparently just a few of these balls can help clean the clothes. When you hit the clothes inside the washing machine it's like what our great-grandmothers did when they hit them when washing them by hand. My grandmother had used them for a long time and now I have begun to put them in the washing machine.

So without further ado here are some recipes to make simple, cheap and ecological homemade cleaning products which are also effective with natural and biodegradable products.

Most stains and dirt can be effectively removed with products such as baking soda, lemon juice, vinegar, artisan soap and tea tree oil.

Multipurpose Eco-friendly Cleaner

Handcrafted soap (this is a soap made with used oil, high quality and extremely ecological in addition to preventing the oil from ending up in the trash or down the drain like my roommate in college would do, since it is highly polluting for marine life). Make it into soap blocks, we'll need to turn it into flakes for the next step.

Water

In a glass bottle, about a quarter of a gallon or whatever we have at hand make a mixture of handcrafted soap in flakes and water in relation to one to ten, depending on the size of your container.

Leave it to sit and rest, then stir in-between to dissolve, what should be left should have a thick liquid consistency. This cleaner is useful used to leave all types of surfaces bright, shiny and most importantly clean.

Organic multipurpose cleaner (another recipe)

  • 20% vinegar.
  • 30% cleaning alcohol.
  • 50% distilled water.
  • 20 drops of lemon essential oil.
  • It is used with water and is very clean but you will not get any suds.

Organic Cleaner For Porcelain And Tiles

  • Make a mixture of water and lemon juice
  • Soak a cloth well in this mixture and wipe it across the dirty surfaces
  • Dry with cotton towel

Natural Cleaning Products For The Rest Room

  • To keep toilets clean it is useful to use vinegar
  • Spray the toilets and leave it overnight
  • The next day add the multipurpose ecological cleaner we made first and scrub well.
  • Rinse with water

Natural Drain Cleaner

The chemicals used to break down plugs in our drains are among the most polluting and dangerous especially for marine life, remember that everything we throw down the drain ends up in rivers and seas (no matter how land locked we are). The best option is always the mechanical one, (the classic, the snake for example) but if we combine some basic ingredients you will love how easy it can actually be. And I have yet to encounter a plug that could resists this technique.

  • Heat water, but never pour boiling water down your drain
  • Put 5 tablespoons of baking soda and half a glass of vinegar in the drain and cover for 5 minutes.
  • Pour the hot water directly over the drain and pump down until it is unplugged (we usually don't need to pump for long)
  • Be careful not to burn yourself with the hot water.

Natural Cleaning, Glass and Mirrors

To let our windows and mirrors sparkle make a natural glass by cleaner mixing:

  • 1/2 gallon of water
  • 1 tablespoon of the organic cleanser we saw in the first recipe
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • Clean the surface with a moistened sponge in the mixture
  • Dry with newspaper

Organic Cleaning Of Kitchen Counter Tops

To remove germs without chemicals mix:

  • 1/2 gallon water
  • 2 tablespoons of the organic cleaner we saw in the first recipe
  • 30 drops of tea tree essence (you can find it in herbalists or organic product shops).
  • With a soft sponge wash the surface of the worktop well, rinse with water and dry with cloth.

Cleaning Tarnished Pans

To clean the pans we scrub the inside with lemon peels or any other citrus, when it is still warm. I was surprised how quickly the tarnish was gone.

Organic Oven Cleaner

Oven cleaners are some of the products with the most toxic ingredients you will find in the kitchen. They are made with ethers, sodium and potassium hydroxide, methylene chloride and petroleum derivatives.

They can cause skin and eye irritations and breathing problems in allergic people, just read the labels for all of the warnings.

Luckily there is an option to leave our ovens spotless, which consists of first removing the grease with a spatula (don't scratch the enamel) and the multipurpose organic cleaner that we made at the beginning.

Make a thick paste with water and baking soda apply to the surface of the oven, then it should be left to work for a couple of hours. Finally clean this paste with clean warm water and dry with a cloth.

Eco-friendly Carpet Cleaners

The first step in cleaning a carpet is to hang it up (if you can) and shake or beat all the dust out, I use a tennis racket but that is an extreme example.

  • Dissolve two table spoon of borax in two to three cups of water.
  • Using a sponge and gloves clean the carpet with this mixture, rinse with water and let dry in the sun.

Organic Floor Cleaner

With the following mixture of natural products we will get the same cleanliness and disinfection as with commercial and toxic products.

  • 3 tablespoons of the multipurpose organic cleaner we saw at the beginning
  • 5 tbsp vinegar
  • 30 drops tea tree oil
  • Put this mixture in the mop bucket to clean the floors

Natural Cleaning Of Fireplace Residue

The black soot that covers window panes on the glass doors in front of the fireplace on the closed wood-burning fireplaces, is easy to clean using the ash that it produces.

  • A thick paste is made by mixing ash and water
  • With a spatula spread this mixture over the glass then rinse it with clean water and dry with newspaper.

Stain Cleaner/Remover

For difficult stains, a splash of carbonated water, leave it soaked, and you will see how it disappears after washing. And if they're very tough, add a little baking soda and that's it.

Organic And Homemade Liquid Soap For Dishwasher

Every time I have lemons left over I make them into soap. Leave the dishes and glasses with a pleasant lemon smell, and it also comes out cheaper in the end (when I was a graduate student this was a heaven send).

Organic And Homemade Liquid Soap For Dishwasher

Ingredients:

  • Three lemons
  • Two hundred grams of table salt
  • One cup of white vinegar
  • two cups of water

Preparation:

  1. Remove the steams and seeds from the lemons. Wash and cut, on a wooden board, the lemons (un-peeled) into small pieces (so that they can be crushed well in a mix again at maximum power,
  2. Put this in a pan and over medium heat, simmer for about 15 minutes stirring from time to time, with a wooden spoon, because it tends to stick. I it stars to cook off, it's all right, mix water in, you turn the burner down and it comes off very well,
  3. Turn it off and leave to cool. When it's cold, stir again, because a dry layer usually forms on top, it comes out easily. You can store it in the fridge or in an air tight jar,
  4. Use as a normal dishwasher detergent, pour two tablespoons and wash normally.

Salt and vinegar are not only used in the kitchen for food. As is already well known, they are also used for cleaning. In this case, salt is an efficient stain remover, and vinegar is used to remove bacteria, is disinfectant and cuts fat. Vinegar also neutralizes odors; lemon, in addition to providing the characteristic smell, is also traditionally seen as a mild disinfectant.

Categories
Climate Change

The Importance Of Ecology – Sustainable And Sustainable Development

The our species as well as the rest of this planet's life forms have been exposed to many dangers thanks to our lack of preservation of the environment. What has this brought us as a society? For one it has led to a rediscovery of what it means for many to live in harmony with the environment. Not like many think—hippies communing with nature—rather self-aware as we become aware of the damage we have caused to nature and the need to replace our old understanding. In this sense, society, in the present century and since the middle of the previous century, has turned its sight to ecology as a science that allows it to preserve nature under a scientific vision.

Governments throughout the world have rethought development styles with a more environmentalistic orientation (at least in theory), which has led them to understand our nature and their behavior through a science as interesting as the ecology.

Why?

Because it encompasses the study of all the interactions of living and non-living beings with the environment in which they encounter and the way they achieve their balance, in order to understand what phenomena cause an imbalance in the same. Through the increasing exploitation of natural resources and the degradation of ecosystems, we raise questions about the permanence and perpetuity of the resources needed to sustain the growth of human populations. These changes include the alteration of biotic communities, the extinction of species, changes in the resilience and resilience of ecosystems to disturbances, ecological processes that depart from their historical variability, changes in the nature of ecosystems and decoupling of important biogeochemical cycles (many of these changes due to the global warming phenomenon). Only by studying how the elements of nature interact with each other whether an understanding of the current environmental problem has been achieved, in such a way that the elements that are affecting the delicate balance of the environment have been found and understood.

These alarming processes of progressive destruction of our natural environments around the world have prompted recognition of the possible role of ecology in decision-making to reconcile the management of natural resources by the processes of growth and development of each nation.

While the challenges they face have a lot to do with the conservation and management of natural environments in countries with a very complex socio-economic problem, one which warrants short-term solutions in terms of survival and development, it is necessary to take into account that it is impossible to preserve and manage something that is not fully known.

That is why it is important to achieve a better understanding of the physical and biological processes that generate the unbridled growth and development of the planet's human populations should be one of the fundamental priorities of the ecological work of not just the developed countries, rather all nations in the present century.

Understanding the differences between sustainable and sustainable development is vital to understanding how environmental conception has gained ground since the end of the last century. The term sustainable refers to what is maintained over time, and sustainable to the elements necessary to live, in particular it refers more clearly to the type of content that development should have.

The first conception to consider itself at the global level was sustainable development.

When looking for a definition to describe—sustainable development—it is almost exclusively reduced to economic development, the growth of which is measured as an increase in gross domestic product or per capita income). It implies in its description that economic growth is constant over time (sustained economic growth) and, on the other hand, refers to environmental conservation as a localized policy that does not question or imply a rethinking of patterns consumption, production of goods, waste generation or impact on nature, but a simple isolation of certain geographical areas, no matter what happens in their environment (social problems, exclusion, etc.). Another characteristic of this current train of thought is that it does not give any relevance to social participation as a means of ensuring the sustainability of sustainable development, but, when it is raised, it is expressed as a vertical process, oriented up and down, where decision-making is unique to the spheres of power, preventing the population from participating in them, turning human ensembles into mere recipients of benefits passively, not allowing the empathy of the population to connect with the development processes.

This has been one of the major

Sustainable development, on the other hand, is interested not only in economic growth, but also how it is produced and how the created wealth is distributed. It emerges from the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report in 1996 (PDF), where it is established as a key element for economic growth and development that there is equity in the distribution of wealth, because the greater the the equality with which they are distributed and economic opportunities, the more likely they will result in an improvement of human well-being. This conception can be summed up as the need for inclusive and equitable economic growth, and to abandon that growth that is exclusionary and polarized, since the latter destroy the ecosystems in which they operate.

Here is an excerpt:

To support economic growth as a means to enrich people's lives, the Report demonstrates why:

  • Over the past 15 years the world has seen spectacular economic advance for some countries – and unprecedented decline for others;
  • Widening disparities in economic performance are creating two worlds – ever more polarized;
  • Everywhere, the structure and quality of growth demand more attention – to contribute to human development, poverty reduction and long-term sustainability;
  • Progress in human development has mostly continued – but too unevenly;
  • New approaches are needed to expand and improve employment opportunities, so that people can participate in growth – and benefit from it; and
  • Economic growth is not sustainable without human development.

The sustainable development to which is referred to emphasizes environmental sustainability as a fundamental element, which refers to the need for the impact of the development process not to irreversibly destroy ecosystems, since the frontier of possibility of environmental use (defined as the production possibilities that are compatible with environmental restrictions) is currently very narrow. On the other hand, social sustainability related to strengthening a style of development that does not perpetuate or deepen poverty or social exclusion, but has as one of its central objectives the eradication of it and social justice and, on the other hand horizontal social participation in decision-making. Finally, economic sustainability, which is understood as interrelated economic growth with the two elements above.

In this way, the achievement of sustainable human development will be the result of a new type of economic growth that promotes social equity, a substantial improvement in the quality of life of the vast majority of a society and establishes a non-destructive relationship with nature.

Categories
Climate Change Politics

What Is The Importance Of Environmental Conservation?

The conception of a green world has gained increasingly important in the space of our society. Fridays For Future, Extinction Rebellion, and other grassroots style movements have taken a prominent position in media, opening up a platform for debate about the current state of our planet.

The need for environmental preservation arises from the realization of the serious damage we have caused to our ecosystems through the unbridled negative transformation that they have undergone because of our thwarted attempts at development. We have not understood the need for economic growth that goes hand in hand with the preservation of our environment, because the predation of nature for abundant economic benefits has been easier than replenishing the damage which originates from taking their resources indiscriminately.

Environmental conservation arises from the need to preserve all natural resources in a manner parallels with development, in such a way that it allows us to equate on a balance the growth and development of our country with the conservation of our resources seeking to support the economic growth we want for our nation.

The rapid growth of our population resulting from the increased disposition of economic resources in the country, has led to an unequal distribution in our geographical spaces that have serious consequences to our natural resources.

With concern we can see how our ecosystems are negatively altered, even allowing the disappearance of large tracts of plant resources by the indiscriminate settlement and disruption in these areas.

The government has taken this initiative, justifying it on many occasions (Keystone Pipeline), yet bringing with it serious consequences for our planet. Such indiscriminate conduct throughout the world has led to; deforestation and the inadequate use of soils, encouraging unsafe construction in this newly won area (developing regions are most often afflicted where environmental conservation and poverty are at odds), sometimes suffering the onslaught of the elements (such as rain, typhoon, and earth quakes), which result in the loss of life and property, due to the inadequate use of spaces unfit for the location of many homes. By abandoning the invaded areas all that is left if a trail of destruction of our ecosystem and suffering. What's more without any conscious effort to regulate and restore these areas with policies that allow their recovery and educate the population it is an endless cycle.

Every day we watch as pollution ravages our once green environment, the product of the disinterest of environmental protection agencies, tasked with preserving them for the enjoyment of the entire population. The expansion of spaces for manufacturing enterprises, the construction of residential complexes in extensions of green land, the claim placed on these spaces have led to an increase in pollution of nature, without modern policies to address this serious problem we have resigned ourselves to a state in which we remain inactive. We can see how many of the manufacturing companies affect our atmosphere by emanating a large amount of gases and other pollutants, producing air pollution and contributing to the phenomenon of global warming. Excessive population growth, on the other hand, has led to an increase in pollution in the form of solid waste, which, in addition to the absence of recycling policies in many areas of the developing world, has increased the pollution of our soils exponentially. The poor arrangement of excreta and wastewater pollutes our natural channels, without appreciating the need for processing policies for the decontamination of our planet's waters.

Thus arises the importance of becoming aware of our environment amid the chaos of modern economic and population growth. We must establish global policies that allow us to concatenate the growth and development with the preservation of our planet's natural environments, making our development sustainable and feasible for our ever growing world population.

If we ask ourselves what to do to preserve our environment, we must start from the idea of understanding why we should preserve it. Fridays for Future? But what future? First, we must guarantee the life of our ecosystems in order to improve the quality of life of our population, offering it an environment that ensures an ever purer air quality and natural resources that provide the elements necessary for its survival on a constant basis, without the persistent fear that they may become extinct as a result of their misuse and preservation. This is ensured by the establishment of stronger policies to regulate the provision of pollutants in our environment and the creation of measures for the processing of pollutants in wastewater to ensure the decontamination of our rivers and seas (plastic particles do not originate from our oceans). In this way, we will be ensuring that present and future generations can enjoy all the resources that our nature is able to provide.

On the other hand, equally immediate and parallel, it is necessary to educate our society on the importance of creating and conserving a pollution-free environment. There is a need for greater scope on the part of the State (grassroots initiatives and NGO programs are good but law makers need to get involved at a more fundamental level) for educational policies to further raise awareness, day by day, of the importance of preserving our natural resources, from the earliest stages of our children's education to creating an environmentalist awareness in our adults. The ultimate idea will be that this awareness of preservation will be internalized in a natural way and become a lifestyle, which originates in the homes, from the beginning of the upbringing of our children, the idea of preserving our nature so that we can perpetually enjoy all the resources that she is able to provide us.

Categories
Climate Change

Today’s Endangered Animals

What do the different species mean to our planet? The vastly different species are the building blocks of biodiversity and ecosystems, but over time more animal species are added to the list of endangered animals, according to data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), currently 5,200 species of animals are endangered, an alarming figure.

While different organizations, foundations, among others, work to protect and preserve different species of animals, many more are attacking their life, their habitat and in the same way against the ecosystem itself.

It takes everyone's help—no matter how small—to bring about change.

Some Endangered Animals.

Categories
Climate Change

The Alarming Rate of Animal Extinction

Biologist E. O. Wilson estimated in 2002 that if current rates of human destruction of the biosphere continue, one-half of all plant and animal species of life on earth will be extinct in 100 years. — E.O. Wilson, "The Future of Life" (2002) (ISBN 0-679-76811-4).

Over the last few centuries, the grizzly bear has suffered a marked reduction in its number of specimens in Europe.

In the first half of this century the bears of the eastern half of Austria have disappear, which, together with the reduction of inhabitable area, this once prominent symbol of Europe is just one more victim of human directed extinction.

In Austria the number of specimens decreased alarmingly and the danger of extinction was high, but by 2011 they were officially extinct in the Limestone Alps. This large majestic brown bear went extinct in the region when the last specimen "Moritz" disappeared. As we move closer to their complete demise (Northern Italy & Austria have an estimated 15 to 30 animals remaining) we lose some of our history, because of its relationship with man, the brown bear has become a figure which is deeply rooted in our culture. As Americans we have just as much to lose, as the bear — as a symbol — emigrated to the United States with our forefathers.

I though that it would be pertinent to share a little information about these fascinating animals.

This animal has a reputation for having an extraordinary smell, much better than that of hunting dogs, as evident by the great development of its nostrils. Although it is probably an exaggeration, one legend tales of an American brown bear, the so-called "Grizzly" who smelled carrion 20 miles away.

Their poor eyesight is often criticized and said to be short-sighted, although scientists point out that this is very relative. Indeed they seem to have a hard time seeing well from afar, compensating for their lack of sight with smell and hearing; but up close bears can see very clearly.

Another curious feature about their behavior is that their hearing is very good and when bears hear something strange, especially if it's something they have not yet perceived with his fine sense of smell, can make them nervous which leads them to get up on two legs to inspect it further. If the bear discovers the presence of a human or any other danger, they will in most cases slip away undetected. Though bear attacks are not unheard of, a female with offspring can be very aggressive even if unprovoked.

Especially now as their habitats are becoming more inhabited by humans attacks are more common.

Bears have traditionally lived in northern regions and for thousands of years have never been forced to share their habitat with humans; in the last century this has changed.

Hibernation

When winter advances and snowfall becomes persistent they seek a refuge to protect themselves. It does not have to be a very large cave to provide a bear with shelter, sometimes, a hole excavated will suffice, taking advantage of the existing holes under some rock or tree. What matters most to them when choosing their resting place is the security that it can provide. Thus, hibernation takes place in areas that are difficult to reach, although not necessarily remote, and sometimes can be very close to human populations.

Prior to hibernation bears have to feed enough in the late summer and falls months to increase their body fat reserves, reserves that are especially located around the kidneys and reach up to six inches thick. This is because the harsh conditions of nature in the winter months require extra in insulation. Bears hibernate because of the shortage of food and even water, which can be icy, and in addition low temperatures would require a higher than usual consumption of food to maintain body alone temperature.

Refugee seeking grizzly bears in their winter sleep curl up snuggly around themselves. Their body temperature drops from the usual 100°F to 90 to 91°F. Their pulse also decreases from 40 to 10 beats per minute and their breathing rate drops similarly. They fall into a deep sleep in which they do not urinate or defecate until they emerge in the spring.

Their winter habitats offer conditions are relatively pleasant compared to the harshness outside, sleeping in a nest made from leaf, moss and branches, all of which provide good conditions of thermal insulation and, together with the heat generated by the animal's own body, they keep the temperature within tolerable limits.

The time spent in the hibernation is usually one or two months, though this can be longer in colder climates. The bears with cubs remain in their dens along with their offspring for four months.

The grizzly bear is an omnivorous animal, with a marked vegetarian tendency. Staple foods are mainly herbaceous in spring, meaty fruits in summer and nuts in autumn and winter.

The place where a plant or animal lives is called its habitat. In the case of bears, it occurs in several different areas: the forest areas, the scrub and rocky and the grassy pastures in the mountains and even sometimes even the meadows of the lower part of a valley.

The small populations in many countries are subject to varying degrees of legal protection to protect them in their dwindling habitats. Internationally, the populations of Asian brown bears are listed in Annex I (total trade ban), the rest in Annex II (restricted trade). In some countries, this species enjoys a year-round or several-month closed season. In addition, multi-level management plans are implemented to protect bears and farm animals. In other countries, there is no or little legal protection for this species. According to the population, it is listed in Annex I (total trade ban) and Annex II (restricted trade) in the European Species Protection Regulation. Restricted hunting is allowed in the eastern range (Russia).

Furthermore, this subspecies is kept in many zoological facilities throughout Europe. However, for many of the brown bears kept in zoos, the information on the origin, and thus the exact subspecies status, is deficient, leading to an inconsistent lineage. In addition, there are several bear protection facilities, which have set the task of keeping former dance, circus and zoo bears as their task.

For reasons of species protection, few bears were reintroduced in the French Massif (where they were extinct in 1990, origin: Pyrenees) and in the Italian and Austrian Alps (origin: Slovenia). Some reintroduced bears fell victim to the poaching of local hunters.

Categories
Climate Change

Think About A World Without Plants

In a world without plants, life as we know it would end.

We would cease to exist.

Plants feed on minerals and carbon dioxide to grow. Their bodies are rich in glucose that builds the basis of the food of animals and expel oxygen during photosynthesis, and that oxygen is what the animals need to breathe. Animals cannot live without plants.

And we are just another species of animal.

If the plants disappeared, the herbivores would starve to death. If there are no herbivores, the carnivores would also starve to death. Mushrooms and insects would disappear.

But our planet would not be without life.

Some bacteria could survive.

Categories
Climate Change Politics

Our Neighbors Are Dying

Our planet is dying and we have been watching it slow to act. Some of our neighbors have already passed away and more are dying right now. By the time you get done reading this and go onto something else another one of them will have gone extinct.

It has been nearly a decade since the UN released the previous Global Environment Outlook. GEO-6 was released this year. The Global Environment Outlook is the most reliable assessment of the state, trends and perspectives of the global environment. The report was produced over three years through a process involving six hundred specialists from around the world, who collected and analyzed data from all continents to build a detailed view of the planet's well-being. (GEO-1 in 1997, GEO-2000 in 1999, GEO-3 in 2002, GEO-4 in 2007, GEO-5 in 2012 and GEO-6 in 2019) is just another in a long line of assessments, but what has changed?

Climate change is on everyone's lips but little is being done to address or stop major culprits. The current trend to look to the easy or sensationalized topics like drinking straws allows one side to get upset because their "liberties" are being "robbed." While the other becomes frustrated by the diversionary dialog that is raised by these selective topics.

If current models are not changed, greenhouse gas emissions can double over the next fifty years, causing an increase of 3° C or more in the planet's temperature by the end of the century.

Although Latin America and the Caribbean accounts for a relatively modest 12% of the world's greenhouse gases (GHGs), the region is already experiencing the negative consequences of climate change and its variability. Climate change exacerbates many of the environmental problems, as well as threatening the achievements of development, poverty reduction and economic growth.

The number of people affected by extreme climate-related phenomena in Latin America and the Caribbean increased from five million in the 1970s to more than 40 million in the last decade. Beyond developments related to climate, poverty, marginalization, exclusion from decision-making processes, inadequate education and poor basic infrastructure, are among the factors that accentuate the vulnerability of Region. As vulnerability to climate impacts increases, addressing the underlying factors that cause this risk becomes a priority.

Four independent studies highlight that the decade between 2000 and 2009 was been the hottest in history (few took note), and in this decade we have finally stopped to reflect how hot things have really gotten. The rate of emissions caused by the use of fossil fuels and cement production was the highest recorded to this is the date.

It is estimated that by 2100, if temperatures rise by 2.5° C, climate change will cause annual economic damage equivalent to between 1% and 2% of world GDP.

Air pollution

Around 20% of vertebrate species are threatened.

Coral reefs have deteriorated by 38% since the 1980s, indicating that they are the living organism whose risk of extinction is increasing the fastest. A rapid contraction is expected in 2050.

More than 30% of the land area is devoted to agricultural production, which has led to a decline of more than 20% of natural habitats since the 1980s.

Despite all this, some progress is seen in policy responses, such as the extension of coverage of protected areas and the distribution of genetic resources and their benefits.

Access and Benefit-sharing

The "Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from Their Use", which entered into force in 2015. It was the first to recognize the right of indigenous and local communities to regulate access to traditional knowledge in accordance with its customary norms and practices.

In the pharmaceutical field, for example, 90% of patents related to marine biodiversity are held in ten countries.

Full data on the number of agreements, the number and distribution of beneficiaries and the scope and sustainability of the benefits from genetic resources can be found in the GEO-6 fact sheets.

Protected Areas

Biodiversity plays a vital role in maintaining essential ecosystem services, while being threatened by a number of interrelated factors. These include habitat loss due to conversion, alteration and pollution of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems due to intensive economic activities. The deterioration of biodiversity has economic, social and environmental impacts on the local and global population, addressing its pressures requires equitable, evidence-based, participatory and cross-sectoral policies.

Protected areas cover almost 13% of the land area, although only 1.6% of marine areas, relative to the 17% and 10% targets respectively, set for the coming year (2020) by the Aichi targets approved in 2011, nearly ten years ago.

Protected areas not only play an important role in the conservation of species and habitats, they also provide ecosystem services, which are considered critical in climate change mitigation and adaptation and provide a number of valuable social benefits.

Information gaps on their location, scope, legal status and effectiveness, as well as some safety issues, undermine the conservation work of protected areas. Priorities for action include the distribution of adequate resources and the establishment of management provisions and clear indicators for assessing their effectiveness.

Fish populations

In the last three decades we have seen an unprecedented deterioration in fish stocks.

Although marine catches increased more than fourfold from the early 1950s to the mid-1990s, they have since stabilized, despite increased fishing.

By the year 2000, marine catches would have grown by between 7% and 16% had it not been due to population depletion. This, in economic terms, means losses of between $4000 million and $36 billion.

Commercial fisheries and overfishing are the two main threats of fish stocks. In 2007, Fishery Stewardship Council certified fishery products accounted for only 7% of the world's fisheries.

Marine protected areas have proven to be useful conservation tools. Recent surveys show that fish stocks are larger within the reserves than in the surrounding areas and in those same areas before the reserve was created.

Water

Only one of the thirty environmental targets analyzed in this regard—increased access to clean drinking water—shows significant progress.

However, less progress has been made in rural areas, especially in Africa and the Pacific.

Latin America and the Caribbean account for 31% of the world's freshwater resources and 30 different mangrove ecosystems located in the continental-marine transition zone. The availability of safe drinking water in sufficient quantity and quality was proclaimed a human right in July 2010, under UN Decision 64/292, and has been recognized in the constitutions of some LAC countries. The availability of quality drinking water in sufficient quantities is essential for human dignity, quality of life and poverty alleviation. Effective water management policies that improve the efficient use of water resources and promote their allocation between conflicting uses should be implemented to achieve the objectives set out in paragraph 26 (c) of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

Quantity and water quality

Despite some progress, water quality remains one of the main reasons for health problems around the world.

In turn, climate change and increased population growth can lead to even greater water shortages in some regions.

Water quality in at least some of the most important river systems still does not meet World Health Organization (WHO) standards in this regard.

More than 600 million people were expected to gain access to safe drinking water in 2015 and yet more than 2.5 billion people still do not have access to basic sanitation services.

Increasing water scarcity forces some regions to rely more heavily on energy-intensive desalination technologies.

It is estimated that between $9000 million and $11 billion per year will be spent in 2030 on additional infrastructure for sufficient water supply, especially in developing countries.

Reducing water pollution could generate health benefits valued at more than US$100 million in the OECD's large economies alone.

Nitrate concentrations due to fertilizer water contamination are expected to cause serious threats to human health and aquatic life.

Although freshwater pollution appears to continue to increase, adequate follow-up work has been reduced in many regions to fully understand the effects.

Groundwater Depletion

Water extractions have tripled in the past fifty years, and since 2000 there has been an even greater deterioration in groundwater supplies.

Agriculture is responsible for 92% of the world's water footprint, and many agricultural production centers around the world rely especially on groundwater, such as northwestern India, northeastern Pakistan, northeastern China and the western States in the US.

Integrated Water Management

In order to address the current and future challenges posed by the water problem, it is necessary to develop and strengthen integrated water management as well as appropriate monitoring tools.

Currently, of the 263 international freshwater basins, around 158 do not yet have cooperative management frameworks.

The lack of sufficient information, the lack of comprehensive monitoring systems and water safety indicators that allow trends to be followed over time are other obstacles to better water management.

Related policies include those associated with the implementation of economic and financial instruments that strengthen areas such as water governance, as well as improved information on water quality and quantity.

Marine Pollution

Little progress has been made in preventing, reducing or controlling pollution of the marine environment.

The number of dead coastal areas has increased dramatically in recent years. Only 13 of the world's 169 dead coastal areas are recovering, and 415 coastal areas are eutrophication.

About 80% of marine pollution is caused by land-based activities.

Of the twelve seas analyzed between 2005 and 2007, the South-East Pacific, the North Pacific, the East Asian Sea and the Caribbean contain the largest amount of marine waste.

Despite some gaps in its implementation, the ratification of the MARPOL Convention by 150 countries resulted in the reduction of ship pollution.

The governance of the cross-border marine areas is weak and fragmented.

Extreme Events

GEO-5 emphasized the need to strengthen work to prevent and mitigate the impact of extreme events, such as disasters caused by climate change. River channeling, loss of rainwater plain, urbanization and new land uses are important environmental factors that increase the impact of floods and droughts.

Floods and droughts increased by 230% to 38%, respectively, between the 1980s and the 2000s, and the number of people exposed to flooding increased by 114%.

The coast's adaptation to climate change is estimated to cost between $26 billion and $89 billion in the decade beginning in 2040, depending on sea level rise.

Land Management

Little progress has been made to address desertification and droughts, some improvements in access to food have been achieved. Excessive demand for food, feed, fuel and raw materials intensifies pressures on land, leading to deforestation.

Progress has been made on deforestation globally. Thus, forest loss fell from 16 million hectares in the 1990s to 13 million hectares between 2000 and 2010. Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean are jointly responsible for the loss of more than 7 million hectares per year between 2005 and 2010. Yet that number has drastically increased in the 2010s. 50 million hectares are in danger of being destroyed this decade, a drastic change to the zero deforestation pledge of the 2000s.

Improving governance and building capacities are key to implementing more sustainable land management systems.

Agricultural development, fossil fuel and mineral extraction, forestry, urban development, increased tourism in coastal and other areas, as well as land tenure systems, must be addressed from the scope of the effective land management policies that prevent soil degradation and to re-enable those that are deteriorated.

Chemicals and Waste

Progress has been made on heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants and radioactive waste.

However, more than 90% of water samples and fish extracted from aquatic media are contaminated by pesticides. Persistent organic pollutant (POP) contamination has also spread and particularly affects remote areas, such as the Arctic and Antarctica.

New issues calling for attention include the urgent implementation of appropriate electrical and electronic waste management systems and the challenges posed by endocrine disrupting chemicals, plastics in the environment, open burning and the production and use of nanomaterials in many common products.

Regional perspectives

There are a number of key issues and examples of effective policies that, if urgently expanded and implemented, can contribute to the transition to a Green Economy.

Population growth and increased consumption are common problems in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. In Africa and Asia and the Pacific, they are aggravated by a rapid urbanization process that puts greater pressure on the depletion of natural resources.

Climate change is a global problem.

Examples of success—from a new understanding of the value of forests to ecosystems in Kenya to the introduction of payment for ecosystem services in Vietnam or the adoption of policies that have reduced deforestation in the Amazon— show, that you can move forward on this path.

Europe and North America maintain unsustainable consumption levels. In North America, in particular, the growth of the renewable energy industry has slowed.

European policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such as the congestion tax, show that change is possible. The same is true in North America, where the electricity grid has been flexed to expand the introduction of renewable energy and taxes on carbon taxes have been applied in Quebec and British Columbia.

West Asia faces worsening water scarcity, soil degradation and sea level rise, but may be inspired by some policies being implemented elsewhere, such as water resource management in Yemen , Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, or the rehabilitation of grasslands in Syria.

GEO-6 included a regional chapter on Latin America and the Caribbean, which proposed policies which generated improvements, Areas addressed reflected environmental issues in five priority areas: biodiversity, water, land, climate change and environmental governance.

Countries in the region share a number of common environmental challenges despite their heterogeneity. These include climate change, biodiversity loss and concern about water and land management. Coastal and marine issues, urbanization, poverty and inequality are also a high priority.

Policies in the region can only be effective if they succeed in reducing the gap between science and policy-making. Such research should include, where knowledge is relevant, local and indigenous wisdom, an important feature of the LAC region. Researchers and policy makers must continuously work together to acquire relevant knowledge and innovation information to apply to environmental decision-making.

The policies and instruments on display require a solid environmental governance base to ensure their effectiveness. To achieve this favorable condition, strong institutional adjustments and appropriate policy frameworks are needed, while public participation, monitoring and evaluation, education and a culture of environmental awareness are fundamental to their successful operation.

To be sustainable, the region's natural capital must be managed in an integrated way across all sectors. To respond to the region's complex nature of the environment and its opportunities and challenges, policies must be designed and implemented in a way that transcends the traditional compartmentalized approach based on sectoral rapprochement. This will help the region with some of its persistent environmental problems and other associated socio-economic problems, including social, poverty and inequality conflicts.

Plans have been developed and implemented which produce good examples of transformation allocated approaches and policies. These are usually at the national and sub-national levels and offer opportunities to be replicated, both inside and outside the region. Its characteristics generally include the effective incorporation of scientific information, knowledge and best practices; links between strong governance sectors and mechanisms, stakeholder participation, and political will and support.

Development need not be achieved at the expense of the environment or the populations that depend on it, and GEO-6 describes some potential paths that can be followed to avoid it. In fact, many of the projects it analyses demonstrate that a greater understanding of the value of natural resources can serve as a stimulus for development.

A new definition of the concept of wealth that goes beyond gross domestic product and includes indicators of sustainability is the best way to increase the standard of living and well-being of all communities, especially those of developing countries.

The report makes the following specific recommendations:

More reliable data is needed to make informed decisions about environmental resources and to measure progress towards internationally agreed targets.

  • Clear long-term environmental and development objectives are needed, as well as greater accountability for international treaties.
  • Capacity building to support environmental information, especially in developing countries, should be significantly strengthened.
  • Changes must be made both in the short term and include technological, governance and investment measures, as well as changes based on a shift in mindset towards values based on sustainability and equality.
  • Achieving transformation requires an accelerated, gradual and constant transition process. While some strategic innovations are already taking place, they need to be generalized.
  • International cooperation is essential, as environmental problems do not address borders. Global responses can play a key role in setting goals, creating financial resources, and making it easier to share best practices.

Although responses at the national and regional levels have been satisfactory, only equitable, efficient and effective results will be achieved from a polycentric governance approach.

Improving human well-being depends on the ability of individuals, institutions, countries and the global community to respond to environmental change.

Global Environment Outlook provides an opportunity to assess achievements and weaknesses, as well as to foster global responses to transformation.

Further Reading