Emerging environmental issues & Concept note UNEP foresight process in Small island Developing States (SIDS)

A Compilation of Initial Ideas on Emerging Environmental Issues from the Perspective of Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
 

Read more on the 21 emerging environmental issues identified:
http://www.unep.org/publications/ebooks/foresightreport/Portals/24175/pdfs/Foresight_Report-21_Issues_for_the_21st_Century.pdf

In 2011 UNEP carried out a rigorous Foresight Process to identify and rank the most important emerging environmental issues. The outcomes of the process were released at the 2012 UNEP Governing Council in a report: 21 Issues for the 21st Century: Results of the UNEP Foresight Process on Emerging Environmental Issues1. The report was widely circulated within and outside the UN system in the run-up to Rio +20 and at Rio +20, and has stimulated many lively discussions about priorities for policy action. It has already influenced the new medium-term strategy of UNEP.
At the heart of the 2011 Process was a Foresight Panel consisting of distinguished scientists from around the world. As such, the list of emerging issues primarily reflected the views of the scientific community. But would the list of emerging issues be the same if it was produced by experts from Small Island Developing States (SIDS)? Would the distinctive perspective the SIDS provide new insights to policymakers?
To answer these questions, UNEP proposes to carry out a unique new Foresight Process centred on the viewpoints of the SIDS. The process will produce what is likely to be the first systematic determination of emerging issues from the perspective of the SIDS and will further strengthen UNEP’s work with the SIDS. This foresight process will be a UNEP contribution to the preparation of the Barbados plus 20 Conference in 2014 and will contribute to one of the four thematic foci of the conference: “identify new and emerging challenges and opportunities for the sustainable development of SIDS and means of addressing them.
Read more on the UNEP foresight process:
http://www.unep.org/science/chief-scientist/Activities/Cross-cuttingIssues/UNEPForesightProcess.aspx