[Prelims 2020] [Part 3/4] List of Indices and Reports: Environment-related: World Water Development Report, Emission Gap Report, Global Environment Outlook and more
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Dear Students,

In this post, we will discuss important Environment-related reports and indices released by international organizations/NGOs since 2018-19.

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This is the 3rd part of a 4-series of posts on Important Reports and Indices.

For Part 1Click here

For Part 2Click here

List of Environment-related Reports and Indices
Reports/IndicesDetails
World Water Development Report, 2020-“Water and Climate Change”

-Annual report

Published by: Produced by UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) and released by UN-Water.

Key takeaways:

  • Longer-term shifts in temperature and precipitation and day-to-day weather variations within the next 50 to 100 years would increasingly expose agriculture and impact food security
  • The vulnerability to climate change in Indus and Ganga-Brahmaputra agricultural systems is very high and high respectively
World Climate and Security ReportPublished by: International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS)

Key takeaways:

  • Climate change-induced water insecurity is a significant driver of instability and will pose a significant or higher risk to global security by 2030

 

Emission Gap Report

-Annual report

Published by: UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

Key takeaways:

  • At the current pace, the world is heading for a 3.2°C temperature rise
  • Greenhouse gas emissions had risen 1.5% per year over the last decade
  • India is the third-largest emitter behind the United States and China respectively.

 

6th Global Environment Outlook (GEO) Published by: UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

The assessment highlights the current state of the environment, illustrates possible future environmental trends and analyses the effectiveness of environmental policies.

Key takeaways:

  • Environmental pollution is responsible for the premature deaths of nine million people a year
  • Air pollution causes 6-7 million early deaths annually
World Air Quality Report 2019

 

Published by: Pollution tracker IQAir and Greenpeace

Key takeaways:

  • Bangladesh is the most polluted country
  • India is the 5th most polluted country
  • 21 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world are located in India
  • Ghaziabad ranked the world’s most polluted city

Note: Ranking is based on PM 2.5 levels

State of the Global Climate Report 2019Published by: World Meteorological Organization

Key takeaway: Global average temperature in 2019 (January to October) was about 1.1 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial period.

Climate Change and LandPublished by: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

  • The report is a special report by IPCC which complement the main Assessment Reports that the IPCC publishes every five or six years.
  • The report explains how land-based activities such as agriculture, forestry, cattle-rearing and urbanisation are causing global warming, and is affected by climate change.

 

Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem ServicesPublished by: UN’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Key takeaways:

  • Up to one million of Earth’s estimated eight million plants, insect and animal species are at risk of extinction.

Key global threats:

  • overexploitation of land and sea resources,
  • illegal poaching,
  • deforestation,
  • plastic waste,
  • fossil fuel emissions and climate change.
Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), 2020:Published by: Germanwatch, New Climate Institute and Climate Action Network (CAN)

Key takeaways:

  • USA and Saudi Arabia topmost polluters.
  • India was ranked 9th
Global Climate Risk 2020 reportPublished by: Germanwatch

Key takeaways:

  • Japan, the Philippines, and Germany at the top for overall climate vulnerability in 2018.
  • India was ranked 5th
“Ocean deoxygenation: Everyone’s problem”Published by: IUCN

Key takeaway: levels of oxygen in the oceans fell by around 2% from 1960 to 2010.

Global Futures ReportPublished by: World Wide Fund for Nature, Global Trade Analysis Project and the Natural Capital Project.

  • The report analysed how the natural assets would change under various future development scenarios and how the consequent changes in ecosystem services would in turn affect the global economy
Nature risk rising report

-First edition

Published by:  World Economic Forum (WEF) in collaboration with PwC

  • It explains how nature-related risks matter to business, why they must be urgently mainstreamed into risk management strategies
World Energy Outlook 2019

Annual report

Published by: International Energy Agency

  • It provides strategic insight on the future of energy and energy-related emissions, and detailed scenarios that map out the consequences of different energy policy and investment choices.

Key takeaways: At present, the energy demand in the world is growing at a rate of 2% per year.

P.S. -Please comment below if we have missed any important indices.

Also, let us know the topics on which you would like us to make the next article.

This article is a part of the Series of Articles Important for Prelims 2020. To see the full list of articles, visit this page.
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