The World is on an unsustainable path if governments do not urgently enforce strict environmental policies and treaties, according to a new report by The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The fifth edition of the five-yearly Global Environmental Outlook assessment (GEO-5), released 6 June, warns that if humanity does not urgently change its ways, several critical thresholds of the Earth’s systems may be exceeded, causing abrupt and irreversible changes to the life-support functions of the planet.

GEO-5 found that out of 500 environmental goals, only four of the 90 ‘most-important’ environmental goals and objectives had seen significant progress. Eliminating the production and use of substances that deplete the ozone layer, removal of lead from fuel, increasing access to improved water supplies and boosting research to reduce pollution of the marine environment had all seen improvements over the last five years.

Some progress was shown in 40 goals, including the expansion of protected areas and efforts to reduce deforestation, little or no progress was detected in 24 goals, including climate change, fish stocks, and desertification and drought while eight goals saw deterioration, including the state of the world‘s coral reefs (largely from ocean acidification). 14 goals were unable to be assessed due to lack of data, including the global trends in freshwater pollution.

“[GEO-5’s] findings on the state of the planet, globally and regionally, are unsurprisingly sobering and cause for profound concern,” said Achim Steiner, United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. “If current trends continue, if current patterns of production and consumption of natural resources prevail and cannot be reversed, then governments will preside over unprecedented levels of damage and degradation."

Indeed, such has been the impact of human life on the planet that scientists have called this geological epoch the Anthopocene as human activity has directly altered the Earth’s systems. ‘The most readily recognized changes include a rise in global temperatures and sea levels, and ocean acidification, all associated with the increase in emissions of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide and methane,' says the report. ‘Other human-induced changes include extensive deforestation and land clearance for agriculture and urbanization, causing species extinctions as natural habitats are destroyed.’

The report breaks down the environmental goals for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, West Asia, Asia and the Pacific, North America and Africa and even suggests policies that may help tackle each region’s environmental shortfalls. Europe is cited as being ‘at the forefront of international efforts to tackle climate change, establish protected areas and reduce air pollution’, yet the region’s environmental footprint still remains disproportionately high.

Figures suggest that although Europe has more than doubled municipal waste recycling between 1995 and 2008 (17 per cent to 40 per cent), Europe is still not a recycling society, as waste disposed of in or on land exceeds 40 per cent (figures from the EEA’s 2010 report The European Environment: State and Outlook). GEO-5 highlights that Europe should focus on tackling five priority environmental issues: Air Quality; Biodiversity; Chemicals & Waste; Climate Change and Freshwater.

Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations welcomed the report, saying: “In a world with a growing population, glaring inequality and a precarious environmental base, it is imperative that Governments collaborate to balance the economic, social and environmental strands of sustainable development.”

The report comes two weeks before Rio+20, a UN Conference on Sustainable Development that will take place in Brazil on June 20-22, two decades after the Rio Earth Summit set the agenda for global sustainable development. UNEP’s report encourages leaders at Rio+20 to develop a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs) as areas where specific stringent treaties were in place (such as the promotion of unleaded petrol) have seen positive results. The report also outlines examples of successful policy initiatives (including public investment and green accounting) that could be adopted to help reduce humanity’s impact on the world’s biosphere.

"The moment has come to put away the paralysis of indecision, acknowledge the facts and face up to the common humanity that unites all peoples,” said Steiner. “Rio+20 is a moment to turn sustainable development from aspiration and patchy implementation into a genuine path to progress and prosperity for this and the next generations to come.”

Recent reports have suggested that many leaders of Western countries will not be attending Rio+20, including U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama and a delegation from the European Parliament.

The full report can be read on UNEP’s website.