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With so much focus on global environmental problems, many may wonder how their region is faring more specifically. This is the sentiment behind the United Nations Environment Program鈥檚 process for the latest iteration of its flagship assessment, the  (GEO-6). 

The GEO-6 will combine six regional reports into a single assessment in mid-2017 with individual regional reports . On June 21, a two-panel discussion with four lead authors from the report and key policymakers met at the 浪花直播 Center to release and discuss the , which covers the United States and Canada.

Jason Jabbour, a regional coordinator for the UNEP Regional Office for North America, encouraged readers to look 鈥渂eyond the book.鈥� Rather than a static report, Jabbour characterized the GEO-6 process as a 鈥渧enue to create meaningful dialogue,鈥� making valuable data publically accessible, creating a peer-reviewed baseline level of knowledge, and demonstrating progress and challenges to the world. The ultimate goal of GEO is to improve the interface between science and policy for innovative, more effective environmental management.

鈥淲hile people are concerned with global environmental problems, politics and the environment are really local,鈥� Daniel Reifsnyder, the deputy assistant secretary for the  at the U.S. Department of State. 鈥淧eople care deeply about where they live and the environment in which they raise their children.鈥�

The GEO-6 鈥渄oes not tell the regions what they should do, it asks them what鈥檚 on their minds and invites them to document those things,鈥� said Marc Levy, a coordinating lead author and deputy director of the  at Columbia University. One thing he noted for North America was that people tend to have strong reactions to environmental issues, one way or the other. 鈥淭he things that people said they cared most about fell either into a problem that worried them or a solution that excited them.鈥�

Levy said 鈥渢he state of the environment is good鈥� in North America, a status that has been earned. 鈥淎 lot of this is the result of very hard work to design and implement effective policies.鈥� For example, 鈥渨e have a very effective air quality management system that continues to decrease emissions, improve air quality, and bring quite significant public health benefits to our economies as our economies continue to grow and prosper,鈥� said Terry Keating, a coordinating lead author and scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 . Water quality is also 鈥溾�� in most places, thanks to a resilient and well-enforced set of policies.

However, despite the overall good grade, there are worrying signs. 鈥淭here is not a single environmental condition that is good without exception,鈥� said Levy.

鈥淲e have new systemic challenges,鈥� said John Matuszak, an international affairs officer at the U.S. Department of State and chair of the GEO-6 Committee of the Whole, including more severe fire seasons, managing carbon emissions, negative trends in biodiversity, and rapid changes in the Arctic. And while there have been some encouraging signs in slowing land use conversion, the expansion of urban areas and continued fragmentation of natural landscapes remain challenges in many places.

There are still pockets where poor environmental quality persists, as well 鈥� Flint, Baltimore, Appalachia, and portions of the urban northeast coast. Areas that failed national ambient air quality standards were mostly located in urban and socioeconomically disadvantaged regions of the United States. Areas with extractive mineral industries were also identified as having declining environmental quality. 鈥淭here鈥檚 still subpopulations which are affected disproportionately,鈥� said Keating, and 鈥渨e need to work to reduce their exposures.鈥�

Paula Brand, director general of the Sustainability Directorate at , said GEO-6 鈥渂egin[s] to frame things not always as problems but opportunities to move forward.鈥� She cited the 鈥渃rumbling infrastructure鈥� throughout North America, and recent budget allocations to replace it. 鈥淗ow do we get the best investments out of these from a green infrastructure point of view?鈥� By including environmental considerations in the decision-making process, she said.

鈥淕EO is all about transparency,鈥� said Brand. 鈥淭he release of this kind of information, scientifically credible and validated through a very extensive peer reviewed process is an extremely important piece of鈥he policy development phase.鈥�

鈥淲hen GEO started back in 鈥�95 the governments weren鈥檛 making data available,鈥� Matuszak recalled. 鈥淭hings were always talked about on a global level because countries were afraid that someone might point the finger at them and say, 鈥榃ell, there鈥檚 a problem here.鈥欌��

Open access is 鈥渂ecoming a powerful change agent in the environmental field,鈥� changing 鈥渉ow we monitor and quite frankly manage the environment,鈥� said Jabbour. 鈥淲e are at this moment in history where it is within our means to make it possible for anyone to know something or learn as much as can be learned.鈥�

Keating partially attributed North America鈥檚 strong clean air standards to such transparency. Information management and technology 鈥渋s allowing people to gain access to information about emissions, their exposure, air quality in real time鈥� It helps to build a public demand for clean air.鈥�

Richard Guldin, a coordinating lead author on the report and senior fellow at the , said the collection of data and tools available to everyday people is growing so quickly that people can now see advanced forestry data almost in real time. 鈥淧erhaps that openness and transparency is one of the keys to rebuilding public trust for active management of natural landscapes,鈥� he said.

Many of the challenges facing the United States and Canada are problems that will be either improved or exacerbated with technology. Technology is allowing environmental managers and citizens to track changing trends with increased accuracy and specificity; extending the benefits of technology to resolving environmental problems is the next step.

鈥淚f everybody in the world consumed the way we do in the United States鈥he world would have a very big problem鈥�

鈥淓nvironmental management is also about influencing the paths of technology,鈥� said Michael Brody, a coordinating leader author and professor at American University. In either direction, the technology is already developed and waiting. 鈥淚f we want to make obsolesce of consumables not an environmental problem, then we need to make that choice,鈥� and implement policies that reflect that choice, said Levy.

Even if sustainability isn鈥檛 a policy priority for people, there are market demonstrations that when consumers have access to product impact information they make more sustainable purchases, said Matuszak, citing popular bike- and ride-sharing ventures and the demand for hybrid vehicles, including high-end products like Tesla鈥檚 electric car.

However, the current consumption trends in North America generally point to more intense consumerism. 鈥淲hat we do know is that if everybody in the world consumed the way we do in the United States,鈥� Keating said, 鈥渢he world would have a very big problem鈥�

Moving forward, Levy and Guldin cited the escalating costs of fire management as a major issue. Due to climate change, Guldin noted that forests are becoming increasingly vulnerable to pests and disease. They鈥檙e also more densely populated because controlled burns have gone out of favor. This volatile combination is fueling larger, hotter, and more expensive fires.

Keating noted that in order to mitigate the broader effects of climate change, it is important to understand what drives pollution and how drivers are changing. For example, urbanization is changing the way air pollution is formed, and extractive industries are expanding into previously untouched areas, creating new demands for protection, he said, citing the tar sands in Canada and the United States.

How can the United States and Canada avoid going off course? Brand believes more work needs to be done to improve the interface between environmental scientists and the general public to improve trust. 鈥淲e have鈥he ability to communicate science in a really simple way that doesn鈥檛 discredit or undervalue the integrity of the science, but actually make it acceptable to people.鈥� For example, if 鈥渨e are going to talk about 鈥榚missions from transportation,鈥� [it] doesn鈥檛 mean anything, but if you start to talk to me about mobility and how I get around, now I am going to listen.鈥�

Continuing to improve is important not only for the health of Canadian and American citizens but to improve international relations, said Matuszak. It shows that North America is setting an example domestically so that when our partners ask what we鈥檙e doing, we can answer, he said.

There is significant 鈥渆xpertise within the North American region that we can really harness to expand our knowledge elsewhere,鈥� said Sumi Mehta, senior director for research and evaluation at the .

Event Resources:

Written by Cara Thuringer and Adrienne Bober, edited by Schuyler Null.

Cover Photo Credit: , courtesy of Lance Cheung/U.S. Department of Agriculture.