Investments in agricultural research and development (R&D) are still growing, but the growth rate declined during the 1990s. In addition, investment trends among countries have increasingly diverged. Investment in publicly funded agricultural R&D in many industrialized countries has stalled or declined and has become a small proportion of total spending on science and technology (S&T).

Only 15% of the world’s agricultural public sector extension agents are women [Global 3]. Women's access to extension is limited by lack of access to membership in rural organizations which often channel or provide training opportunities, and by gender blind agricultural policies that give inadequate attention to women farmer's needs in terms of crops and technology.

Waste collection is a basic public service performed for everyone in OECD countries. Everyone? Well, a closer look reveals that this is not the case for a significant number of people. If these developed countries can’t collect all their waste, imagine the situation in many developing countries, where resources are much scarcer and access is sometimes problematic. This graphic presents the situation in selected OECD countries, highlighting a numb...

The Soviet development model for Central Asia was based on building large-scale irrigation schemes enabling the region to become a major cotton producer and expanding the mining and processing industry. Industrial operations in the region paid little attention to the environment and public health, resulting in the accumulation of pollutants in the local environment. Today, not only active industrial facilities constitute a threat to environment, ...

The Aarhus Convention is a new kind of environmental agreement. It links environmental rights and human rights. It acknowledges that we owe an obligation to future generations. It establishes that sustainable development can be achieved only through the involvement of all stakeholders. It links government accountability and environmental protection. It focuses on interactions between the public and public authorities in a democratic context and i...

The graphic shows the trends in aid flow from 1990 to 1996 between private and public groups. Public aid largely refers to nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), made up of the developed nations of the world, who have committed to providing a certain level of development assistance to underdeveloped countries. This is called Official Development Assistance (ODA), and is given by governments on certain conces...

WWF Ranking of the 30 dirtiest power plants in Europe and (in)efficiency of power plants located in the European Union and serving the public power supply.

Species that has been introduced on purpose or spread in the wild threaten livelihoods in agriculture or water resources. As illustrated in this map, some regions of South Africa have very high ratios of invasive alien plants and are subject to government projects to limit the distribution and information campaigns informing the public.

Species that has been introduced on purpose or spread in the wild threaten livelihoods in agriculture or water resources. As illustrated in this map, some regions of South Africa have very high ratios of invasive alien plants and are subject to government projects to limit the distribution and information campaigns informing the public.

Reusing and recycling are natural survival strategies for many people in the developing world. In rich countries we abandoned the habit and are now relearning how to reuse and recycle. Public rubbish collection and a well established recycling industry do a big part of the job for us.

PRTRs (Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers) are databases of chemical releases to air, land and water from factories or other sources. Targeting a broad public audience, they support our right to information on toxic waste and air pollution. The Australian National Pollutant Inventory (NPI), for instance, not only provides the public with free access to data on its website but also helps facilities estimate and report emissions.

A visual timeline of historical waste manaement. From the first recorded landfill created in Knossos in 3000 B.C. to the English parliament banning waste disposal in public waterways and ditches in 1388 to the establishment of The Basel Convention in 1992.

Curitiba has become world-famous for its original approach to basic municipal problems thanks to a unique mixture of innovative town planning, determined political leadership and good public relations.

Curitiba has become world-famous for its original approach to basic municipal problems thanks to a unique mixture of innovative town planning, determined political leadership and good public relations.

Public health policies during the Soviet period eliminated several traditional diseases. But for lack of adequate investment in medical equipment and drugs in the 1970s and 1980s they failed to effectively halt a worrying rise in the overall and infant death rate.

Decline in public expenditure on health and education, the general level of public health is either steady or actually declining. Inequality is on the rise, with the switch to a two-tier health service under which payment is demanded for an increasing range of treatments, putting them out of the reach of much of the population.

Curitiba has become world-famous for its original approach to basic municipal problems thanks to a unique mixture of innovative town planning, determined political leadership and good public relations.

These projections of biodiversity loss from 2000 to 2050 were produced by the GLOBIO consortium for UNEP's Global Environment Outlook 4. Across the GEO scenarios and regions, global biodiversity continues to be threatened, with strong implications for ecosystem services and human well-being. All regions continue to experience declines in terrestrial biodiversity in each of the scenarios. The greatest losses are seen in Markets First, followed by ...

The Soviet development model for Central Asia was based on building large-scale irrigation schemes enabling the region to become a major cotton producer and expanding the mining and processing industry. Industrial operations in the region paid little attention to the environment and public health, resulting in the accumulation of pollutants in the local environment. Today, not only active industrial facilities constitute a threat to environment, ...

In the soviet period the industrial operations paid little attention to environment or public health, resulting in the accumulation of pollutants in the local environment. Because of their vulnerability to natural hazards, previous history of accidents, and their position along water courses and in the vicinity of towns and cities in transboundary areas, tailing dumps at both active and closed mining enterprises constitute an environmental as wel...