Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) assessed the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. From 2001 to 2005, the MA involved the work of more than 1,360 experts worldwide. Their findings provide a state-of-the-art scientific appraisal of the condition and trends in the world’s ecosystems and the services they provide, as well as the scientific basis for action to conserve and use them sustainably.
There are different reports available:

• Overview of reports.
  
• Synthesis Reports. The first set of assessment reports consists of an overall synthesis and 5 others that interpret the MA findings for specific audiences.
  
• Statement of the board. The MA Board of Directors has developed an interpretation of the key messages to emerge from the assessment, entitled Living Beyond Our Means: Natural Assets and Human Well-Being.
  
• GreenFacts: Popularized synthesis report

The bottom line

Analysis. At the heart of this assessment is a stark warning. Human activity is putting such strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet’s ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted. The provision of food, fresh water, timber, fiber and fuel to a growing population has come at considerable cost to the complex systems of plants, animals, and biological processes that make the planet habitable. As human demands increase in coming decades, these systems will face even greater pressures—and the risk of further weakening the natural infrastructure on which all societies depend. There is already a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth.

Action. Protecting and improving our future well-being requires wiser and less destructive use of natural assets. This in turn involves major changes in the way we make and implement decisions. We must learn to recognize the true value of nature—both in an economic sense and in the richness it provides to our lives in ways much more difficult to put numbers on. Above all, protection of these assets can no longer be seen as an optional extra, to be considered once more pressing concerns such as wealth creation or national security have been dealt with. This assessment shows that healthy ecosystems are central to the aspirations of humankind.

In the midst of this unprecedented period of spending Earth’s natural bounty, however, it is time to check the accounts. That is what this assessment has done, and it is a sobering statement with much more red than black on the balance sheet.

Read more:
United Nations Environment Programme
Wiki: Sustainability
11 Solutions to Halting the Environmental Crisis