In this report, we will discuss the second chapter (Drivers of Environmental Change) of the Global environment outlook and try to identify how these factors affect environmental change..

According to the UN GEO-6 report, there are five drivers reviewed of environmental change: population growth and demographics, urbanization, economic development, new technological forces, and climate change- that have led to an unprecedented expansion of wealth for many but have also left many behind and could produce trouble for the future.

a.      Population growth and demographics

Countries with higher population growth rates are typically also poor, have lower carbon footprint per capita and experience slower growths in income per capita. For this reason, increased population does not always lead to increased consumption or resources uses. High inequality and population growth are also inextricably linked. Inequality is a root cause of both rapid population growth and environmental degradation.

Other things being equal, more people will mean a proportionally higher pressure on the environment.

b.      Urbanization

Urbanization is a major driver shaping the economy, the environment, the planet and human well-being worldwide.

A distinct channel through which demographic trends affect environmental resources is through urbanization. The facts about urbanization are well known. Urban areas have higher incomes and consumption, greater access to political power, higher rates of economic growth, and, per capita, place a higher pressure on natural resources. On the other hand, cities exhibit greater efficiency in the use of resources per unit of income generated and better potential for energy efficiency.

c.       Economic development

The term economic development has been used in the literature to distinguish it from a one-dimensional measure of human welfare, which focused solely on economic growth. The economic development refers to an increase in human welfare, which depends on material consumption and many other factors, including the environment.

d.      Technology, innovation and global sustainability

Technology can be a positive and negative driver of environmental change. Negatively, it provides an opportunity to accelerate, with incentives, the harnessing of natural resources for human ends, in time of crisis, incentives strongly favour adaptation of riskier options and elimination or minimization of safeguards. Positively, technology progress also creates more efficient options, which can meet human needs at lower resources costs.

e.       Climate change

Anthropogenic climate change is driver of environmental change because it acquired a momentum independent of future human activity. Climatic change is driven by modification in atmospheric composition due to land-use change, primarily deforestation, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as CO₂ emitted through fuel burning and methane released from agriculture and other sources, as well as the emissions of aerosol particles.

Taken together, these five drivers are bringing about changes in the hydrological cycle, health impacts, and ecosystem degradation as well as pollution. In the absence of an adequate response, a changing climate lead to a pre-modern world of famine, plague, war, and premature death.

Source: UNEP, 2019. GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT OUTLOOK (GEO-6) HEALTHY PLANET, HEALTHY PEOPLE, 745p.