Description
The South Africa Environment Outlook presents an extensive overview of the current condition of our environment, the pressures upon it and our responses to those pressures. It further presents a glimpse into what the future state of the environment may be like if current trends continue and suggests interventions we should consider implementing. The main aim of the report is to provide scientifically credible information and assessments that will help
drive the future environmental agenda for South Africa. A further aim is to inform and stimulate debate on the significant environmental issues that confront us.
The information in the main report is structured around four parts. Part I, “Setting the scene” (Chapters 1 and 2), deals with the concepts of environmental sustainability and the current social and economic realities of South Africa, and outlines in broad terms the ways in which different economic sectors impact on the environment. Part II (Chapters 3–9) explores the state of particular environmental components (land resources, biodiversity, inland water, marine and coastal resources, and atmosphere), environmental governance, and human settlements. Part III (Chapter 10) considers the issue of environmental change and human vulnerability by means of case studies. Collectively, these case studies reflect to some extent how
vulnerable we are to environmental change. Part IV (Chapter 11) extrapolates from current environmental trends to provide an indication of what the state of the environment in South Africa may look like by 2025. This section was included to facilitate debate around environmental futures, as well as to bring the report
more closely in line with regional and global reporting initiatives and approaches. Part V (Chapter 12) discusses various options available to us to improve the condition of the environment in which we live.
This summary document sets out the report’s main conclusions and makes a series of recommendations for action that should be considered in order to see improvement in the state of our environment over time. Key findings for each of the eight major environmental themes are also presented.
