Global Environment Outlook 7
Intensified environmental policies can make the world healthier, reduce poverty, and provide long term economic growth. This is a key conclusions from the 7th Global Environmental Outlook, a comprehensive assessment of the world’s environment. PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency coordinated the analysis of two transformation pathways in this flagship publication by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Despite global efforts and calls for action, the world is facing deepening crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, and pollution. Many international goals and targets for these interconnected problems will not be met, causing substantial social and economic damage. While the window of opportunity is closing fast, achieving the goals and targets is still possible.
Two transformation pathways to a prosperous and healthy world
The report compares the implications of current trends to two transformation pathways to meet international environmental goals and targets. A behaviour-focused pathway is driven by changes in society’s values and norms towards sufficiency and a sharp decrease in unsustainable consumption. A technology-focused pathway is driven by efficiency and clean-technology gains in an economically globalized world. These pathways show benefits for people and planet. Both require unprecedented and coordinated action. Both pathways also require substantial investments the coming decades but net global macroeconomic benefits start to appear around 2050 and grow to tens of trillons of dollars annually in the second half of the century. In the transition pathways, in total nine million premature deaths are avoided by 2050, through measures such as cutting air pollution, and 100 million people are lifted out of extreme poverty. The benefits of the transformation pathways thus clearly outweigh the costs of continuing on the current path.
Warmest decade on record
The 10 warmest years since records began have all occurred during the last decade. The global average temperature of the Earth has increased with at least 1.3°C since the industrial era with important regional variations. The last two years (2023 and 2024) were the warmest on record, with 2024 exceeding a global average temperature 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels. Without action, global mean temperature rise is likely to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in the early 2030s, and reach around three degrees Celsius at the end of the century with current policies.
Fertile land the size of Colombia lost every year
One million out of eight million species on the planet are threatened with extinction. Between 20 and 40 per cent of land area worldwide is estimated to be degraded and the world is losing an area the size of Colombia or Ethiopia annually in fertile soil. The loss of fertile and productive land affects over three billion people
Synergies across systems
There are important synergies between environmental policies. Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy reduces both climate change and air pollution. Both efficiency improvements and lifestyle changes reduce energy, land, and material demand, and thereby the pressures on the environment. Dietary changes and reduced food losses free up large areas currently dedicated to agriculture, enabling the land system to be a net carbon sink and for ecosystems to be conserved. By smartly combining solutions, we can efficiently combat climate change, protect biodiversity and land, and reduce pollution.
Authors
Specifications
- Publication title
- Global Environment Outlook 7
- Publication date
- 9 December 2025
- Publication type
- Report
- Publication language
- English
- Product number
- 5590
