Atlas shows environmental change in Arab
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E-mail UNEP, December 11, 2013
Between 1980 and 2008, droughts, earthquakes,floods and storms affected more than 37 million people in theregion and caused damage estimated at US$20 billion.
The Arab region has faced 276 disaster events in the past 25 yearsand more than 40 per cent of these natural disasters occurred inthe past five years.
The Atlas brings to light stories of these environmental changes through images showing visual evidence of changes taking place in the land, water and atmosphere, and covering trans-boundary issues like river basins, transboundary conservation areas and pollutants. It also illustrates how humans have positively or negatively altered their surroundings and continue to make observable and measurable changes to the Arab region and its environment.
Although the challenges depicted are striking, the atlas examines the opportunities that these challenges present, as well as some of the innovative responses that are being implemented in the region.
For example, many Arab nations have established special institutions for environmental management and sustainable development, and improvements in health and education create building blocks for accelerating this sustainable development.
The Atlas also shedslight on the unique environmental issues faced by each country, and tracks the individual progress each is making towards achieving the goal of Ensuring Environmental Sustainability, as part of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals.
Aimed at environmental policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, academics, teachers and the public, the atlas will bring local-level changes to the attention of global audiences and support improved decision-making and policy formulation for a more sustainable future.
The Atlasis the latest addition to a series of atlases coordinated by UNEP that began in 2005 with the launch of a global atlas - "One Planet, Many People." This new atlas is an important addition to the growing suite of UNEP atlases that aim to contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of environmental change.
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