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UNEP FRONTIERS
2016 REPORTEmerging Issues of Environmental Concern

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UNEP FRONTIERS
2016 REPORTEmerging Issues of Environmental Concern

Table of contents

2

Preface4

The Financial Sector: A Linchpin to Advance Sustainable Development
The complex relationship between the private sector and the environment
The underlying but influential role of the financial sector in environmental sustainability
Levers to align the financial sector with sustainable development
Amplifying and diffusing best practices
References

6
6
9
12
14
16

Zoonoses: Blurred Lines of Emergent Disease and Ecosystem Health
Emerging and neglected zoonotic diseases
Drivers of zoonotic disease emergence
Managing zoonoses for human, animal and ecosystem health
Ecosystem integrity underlines human health and development

18
18
22
24
26

References

28

Microplastics: Trouble in the Food Chain
Plastics in the environment
Common sources of microplastics
Plasticized food chains
Addressing the issue at the source
References

32
32
36
38
40
42

44
44
46
48
49
50

Poisoned chalice: Toxin accumulation in crops in the era of climate change
Climate changes trigger accumulation of toxins in crops
Contamination pathways–implications for crops, animals, and people
Remediating toxic contamination in plants and animals
Integrated approaches to meet the challenge
References

54
54
56
58
60
61

The Latest Frontier
Exotic Consumerism: IllegalTrade in Live Animals
Pet trade
Disease transmission
Exotic consumerism
Crossing the frontier

64
64
65
69
71

Acknowledgements

72

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

Loss and Damage: Unavoidable Impacts of Climate Change on Ecosystems
What is Loss and Damage?
Expected loss of ecosystems and their services
Reducing risks associated with climate change
Progress on addressing Loss and Damage
References3Preface
Over the past 10 years, UNEP has endeavoured to identify and highlight emerging issues of global concern through the UNEP
Year Book series. This new UNEP Frontiers report advances this work, signalling environmental issues and solutions for effective
and timely responses. Some issues may emerge as a result of new scientific findings and understanding of interactions between
environmental, social and economic systems; others may be persistent issues for which new approaches and technologies haveemerged to equip decision-makers and managers with more practical solutions and tools. Some issues may be local, relatively
small-scale issues today, with a potential to become an issue of regional or global concern if not addressed early.
The UNEP Frontiers 2016 edition presents six emerging issues. It highlights, for example, that the global significance of thefinancial sector should not confine itself only to enhancing global economic growth, but also to advancing environmental
sustainability. The financial sector has a crucial role to play in investing in new low-carbon, resource efficient and environmentallysound assets, and shifting capital away from traditional assets that have high impacts on the environment. The report presents a
number of emerging financial initiatives led by the financial sector as innovative solutions to sustainability challenges.
There is a worldwide increase in disease emergence and epidemics particularly from zoonoses – diseases that can be passed
on between animals and humans. The report illustrates how the emergence and re-emergence of zoonotic diseases are closelyinterlinked with the health of ecosystems. The risk of disease emergence and amplification increases with the intensification ofhuman activities surrounding and encroaching into natural habitats, enabling pathogens in wildlife reservoirs to spill over tolivestock and humans.
The recent years have seen a growing presence of plastic pollution in the aquatic environment, particularly in form of
microplastics. While stakeholders are increasing their efforts to reduce the use of microplastics through innovative approaches
and policy change, the scientific community is racing to understand the level of exposure and physiological impacts of
microplastic contaminants on various organisms, as well as the risk to human health through consumption of contaminated food.
The UNEP Frontiers report also highlights two critical issues associated with climate change. The issue of loss and damage toecosystems due to changing climate has risen to global attention in recent years, and has led to the establishment of the Warsaw
international mechanism for loss and damage associated with climate change impacts. The report introduces a number of casestudies on recent sudden- and slow-onset events that have caused losses and damages to ecosystems and human systems, andpresents a range of risk management tools needed to avoid harm.

4Changes in climatic patterns also have serious implications for food safety and security. Toxin accumulation in a variety of crops
is one manifestation of climate change impacts that presents further challenges to agriculture and food production. Prolonged
drought and high temperatures can trigger biophysical reactions in plants leading to an accumulation of chemical compounds
toxic to animal and human health. Environmental stressors associated with climate variability can also make plants become more
susceptible to infection by toxin-producing pathogens that, again, lead to toxin accumulation.
Latest Frontier is a unique section of the report providing perspectives on a breaking issue. Still on the global agenda, the illegal
trade in wildlife continues to pose a serious threat to ecosystems and wildlife populations. The illegal trade in live animals andpet trade is building into a a lucrative business that attracts criminal networks throughout the supply chain. Not only threatening
species survival, the illegal trade in live animals also exposes humans to zoonotic diseases associated with the traded species.
In summary, the report emphasises the critical relationship between a healthy environment and healthy people, and how humanactivities often undermine the long-term health and ability of ecosystems to support human well-being. The report provides
encouraging examples on how certain issues may be addressed by innovating and rethinking policy interventions, new solutions
or adapting existing practices. The UNEP Frontier series will continue to link new science to outcome-oriented policies, and byextension, keep the public informed of the health of the environment and its sustainability.

Achim Steiner

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director,
United Nations Environment Programme5THE FINANCIAL SECTOR: A LINCHPIN TO ADVANCE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Photo Credit: Crystal51/ Shutterstock.com

The Financial Sector:
A Linchpin to Advance Sustainable Development
The complex relationship between theprivate sector and the environment
According to the economic theory of the “tragedy of thecommons”, the earth’s natural resources become overexploitedwhen they are considered free, whereby individuals behave
against to the common good. Business as usual expects
government will create a suite of laws and regulations tomanage the free-for-all. However, a growing number ofprivate sector enterprises are moving ahead of government
regulation because they understand their own self-interest isrealized through efforts to reduce environmental damage andeven to encourage tougher environmental regulation.

6

Climate change, ecosystem degradation, water scarcity,
waste management, and other environmental challenges
increasingly force the private sector to consider how aredamaging the environment, for example through deforestation
or greenhouse gas emissions as they and their suppliers
conduct business; or how they are dependent on theenvironment, for example by using water for agricultural
production or mineral extraction and processing. These
activities can expose companies to a variety of risks including
market, regulatory, and reputational risks as well as thephysical risks from climate-related threats. A growing
number of industries and individual companies acknowledge
that diminishing exposure to these material risks is in
their collective self-interest and requires them to reduce
environmental damage.1

Number of companies making pledges to reduce
deforestation and ecosystem impacts

Private Sector
The private sector is the part of the economy that is notgovernment controlled, and is run by individuals andcompanies for profit7

400

Risks
Market risk is defined as “the possibility for an investor
to experience losses due to factors that affect the overall
performance of the financial markets”7

Number of companies

300

200

Physical risk or operational risk A hurricane that damagesa house is a physical risk that the homeowner and hence
the insurance firm need to take into consideration. Water
scarcity due to overuse by agriculture can be a physical or
operational risk because reduced availability of water canlead to lower production levels

100

Regulatory risk refers to a change in laws and regulations
that will materially impact a business or market
by increasing the costs of operation, reducing theattractiveness of investment or changing the competitive
landscape7
Reputational risk is defined as “a threat or danger to thegood name or standing of a business or entity”70Pre-2009

Palm

2009

2010

2011

TimberSoy

2012

Cattle

2013

2014

Video: We Mean Business

OthersPerhaps one of the best-known illustrations comes fromUnilever. The company’s 2010 “Sustainable Living Plan”
pledges to cut the company’s damaging environmental
impact in half by 2020. It also vows to improve the health of
one billion people and enhance livelihoods for millions, allwhile doubling Unilever’s sales. By the end of 2014, Unilever’s
factories emitted 37 per cent fewer greenhouse gas compared
to 2008 while producing more goods. In February 2016 thecompany announced that over 600 of their factories in 70
countries now generate zero waste to landfill.2© We Mean BusinessVideo Link: http://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/about

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

Source: Adapted from Forest Trends (2015)6 with additional unpublished data
provided by Forest Trends Association in January 20167

THE FINANCIAL SECTOR: A LINCHPIN TO ADVANCE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

These types of pledges are increasingly adopted at industrylevel to stimulate sector peers to take action as well. A
coalition of over 554 global companies and investors, withcombined revenue of US$7.8 trillion, called We Mean Business,are committed to decarbonising their businesses throughefforts including purchasing electricity from renewablesources, reducing short-lived climate pollutants, or investingin low carbon assets.3
The Consumer Goods Forum–an association of over 400
large retailers, manufacturers, and service providers across70 countries with combined sales of around US$3 trillion–
recommends that its members adopt a policy of “zero net
deforestation” in their supply chains by 2020.4 As a result,
Wilmar, Cargill, Golden Agri Resources, Nestlé, Unilever,Mars and other companies have made commitments to
deforestation-free sourcing, essentially decoupling productionof vegetable oil, beef, or other commodities from forest
damage. This effort got a boost during the 2014 UN Climate
Summit when 130 governments, companies, civil society,and indigenous peoples’ organisations signed New York
Declaration on Forests. The signatories pledge to cut the lossof forests in half by 2020 and to end forest loss completely by2030.5 So far, 243 companies have pledged their commitments
to reduce deforestation and ecosystem destruction when
producing or procuring agricultural commodities.6

Zero net deforestation
Zero-net deforestation pledge allows companies
to offset the impacts of their practices on forests byreplanting the deforested areas that can largely maintain
forest ‘quantity, quality and carbon density’ in order tohave an overall zero-net effect on deforestation
Zero deforestation pledge commits companies tocompletely remove deforestation from their supply chains

Decoupling
The concept of decoupling can be applied to sustainable
development in two dimensions:
Impact decoupling means maintaining economic output
while reducing the negative environmental impact of any
economic activities that are undertaken
Resource decoupling means reducing the rate of useof resources per unit of economic activity. Absolute
reductions of resource use are a consequence of
decoupling when the growth rate of resource productivity
exceeds the growth rate of the economy24

Global water challenges, and associated risks to businessgrowth and viability, also invite private sector activism. The
Water Stewardship initiative of the CEO Water Mandate has
attracted over 140 leading companies from a wide range
of industries in 40 countries to adopt water sustainability
practices that are responsible to the environment and thesociety.
These different initiatives are significantly accelerating
corporate commitments to advance towards environmental
sustainability, which can minimise material risks in the present
and enhance a company’s financial stability and growth overthe future.

8

Photo Credit: Curraheeshutter/ Shutterstock.com

The underlying but influential role of the financial sector
in environmental sustainability
Banks, pension funds, insurance companies, and other financial
institutions provide a range of services that are an essential partof our daily lives such as offering cash, credit, and other forms ofcapital; saving and investment accounts; and insurance policies.
Credit and liquidity provision as well as other risk management
tools and services are core activities of the financial sector.8

CreditEngaging the financial sector to advance environmental
sustainability is justified by the value it adds to the global
economy and the role it plays in our economy. At present,
the industry contributes roughly 15 per cent to global GDP.9
In terms of managed assets, banks, pension funds, insurance
firms and others control around US$300 trillion.10 The financial
sector has an essential role in advancing environmental
sustainability. Ultimately, the challenge is to shift capital awayfrom unsustainable companies, projects and other assets thatnegatively affect the environmental and towards ‘sustainableassets’ that operate with minimal environmental costs or evenwith environmental benefits.

Liquidity

Video: What is financial sector?

Credit is defined as “a contractual agreement in which aborrower receives something of value now and agrees torepay the lender at some date in the future, generally withinterest. The term also refers to the borrowing capacity of
an individual or company”7

Liquidity describes “the degree to which an asset or
security can be quickly bought or sold in the market
without affecting the asset’s price. Market liquidity refers
to the extent to which a market, such as a country’s stock
market or a city’s real estate market, allows assets to bebought and sold at stable prices. Cash is the most liquid
asset, while real estate, fine art and collectibles are all
relatively illiquid”7
The Financial Sector: Growth in assets by type of institution
from 2000-2013
350
300

200
150
100
50
0

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

Other ﬁnancial intermediaries
Central banks
Insurance companies

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Public ﬁnancial institutions
Pension funds
Banks

Source: Statista (2016)10© Invetopedia
Video Link: http://www.investopedia.com/video/play/financial-sector/
Photo Credit: Katjen/ Shutterstock.com

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

Assets in US$ Trillion

250

9THE FINANCIAL SECTOR: A LINCHPIN TO ADVANCE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
How large are capital markets?
North America
European Union

18,883

9,732

Japan

Newly industrailized
Asian Economies

3,638

2,317
29,45637,255In US$ billions
Equity Market

5,943

14,592

11,196

Debt Market

10,870Emerging Markets

1,288 2,015
Australia

Source: Adapted from Goldman Sachs Interactive Guide to Capital Markets
http://www.goldmansachs.com/s/interactive-guide-to-capital-markets/

A rising number of financial institutions have developed
environmental policies on a voluntary basis. However, theway the financial system is currently designed, and the way
financial institutions currently allocate capital, discourages
change – particularly the transformational change to a
low-carbon, resource-efficient economy. The inclinations
that create this inertia include short-termism and excessive
leverage. These tendencies produce fast turnover of profit
to pay off debt; and they emerge as significant drivers of
instability throughout the economy. In this investment
context, longer-term sustainability-related options are ignoredin financial decision-making.11

10

Without changes in regulations and in costs, it is unlikely thatthe financial industry as whole will transform into a responsible
mode. Concerted public-private sector initiatives are needed
to encourage financial institutions to shift investments into
low carbon, resource efficient, and environmentally soundassets. Pricing environmental risk and regulatory changes are
two important levers to motivate banks, pension funds, andother actors in the financial system to accelerate towards
environmental sustainability. Both supply and demand drivers
need to be applied to enable a global transition to a low carbon,
resource efficient and equitable economy.

Example of risks associated with water scarcity

Example of risks associated with natural resource constraints
Eﬀects atcompany levelEﬀects at
asset level

Water scarcity▪ Physical risk
(too little water) or▪ Regulatory risk(mandated
restrictions)▪ Aggregate eﬀect
of individual
mines on entire
company▪ Physical risk(% production atrisk for individual
mines)

Water supply/demandratio (physical risk) or
restricted water use(regulatory risk)

Adjust company
revenue or earnings

Aggregated eﬀects ofindividual assets oncompany▪ Calculate asset
stranding using e.g.
discounted cash
ﬂow modelling

Potential measures
for risk management▪ Reduce production▪ Capital expenditure

The interlinkages between the financial sector, real economy and the environment
Direct risks

RISKS

Indirect risks

Indirect impact

IMPACTS

Direct impact

Financial sector

Reputational risk
Litigation risk
Regulatory risks

Reputational risks
Physical risk
Market risk
Regulatory risks
Litigation

Corporate
sector(mining, oil & gas,
agriculutre,
forestry,
infrastructure,etc.)
Environment(climate change,chemical pollution,
deforestation,
biodiversity loss,
water)

Loans
EquityInsurance
Land for buildings,
energy , transport(carbon emissions)
Reputational risk
Litigation risk
Regulatory risks

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

Credit risk
Asset stranding
Non-performaing loans(banks, investors,
insurers)

11

THE FINANCIAL SECTOR: A LINCHPIN TO ADVANCE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Levers to align the financial sector with sustainable
development

1. Pricing environmental risk
A number of initiatives, such as CarbonTracker and the Natural
Capital Declaration, are developing models that quantify
how the risks of climate change, ecosystem degradation,water scarcity, waste management, and other environmental
challenges can affect company revenues. In extractive
industries, energy, agriculture, and other sectors, environmental
risks can be included in the cost of capital to borrow money orin the market value of public and private companies. Investors
who fail to factor in such risks could potentially face legal action
for failure to comply with their fiduciary duty.
Consider the fossil fuel sector: the December 2015 Paris
Agreement presents a monumental challenge for the global
community to shift, systematically and rapidly, away fromfossil fuels towards renewable energy. In addition, efforts to
reduce emissions from deforestation, forest degradation, andother sources of greenhouse gas must be amplified.
The European Union is committed to at least a 40 per centdomestic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030
compared to 1990, as outlined in its Intended Nationally
Determined Contribution or INDC.13 The EU must enhance
the process of decarbonisation in major carbon emitting
sectors, including energy and transport, by stimulating greater
investments in renewable energy technologies, as well as inenergy storage solutions. At the same time investments incoal and other forms of carbon-intensive energy generation

12

become riskier and less financially viable. In other words, thesefossil fuel assets could become stranded assets.

Stranded assets
Stranded assets refer to investments becoming less profitable
due to premature write-down, devaluations, or conversion toliabilities, which could be due to environmental issues25
Fossil Fuel Assets at Risk
2500

Global not-listed
fossil fuel reserrves

2098

2000

Listed fossil fuelreserves and resources

Number of companies

There are multiple ways the financial industry can facilitate thetransition to a green economy. Sustainability standards, suchas the IFC Performance Standards, are the traditional way forthe financial industry to self-regulate on environmental issues.
However, additional levers are needed to further stimulate
the financial sector to allocate capital differently. Two related
solutions are emerging.

1500

Unburnablecarbonreserves

1541
Remaining available
2˚C carbon budget
through 2100

1000

987

500

0

Source: Ceres and CarbonTracker (2013)23
http://www.ceres.org/issues/carbon-asset-risk

2. Reforming the regulatory regime
Financing the transition towards more sustainable
development will require a redirection of capital flows towards
critical priorities, and away from assets that deplete natural
capital.16 Without regulatory changes to the financial system
this is unlikely to happen at the scale needed.
Climate change, water scarcity, and other forms of environmental
risk do affect the economy and are a potential source of systemicmaterial risk for the world economy. This risk threat in turn can
provide the basis to engage bank supervisors, such as the BaselCommittee on Bank Supervision, to stress test financial institutions
on their exposure to material environmental risks and to identify
opportunities for reform to reduce exposure.17 The 2015 UNEP
Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System foundover 100 exemplary policy measures across 40 countries thatfacilitate financial system support of sustainable development.11
In China, for example, greening finance is a growing focus
through the promotion of green credit, green securities,
and green insurance. Green credit has been the key policy
for green finance in China’s banking-dominated system.18 In
2007 the State Environmental Protection Administration, thePeople’s Bank of China, and the China Banking Regulatory
Commission jointly called on banks to make compliance withenvironmental laws and regulations a necessary condition forloan approval. As a result green investment in China exceeded
US$200 billion in 2012 or about 2.4% of China’s GDP.

While these government initiatives are encouraging signs,
more financial regulatory reforms are needed to accelerate
the shift towards a green economy. Ultimately this means thatthe risk-adjusted return of an investment or loan will have tofavour environmentally-sound assets.

IFC Performance Standards
The Performance Standards issued by the International
Finance Corporation are a set of qualitative environmental
and social standards, which are endorsed by financial
institutions that cover about 80% of the project financemarket effectively creating a level-playing field

Water Risk Valuation Tool
The Water Risk Valuation Tool (WRVT) maps specific mineassets against water scarcity indicators projected through2030. Water risk is then integrated into the model throughtwo primary pathways:
1.

Revenue: the value of potentially unextractable ore
due to water scarcity can be calculated;2.

Cost: a so-called “shadow price” is modeled based ona holistic value of water for citizens, agriculture andecosystems

Video: Fossil Fuels: A Risky Business?

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

Water is another natural capital that must be factored into
corporate risk assessment. Pervasive drought can strand assets,
especially in water dependent industries including mining,energy, agriculture, and food processing. Mining companies
worldwide spent about US$12 billion on water infrastructure in
2014, a 253 per cent increase of the US$3.4 billion spent in 2009.14
A pioneering effort by Bloomberg LP and the Natural Capital
Declaration enables financial analysts and portfolio managers
to integrate water risks in the valuation of mining companies
through a discounted cash flow model. The Water Risk Valuation
Tool adjusts a mining company’s future revenue and costs basedon how much production may be affected by water.15© Carbon Tracker Initiative
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzOnTKHopS4

13

THE FINANCIAL SECTOR: A LINCHPIN TO ADVANCE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Amplifying and diffusing best practices
Many innovative financial initiatives are emerging. The Portfolio
Decarbonization Coalition has engaged 25 institutions indecarbonizing the US$600 billion worth of assets in theirportfolios by redirecting investments from carbon-intensive
to carbon-efficient companies. Such developments have led
to the rapid expansion of a new asset class, green bonds.
Green bonds are financial instruments to raise capital to tackle
climate change and protect the world’s natural capital. In
2015, the total value of climate-aligned bonds stood at US$598
billion, a 20 per cent increase from the previous year.20 Most
current green bonds focus on financing low-carbon assets inthe transport and energy sectors; however, pioneering efforts
targeting the agriculture and forestry sectors are also rising.
On the banking side, a promising development has been thecall for a business-driven approach to finance by the Positive
Impact Manifesto. Despite existing policy and regulatory
misalignments, the Manifesto encourages banks, the broader
finance sector, and stakeholders to go beyond risk-based
approaches to sustainability and to focus on positive impacts

on the economy, society, and the environment.21 Anotherbusiness-driven development is the proposal from the
Financial Stability Board to establish an industry-led disclosuretask force to develop voluntary climate-related disclosuresnecessary for lenders, insurers and investors in assessing
material financial risks.22
2015 may be the year financial markets started their transition
towards solutions for sustainability challenges. Many leading
individuals and initiatives are guiding financial markets down
this path. All of this necessary preparatory work produced
widespread recognition that sustainable investing is an
essential mechanism, not only to accomplish sustainability
solutions, but also to stabilize and maximize financial value.
This is manifesting itself in many ways, with a ‘race to the top’of commitments emerging–from Goldman Sachs committing
to US$150 billion of clean energy investment through 2025 to
the Bank of America Merrill Lynch US$125 billion commitment
to invest in environmental sustainability. A bottom-up race

Green bonds on the rise

Energy$118.4 bn$65.9bn
Labelled Greenbond universe
Multi-Sector$28.2 bn

$531.8bn
Unlabelled
Climate-aligned
Bond Universe

14

Buildings& Industry$19.6 bn
Agriculture &Forestry $2.3 bn
Waste & Pollution$7.1 bn
Water$3.2 bn

Transport$418.8 bn

Source: Climate Bonds Initiative (2015)20

is also underway to develop the positive impact investing.
Finally, a wave of other interested parties have emerged, fromstudents on campuses campaigning for fossil fuel divestment
to members of pension funds demanding more transparency
from their fiduciaries.
Continuing to accelerate this transition to a low carbon future
must remain in focus, not only through investment practices,
but also through policies. For example, if the global economy isdedicating a trillion dollars a year into new infrastructure, it must
be environmentally sound infrastructure: Who builds it, with whatmaterials, and to what end determines whether it contributes
to sustainable development. To truly work towards sustainable
development, efforts must consider not only changing climate,
but also address water security concerns, deforestation, achieve
ecosystem integrity, establish resource efficiency, foster social
equity, and entrench the principles of a circular economy.

Green bonds
Green bonds refer to a fixed-income financial instrument(bond) that finances low-carbon and resource-efficient
activities

Positive Impact Manifesto

Data
Improve theavailability, quality andcomparability of dataon water use, forest
impacts, etc.

Enabling
environment
Changes in ﬁscal & othereconomic incentives toadvance shift to lowcarbon, resource
eﬃcient assets$ $$Stranded assets
systematically assessedby ﬁnance and captial
markets players

Financial
regulatory reform
Expanding mandatory
disclosure, green credit
guidelines & othertypes of ﬁnancial
reformVideo: Climate change and financial stability speech byMark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England

UNEP Finance Initiative
Created in the context of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit,
the UNEP FI works to understand today’s environmental
challenges, why they matter to finance, and how financial
institutions can actively participate in addressing them.
The UNEP FI partnership today includes a global networkof over 200 banks, insurers and investors from over 50
countries.

© Bank of EnglandVideo Link: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/2015/844.aspx

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORTThe Manifesto provides a roadmap to establishing a new
impact-based approach to banking and financing that
produces a positive impact on the economy, society or
the environment and contribute to the achievementof sustainable development. It is a result of the uniquepartnership between UNEP and the global financial sector
under the UNEP Finance Initiative programme

15

THE FINANCIAL SECTOR: A LINCHPIN TO ADVANCE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

References

Clark, P. (2014). A world without water. The Financial Times, 14 July 2014.
http://on.ft.com/U6MIT0

1.

WRI and UNEP FI (2015). Carbon Asset Risk: Discussion Framework. WRI
and UNEP-FI Portfolio Carbon Initiative. http://www.unepfi.org/fileadmin/
documents/carbon_asset_risk.pdf

15.

2.

Unilever (2016). Unilever announces new global zero non-hazardous waste
to landfill achievement. Unilever. Press release. 11 February 2016. https://www.unilever.co.uk/news/press-releases/2016/unilever-announces-newglobal-zero-non-hazardous-waste-to-landfill-achievement.html

Bloomberg and NCD (2015). Water Risk Valuation Tool: Integrating Natural
Capital Limits into Financial Analysis of Mining Stocks. Bloomberg LP and
the Natural Capital Declaration. http://www.bloomberg.com/bcause/content/uploads/sites/6/2015/09/Bloomberg_WRVT_09162015_WEB.pdf

16.

UNEP (2014). Aligning the financial system with sustainable
development. UNEP Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial
System. United Nations Environment Programme, Geneva. http://
www.unepfi.org/psi/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Aligning_financial_system_with_sustainable_development.pdf

17.

CISL and UNEP FI (2014). Stability and Sustainability in Banking Reform– Are Environmental Risks Missing in Basel III? University of Cambridge
Institute for Sustainability Leadership, United Kingdom and United
Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, Geneva. http://
www.unepfi.org/fileadmin/documents/StabilitySustainability.pdf

3.

We Mean Business Coalition (2016). http://www.
wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/

4.

CGF (2015). Deforestation Resolution. Consumer Goods Forum. http://
www.theconsumergoodsforum.com/sustainability-strategic-focus/
sustainability-resolutions/deforestation-resolution

5.

UN (2014). New York Declaration on Forests. United Nations, New York.
http://www.un.org/climatechange/summit/wp-content/uploads/
sites/2/2014/07/New-York-Declaration-on-Forests_1-Dec-2015.pdf

18.

Forest Trends (2015). Supply Change: Corporations, commodities andcommitments that count. http://forest-trends.org/releases/uploads/
Supply%20Change_Report.pdf

CBRC (2012). Notice of the CBRC on Issuing the Green Credit Guidelines.
China Banking Regulatory Commission, Beijing. http://www.cbrc.gov.
cn/EngdocView.do?docID=3CE646AB629B46B9B533B1D8D9FF8C4A

19.

Oyegunle, A. and Weber, O. (2015). Development of Sustainability andGreen Banking Regulations – Existing Codes and Practices. Centre
for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), No 65. https://www.
cigionline.org/sites/default/files/cigi_paper_no.65_4.pdf

20.

CBI (2015). Bonds and climate change: the state of the market 2015.
Climate Bonds Initiative, London. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/
files/CBI-HSBC%20report%207July%20JG01.pdf

21.

Investopedia (2016). What percentage of the global economy is comprisedof the financial services sector? http://www.investopedia.com/ask/
answers/030515/what-percentage-global-economy-comprisedfinancial-services-sector.asp

UNEP (2015). Major Banks Launch ‘Positive Impact Manifesto’ forTransition to Inclusive Green Economy. United Nations Environment
Programme. Press release. http://www.unep.org/newscentre/Default.
aspx?DocumentID=26851&ArticleID=35496&l=en

22.

Statista (2016). Total assets of financial institutions worldwide from 2002
to 2014. http://www.statista.com/statistics/421221/global-financialinstitutions-assets-by-institution-type/

The Financial Stability Board (2016). Proposal for a disclosure task force
on climate-related risks. http://www.fsb.org/wp-content/uploads/
Disclosure-task-force-on-climate-related-risks.pdf

23.

Ceres and CarbonTracker (2013). Carbon Asset Risk Initiative Factsheet.
Ceres, Boston and CarbonTracker, London. http://www.ceres.org/files/
investor-files/car-factsheet

24.

UNEP (2011). Decoupling Fact Sheet. United Nations Environment
Programme, Paris. http://www.unep.org/resourcepanel/Portals/50244/
publications/Decoupling_Factsheet_English.pdf

25.

Caldecott, B., Howarth, N. and McSharry, P. (2013). Stranded assets inagriculture: protecting value from environment-related risks. Stranded Assets
Programme. Smith School of Enterprise and Development, University of
Oxford. http://www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/research-programmes/strandedassets/Stranded%20Assets%20Agriculture%20Report%20Final.pdf

6.

7.

Investopedia (2016). Investopedia Dictionary. http://www.investopedia.
com/dictionary/

8.

Baily, M.N. and Elliot, D.J. (2013). The role of finance in the economy:
implications for structural reform of the financial sector. The Brookings
Institution, Washington D.C. http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/
research/files/papers/2013/07/11-finance-role-in-economy-bailyelliott/11-finance-role-in-economy-baily-elliott.pdf

9.

10.

11.

12.
13.

16

14.

UNEP (2015). The financial system we need: aligning the financial
system with sustainable development. United Nations Environment
Programme, Geneva. UNEP Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable
Financial System. http://web.unep.org/inquiry/publications
Oxford English Dictionary (2016). http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/
definition/english/short-termism
UNFCCC (2015). Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) of
the EU and its Member States. The United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change, Bonn. http://www4.unfccc.int/submissions/INDC/
Published%20Documents/Latvia/1/LV-03-06-EU%20INDC.pdf

Photo Credit: Photofriday/ Shutterstock.com 

17

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORTZOONOSES: BLURRED LINES OF EMERGENT DISEASE AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH

Photo Credit: ILRI/ Nguyen Ngoc Huyen

Zoonoses:
Blurred Lines of Emergent Disease and Ecosystem Health
Emerging and neglected zoonotic diseases
The 20th century was a period of unprecedented ecologicalchange, with dramatic reductions in natural ecosystems andbiodiversity and equally dramatic increases in people anddomestic animals. Never before have so many animals been
kept by so many people—and never before have so many
opportunities existed for pathogens to pass from wild anddomestic animals through the biophysical environment toaffect people causing zoonotic diseases or zoonoses. The
result has been a worldwide increase in emerging zoonotic
diseases, outbreaks of epidemic zoonoses as well as a rise in
foodborne zoonoses globally, and a troubling persistence ofneglected zoonotic diseases in poor countries.

18

Around 60 per cent of all infectious diseases in humans are
zoonotic1 as are 75 per cent of all emerging infectious diseases.2
On average, one new infectious disease emerges in humans
every four months.3 While many originate in wildlife, livestockoften serve as an epidemiological bridge between wildlife andhuman infections. This is especially the case for intensivelyreared livestock which are often genetically similar within a herdor flock and therefore lack the genetic diversity that provides
resilience: the result of being bred for production characteristics
rather than disease resistance.4 An example of livestock acting
as a “disease bridge” is the case of bird flu or avian influenza
pathogens, which first circulated in wild birds, then infected
domestic poultry and from them passed to humans. Theemergence of zoonotic diseases is often associated withenvironmental changes or ecological disturbances, suchas agricultural intensification and human settlement, or
encroachments into forests and other habitats.5 Zoonoses arealso opportunistic and tend to affect hosts that are alreadystressed by environmental, social, or economic conditions.6

Another important group of zoonotic diseases are causedby foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella and Listeria
bacteria that are passed from animal to humans. In 2015, thefirst global assessment of foodborne disease found the overallburden of foodborne disease was comparable to malaria or
tuberculosis.8

Zoonoses threaten economic development, animal andhuman well-being, and ecosystem integrity. Over the last
few years, several emerging zoonotic diseases made world
headlines as they caused, or threatened to cause, major
pandemics. These include Ebola, bird flu, Middle East
respiratory syndrome (MERS), Rift Valley fever, sudden acuterespiratory syndrome (SARS), West Nile virus, and Zika virus
disease. The pathogens causing these diseases have wildlife
reservoirs that serve as their long-term hosts. In the last two
decades, emerging diseases have had direct costs of morethan US$100 billion; if these outbreaks had become humanpandemics, the losses would have amounted to several trillion
dollars.7

Emerging zoonotic disease

Pathogenflow at the wildlife–livestock–human interface
Pathogen flow at the wildlife–livestock–human interface

Outbreaks of epidemic zoonoses typically occur
intermittently. Epidemic zoonoses are often triggeredby events such as climate changes, flooding and otherclimate events, and famines. Their overall health burden
is much less than that of endemic zoonoses but because
they cause ‘shocks’ to food production and othersystems, they can reduce the resilience of the affected
communities. Examples are anthrax, rabies, Rift Valley
fever, and leishmaniasis.

Biosphere

Wildlife

Emerging zoonotic diseases are those that newly appear
in a population or have existed previously but are now
rapidly increasing in incidence or geographical range.
Fortunately, most new diseases are not highly lethal andmost do not spread widely. But some emerging diseases
have enormous impacts. Human immune deficiency
virus (HIV and AIDS), highly pathogenic avian influenza(bird flu), bovine spongiform encephalopathy (madcow disease), and Ebola are well-known examples ofparticularly harmful emerging zoonoses.

Epidemic zoonoses

Neglected zoonotic diseases
HumansNeglected zoonotic diseases are continually present
to a greater or lesser degree in certain populations,but are often marginalised by health systems at
national and international levels. Examples are anthrax,
brucellosis, cysticercosis (pig tapeworm), echinococcosis(hydatid disease), Japanese encephalitis, leishmaniasis,
leptospirosis, Q fever, rabies, foodborne trematodiases,
trypanosomiasis and cattle tuberculosis.

Livestock

Domestic landscape

Source: Jones et al. (2013)5

Source: Jones et al. (2013)5

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

Peri-domestic
Wildlife

19

ZOONOSES: BLURRED LINES OF EMERGENT DISEASE AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH

However, emerging diseases and those with the potential
to cause pandemics are not the only problematic
zoonoses. Neglected zoonotic diseases are endemic inaffected poor populations, yet they receive much lessinternational attention and funding than emerging diseases.
Neglected zoonoses persist in communities with complex
development problems.6 Global concern currently focuseson anthrax, bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, human African
trypanosomiasis, Taena solium cysticercosis (pig tapeworm),
cystic echinococcosis (hydatidosis), leishmaniasis, and rabies.9
These diseases are common where poverty, the proximityof people and domesticated animals, low resilience, andpeople’s reliance on livestock or wildlife converge to enabletransmission.10
Emerging zoonotic disease events, 1940-2012© International Livestock Research Institute20

Video: How can animals make you ill?

© RIVM/Government of the Netherlands
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5qLKWUTNM4

Source: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

AvianInfluenza

Bovinetuberculosis

Impacts of zoonoses
Zoonosis

Bovinetuberculosis

SARS

Primarytransmission/
Avian
Influenza
reservoir
speciesAvian Influenza

The 2004 outbreak in East Asia resulted in economic losses of US$
20 billion over the following five years.48 The 2015 outbreak in the
US has cost the poultry industry US$ 3.3 billion and led to the deathof 48 million birds either from the flu itself or from culling.46,47

Bovinetuberculosis

Bovine tuberculosis
Ebola
MERS

MERS
Ebola
West Nile
Encephalitis

MERS
Bovinetuberculosis

MERS virus
Nipah

Nipah virus
SARS

Avian
Influenza

SARS

Nipah virus

ImpactUS$ 15 billion of economic losses from 1986-2009 in the UK.7
West Nile
Encephalitis

The 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone
led to 11,310 deaths and 28,616 confirmed cases.48
Since September 2012, 27 countries have reported confirmed
cases, with about 624 deaths.49
US$ 671 million of economic
losses, one million pigs culled, and
SARS
100 people died from the 1998 outbreak in Malaysia.7
The impact of the 2002 outbreak was estimated at US$ 41.5 billion,
with 8,000 confirmed infections and 800 deaths.7

Nipah
MERS virus

Events of zoonotic disease emergence by type of animal hosts

Zoonotic EID Events
1
2-3
4-5
6
MERS

Wild
Non-Wild

Both
Unknown

Source: Grace et al. (2012)6

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORTBovinetuberculosis
Nipah virus

21

ZOONOSES: BLURRED LINES OF EMERGENT DISEASE AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH

Drivers of zoonotic disease emergence
Researchers studying records that date from 1940 to 2004
detected an increase in the rate of emerging infectious disease
over those years. Of the 335 documented events, 60.3 per centwere zoonotic and 71.8 per cent of the zoonoses originated inwildlife.11 Generally scientists consider three different types ofchange that allow virulent pathogens to initiate a new movefrom animal host to human host: changes in the environment,in either host, or in the pathogen itself.
Changes in the environment are usually the result of humanactivities, ranging from land use change to changing climate.
Encroachment on natural ecosystems through resource
exploitation, agricultural activity, and human settlements
provides opportunities for pathogens to spillover fromwild animals to people, especially when the natural disease
resistance that may result from rich biological diversity islost.5,12,13 Examples of zoonoses emerging when land is cleared
for human activity can be found in many regions and on mostcontinents.5,14-16 Climate change is a major factor for disease
emergence. It influences the environmental conditions thatcan enable or disable the survival, reproduction, abundance,and distribution of pathogens, vectors, and hosts, as wellas the means of disease transmission and the outbreakfrequency.17 Growing evidence suggest that outbreaks or
epidemic diseases may become more frequent as climate
continues to change.17-19
Changes in animal or human hosts are often the result of
human action as well. Zoonotic transmission from wildlife
hosts directly to human host is uncommon: domestic
animals can bridge the gap.20 Increasing demand for milk andmeat, driven mainly by fast-growing populations of urban
consumers in developing countries, is projected to double by
2050.21 The Livestock Revolution paradigm is leading to rapid
increases in livestock populations in developing countries,
which increases the likelihood of disease transmission.22
Demand for livestock products leads to more intensive
production, that is greater populations of high yielding and

Geographic
distributionof topthree onreportedwildlife-livestockTop
3 reported
zoonoses,
based
13,293
research
interfaces, based on an analysis of 13,293 research publications
publications
dated
from
1912
to
2013
dated from 1912 to 2013

Source: Wiethoelter et al. (2015)44

Source: Wiethoelter et al. (2015)44

Primary drivers of disease emergence associated with the past emerging
Primary driversof past disease
emergence
zoonotic disease
eventsOther
4%

Breakdown of
public health
3%

Human
demography
and behaviour
4%
Climate andweather6%

Bushmeat3%
Food industry
change2%Land usechanges31%

War andfamine7%
Agricultural industry
changes
15%
Medical industry
changes
11%

International travel
and commerce
13%

Source: Loh et al. (2015)43

22

genetically similar stock kept close together. Thus the animals
are not only exposed to more contact opportunities but theyalso lack the genetic diversity that helps resist the spreadof disease, a vulnerability known as the monoculture effect.
Intensification of livestock production systems also results inincreased fertiliser use (for feed and fodder) and increased
production of livestock waste, which can create nutrientrich environments that foster certain pathogens.23 Changes
in human host behaviours are also drivers of emerging
zoonotic disease, including travel, conflict, migration, wildlife
trade, globalization, urbanization, and changing dietary
preferences.24

pathogens being exposed to antimicrobial drugs and building
resistance over their short-lived generations. This mostcommonly occurs when people are prescribed antimicrobials
or buy them without prescription and self-treat incorrectly.
Antimicrobials are also widely used, or misused, in veterinary
medicine, often as preventatives, and resistance to them is
growing in domesticated animals especially in industrialstyle production systems.26 Antimicrobial resistance createdin livestock can then affect humans, so when people get sickantibiotics no longer work.
Suspected disease transmission from people to primates

Changes in the pathogens themselves occur as they evolve
to exploit new hosts or adapt to changing evolutionarypressures. An example of this is the emergence of resistance toantimicrobial drugs.25 Antimicrobial resistance is the result ofPrimary driversof disease
emergencewith theIncidencesof spill-overofassociatedzoonotic diseases
past emerging zoonotic
events activities
due todisease
anthropogenic

Forest fragmentationin North America led to
an increased risk of
Lyme Disease in human

Rabiestransmitted byvampire bats to cattle
and human was linked
to forest activities
in South America

Emergence of
Bat-associatedviruses emerged
due to loss of bat
habitat fromdeforestation
and agricultural
expansion

Scabies and measles inmountain gorillas at
Bwindi Impenetrable
National Park, Uganda, andParc de Volcans, Rwanda

Yaws and intestinal
parasites in baboons
at Gombe National
Park, Tanzania

Polio in Chimpanzees
at Gombe National
Park Tanzania, and in
Beni, Congo

Source: Kalema-­Zikusoka (2005)45

Video: Zoonotic Diseases Among Pastoralists in Uganda

Japanese
encephalitis virus (JEV)
was linked toirrigated rice production
and pig farmingin Southeast Asia

Ebola outbreakin West Africa was
a result of forest losses,
leading to closer
contacts between
wildlife andhuman settlements

Emergenceof Avian Influenza
was linked tointensive poultry
farming

Early humancases of SARS
was associatedwith contact
with civet catseither in the wildor in live animal
markets

Created based on data from Jones et al. (2013)5© IDRC/Government of Canada
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp4BhQTNjwQ
Photo Credit: ILRI/ Stevie Mann

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

Nipah virus was linked
to intensificationof pig farming and fruit
production in Malaysia

23

ZOONOSES: BLURRED LINES OF EMERGENT DISEASE AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTHManaging zoonoses for human, animal and ecosystem
healthEnvironmental health initiatives have been less well
represented in global zoonoses control programs. However,ecosystem integrity is a key factor in the innovative
approaches taken by One Health and EcoHealth initiatives
that are spearheading zoonoses control at regional andnational levels. Applying inter-sectoral approaches has had
some notable successes, which ultimately improved humanhealth, such as controlling rabies in the Serengeti ecosystem,
understanding the burden of brucellosis in Mongolia, andcontrolling leishmaniasis in Tunisia using ecosystem-based
approaches and community-based interventions.28-31 There
has also been a surge in novel surveillance of wildlife andlivestock health and reporting tools that draw on a wide rangeof field reports. These include the Program for Monitoring
Emerging Diseases (ProMed), GeoChat, the World Animal
Health Information Database (WAHIS) interface and WAHISWild interface, HealthMap, Wildlife Health Australia and
US Wildlife Health Information Sharing Partnership event
reporting system (WHISpers).

24

Transmission of zoonotic diseases and amplification inpeopleWild animal cases
Domestic animal cases
Human cases
9080

Vectors

70
Number of cases

Zoonotic diseases affect human health, agriculture, theeconomy, and environmental integrity. In just the last decade,around US$20 billion have been directly spent in responding
to emerging zoonoses and in implementing initiatives forbetter progressive control of zoonoses, with a further estimateof US$200 billion in indirect costs to affected economies.27
Zoonoses management requires an integrated and intersectoral approach. At the global level, three organizations
have mandates that cover zoonotic disease: the World HealthOrganisation (WHO), the World Animal Health Organisation(OIE), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO).

Domestic animal
amplification
Spillover

60
50
40
30

Spillover20

SpilloverHumanamplification

100Source: Karesh et al. (2012)25

Source: Karesh et al. (2012)25

There have been many cases of successful management ofendemic zoonotic disease such as pig tapeworm and rabies.
Several developed countries have succeeded in reducing
zoonotic foodborne disease over relatively short periods
by instituting control mechanisms all along the food value
chain, with an emphasis on reducing disease in the animal
host. However, if such control measures are not maintained,
the diseases will recur after an initial suppression. For thisreason, several high-priority zoonoses have been targeted for‘progressive control towards elimination’, including bird flu,rabies, and pig tapeworm.32,33
The track record on managing emerging zoonoses is mixed.
For example, the rapid containment of SARS is considered oneof the biggest success stories in public health in recent years.
In 2003, WHO alerted the world that a severe acute respiratory
syndrome of unknown cause was rapidly spreading fromSoutheast Asia. Within six months, this entirely new diseasehad been identified as a coronavirus, its transmission andrisk factors had been elucidated, treatments developed andthe disease spread stopped.34 The more recent case of Ebola,
however, shows control is not always straightforward. The
Ebola outbreak at the intersection of Liberia, Sierra Leone,
and Guinea affected some of the world’s poorest and least
developed countries. It took over three months just to
confirm that Ebola was the cause of many severe illnesses anduntimely deaths and by then large numbers of people werealready affected. War, population growth, poverty, and poor
health infrastructure likely contributed to the unprecedented
expanse, duration, and size of the epidemic.35

Video: Hotbed of Disease© Frontline PBS
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kGH7iC-7TQ
Photo Credit: Travel Stock/ Shutterstock.com

Events of zoonotic disease emergence classified in terms of drug resistance

Zoonotic EID Events
1
2-3

6
Drug -Res
Non Drug -Res
Source: Grace et al. (2012)6

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

4-5

25

ZOONOSES: BLURRED LINES OF EMERGENT DISEASE AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH

Ecosystem integrity underlines human health anddevelopment

Zoonotic diseases are particularly complex disorders thatconcern the three, often siloed, sectors of environment,
agriculture, and health; so policy frameworks for dealing
with these diseases are often weak.37,38 In addition, in many
developing countries there are major disconnects between
policy and implementation. Successful control of zoonoses
requires a judicious legal and policy framework, wellfunctioning institutions, adequate financing, rapid detection,
and an intervention implementation plan. Collaborative
multidisciplinary and multinational research will also beneeded to explore the linkages among environmental
dynamics, disease vectors, pathogens, and humansusceptibility.36
Both logic and experience suggest that zoonoses can be best
tackled through interventions involving the livestock hosts ofthe disease pathogens–but, while there are many local successstories, a sound evidence base is lacking regarding the costs,
benefits, acceptability, and scalability of such interventions.39-42
A significant constraint to involving agriculture in the controlof zoonoses is the lack of collaboration between medical andveterinary authorities, leaving zoonoses concerns sidelined,

26

Early detection and control efforts reduce disease incidence
in people and animals
Wild animal cases
Domestic animal cases
Human cases
90

Forecastingreadiness

80

Control benefits
to animals

Rapid response

Early detection

Control benefits
to people

70
Number of cases

Ecosystem integrity can help regulate diseases by supporting
a diversity of species so that it is more difficult for one
pathogen to spread rapidly or dominate. As the humanpopulation grows, ecosystems change. Forests are exploitedfor logging, landscapes are clear-cut for agriculture andmining interests, and the traditional buffer zones – once
separating humans from animals or from the pathogens
that they harbour – are notably reduced or lost. Because ofhistoric underinvestment in the health sector of developing
nations, and rapid development often at the cost of natural
capital, disease emergence is likely to continue; hence, theimportance of public health within the development andconservation continuum.36

Control
operations

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

0

7

14

21

28

35

42

49

56

63

70

77

84

Time (days)

Source: Karesh et al. (2012)25

Early control of zoonotic disease is both cost-effective
and prevents human disease

Exposure
in animals

Clinical signs
in animals

Exposurein humans

Clinicalsigns
inhumansCost ofcontrol
outbreak

Humans seek
medical care

Source: World Bank (2012)7

In the case of emerging diseases, investment in surveillance
and in human and animal health services are needed toensure ‘emergence events’ do not lead to large-scale zoonoses
epidemics. The World Bank has estimated that an investment
of US$3.4 billion in animal health systems per year would avert
losses incurred through delayed or inadequate responses tozoonoses–losses estimated at US$6.7 billion per year.7

Canada, rest of
the world) 2002

50
45
40
35
30
25

BSE (UK),
1986

HPAI (Asia), 2004

20
15
10
5
0
1980

Plague (India),
1994
1985

1990

Nipah Virus(Malaysia),
1998
1995

BSE (USA), 2004

WNV,
1999

2000

HPAI (Europe), 2005
2005

2010

RVF (Kenya, Somalia,
Tanzania), 2006

Source: World Bank (2012)7

Video: FAO: Changing disease landscapes - Towards a Global
Health approach

While improved surveillance and rapid response capacities
are important and urgently needed, they, too, are insufficientmeans to controlling the emergence of zoonotic diseases.
Success requires addressing the root causes of disease
emergence–the fact that human activities are imposing
extreme stresses on ecosystems and their ability to function.
Addressing the problem at the necessary foundational
level calls for reconciling human development within thebiophysical environment. The ecosystem services on which
the health of animals, people, and the planet depend must be
restored, safeguarded, and prized.
© FAO
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHVSW5HwmZM

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

Effective strategies already exist for controlling mostneglected zoonoses; the main constraint is lack of investment
rather than method.36 The costs of controlling zoonoses canseem high when compared to public health benefits alone,
but these costs are easily outweighed when a full crosssector analysis is carried out and the benefits of control to theagricultural sector, to wildlife, and to society are taken into
account.36,41,42

SARS (Asia, (1986 - 2006)
Estimated costs of emerging zoonotic diseases

US$ billion

despite the promise of One Health and Ecohealth initiatives.
These approaches have been widely endorsed, but are rarely
used at local levels, where they are most needed.

27

ZOONOSES: BLURRED LINES OF EMERGENT DISEASE AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH

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McDermott, J. and Grace, D. (2012). Agriculture-assocaited disease:
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B. (2015). World Health Organization global estimates and regional
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org/rest/bitstreams/55094/retrieve

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Photo Credit: UN Photo/ Fred Noy 

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31

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORTMICROPLASTICS: TROUBLE IN THE FOOD CHAIN

Microplastics:
Trouble in the Food Chain
Plastics in the environment
As the world’s demand for plastic materials continues to grow,management of plastic waste will remain a global challenge.
In 2014, global plastic production exceeded 311 million metrictons, a 4.0 per cent increase over 2013.1 In 2010, out of 2.5
billion metric tons of solid waste generated by 192 countries,
about 275 million tons consisted of plastic. It has been
estimated that between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons ended up in
the ocean as a result of inadequate solid waste management.2
Concern about visible plastic debris is increasing, while recent
research reports the growing presence and abundance of
microplastics in marine environments.3-6 These small plastic
pieces, between the size of a virus and an ant, now can

32

Photo Credit: Crystal51/ Shutterstock.com

be found worldwide: in the water of lakes and seas, in thesediments of rivers and deltas, and in the stomachs of variousorganisms ranging from zooplankton to whales. Microplastics
have been detected in environments as remote as aMongolian mountain lake and deep sea sediments deposited
five kilometres below sea level.7-9 One study estimated that,on average, every square kilometre of the world’s oceans
has 63,320 microplastic particles floating at the surface, withsignificant regional variations–for example, concentrations
in East Asian seas are 27 times higher.10,11 Marine organisms–
including zooplankton, invertebrates, fishes, seabirds andwhales–can be exposed to microplastics through direct
ingestion of water and indirectly as predators in food webs.

Plastics that are originally manufactured in a particularly small
size for specific applications are called primary microplastics.
In the marine environment, plastic debris of every size canbe mechanically broken down into smaller pieces by external
forces such as UV radiation, wind, waves, or animals. This
physical weathering produces secondary microplastics.6,12
Further breakdown of plastic into ever-smaller particles does
not lead to a complete degradation into monomers. Instead,the original plastic polymer remains intact at microscopic
scale unless the original polymer is converted into carbon
dioxide, water, methane, hydrogen, ammonia, and otherinorganic compounds, a process of biodegradation influenced
by external conditions and the properties of the particular
plastic polymer. This generally does not happen to plastics inthe aquatic environment.

Microplastics
The term ‘microplastics’ is widely used to describe plastic
particles with the size ranging from 1 nanometre to 5
millimetre22

Monomer
Monomers are molecules capable of combining, by aprocess called polymerisation, to form a polymer. For
example, the monomer ethylene (C2H4) is polymerised
into a chain, using a catalyst, to form polyethylene ‎(C2H4)nPolymer
Polymers are large organic molecules composed of
repeating carbon-based units or chains that occur
naturally and can be synthesised. Common naturalpolymers include chiton (insect and crustacean
exoskeleton), lignin (cell walls of plants), cellulose (cellwalls of plants), and protein fibre (wool, silk)6
Global plastics production (metric tonnes)
320
300

38% increase
from 2004

280
260
240

200

Photo Credit: Pressmaster/ Shutterstock.com

2004

2007

2009

2011

2012

2013

2014

Data source: PlasticsEurope (2015)

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

220

33

Schematic illustrating the relationship between primary materials source,
synthetic and natural polymers, thermoplastic and thermoset plastics and their applications:
MICROPLASTICS: TROUBLE IN THE FOOD CHAIN
Schematic illustrating the relationship between primary materials source, synthetic and natural polymers, thermoplastic andthermoset plastics and their applications

Fossil fuel derived

Biomass derived

Synthetic polymer

Biopolymer

Thermoplastic

Thermoset

PE, PP, PS, PVC, PET

PU, SBR, epoxy, alkyd

bottle, food container, pipe,
textile, fishing gear, float,
milk jug, film, bag, cigarettebutt, insulation, micro-bead,micro-abrasive, etc.

insulation, coating, adhesive,
composite, tire, balloon,
micro-abrasive, etc.

Manufactured(primary)

Plastic debris
Fragmentation(secondary)cellulose, lignin,chitin, wool, starch,
protein, DNA, etc.

Manufactured(primary)

Microplastics
Source: GESAMP (2015)22, UNEP (2016)6

Exposure to UV radiation, oxygen, high temperatures,and microbial activity for an optimal duration can biodegrade some types of plastic. Those made from polymers
such as aliphatic polyesters, bacterial biopolymers, andsome bio-derived polymers can be biodegradable in thenatural environment. However, many plastics labelled as
biodegradable–including single-use plastic shopping bags
and take-away food containers–will breakdown completely
only when subjected to prolonged temperatures above 50°C.
These are the conditions produced in an industrial composter.
Such conditions are rarely met in the marine environment.5

34

Biodegradable
Capable of being degraded by microorganisms such asbacteria and fungi. Biodegradation refers to a biologicalprocess of organic matter being completely or partiallyconverted to water, carbon dioxide, methane, energy, andnew biomass by microorganisms (UNEP 2015).

Chemical additives are often included during plastic
manufacturing to generate or enhance certain properties.
These properties often make the material more durable byintroducing anti-microbial, flame retardant, UV resistance,
rigidity, malleability, or waterproofing characteristics. Suchenhanced plastic products include packaging materials,
containers and bins, fishing nets, bottles, pipes, and furniture.
After the product becomes waste, the chemical additives canpotentially leach into marine organisms when they ingest
the plastic and their systems attempt to digest. Potential
adverse effects, at high enough concentrations, may include
immunotoxicological responses, reproductive disruption,
anomalous embryonic development, endocrine disruption,
and altered gene expression.13-17

Video: Ocean Confetti!

© MinuteEarth
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVoFeELi_vQ

Video: What really happens to the plastic you throw away

© TED-Ed /Emma Bryce
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6xlNyWPpB8
Photo Credit: Sascha Corti/ Shutterstock.com

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

Photo Credit: Avemario/ Shutterstock.com

35

MICROPLASTICS: TROUBLE IN THE FOOD CHAIN

Common sources of microplastics
In the late 1990s, cosmetic and personal care manufacturers
began to market ‘microbeads’ as abrasives in skin cleansers,
toothpaste, shaving cream, and similar products. Researchersmonitoring water quality began to find microbeads inpublic water reservoirs and natural environments by the mid
2000s. Investigators were able to trace the particles to thepersonal hygiene use in communities upstream of rivers,
lakes, and seas.18-20 Following public awareness campaigns
widely supported by consumers, some producers respondedby agreeing to remove the material from their goods.21 The
microbead issue has attracted considerable international
attention and generated significant actions to address thepollution, particularly in Europe and North America. However,similar particles are still being introduced into water systems
in other regions. Without appropriate wastewater treatment
to capture particles of that size, microplastic will remain
an important pollutant given extensive use of primary
microplastics in industry and the generation of secondary
microplastics in many sectors.22

Mcroplastic filaments found in the deep-sea sediments9
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Natural History Museum, London

For instance, an abrasive application was designed as analternative to stripping paint with toxic chemicals: primary
microplastics are commonly used for surface blasting to
remove rust, paint, and other unwanted surface coverings onbuildings, cars, ships, and aircraft.22,23 While the abrasives areused repeatedly, they eventually break down to unsuitablesize and are discarded. During their useful life, these plastic
materials can become highly contaminated with heavy metals
from the surface covering, such as cadmium, chromium, andlead.19,24
Growing evidence suggests that fibres from synthetic fabrics
are a significant source of secondary microplastics commonly
found in wastewater and in the aquatic environment.25-28
The world’s consumption of synthetic fibres as clothing andtextiles for domestic and industrial uses exceeded 55 million
tonnes in 2013, or 61 per cent of the global consumption of all
fibres.12 This reveals a sharp increase from 35.8 million tonnes

36

Microplastics collected from a sandy shoreline in Europe (Wright et al. 2013)45
Photo Credit: This image was published in Current Biology, Vol.23, Wright et al. 2013,
Copyright Elsevier (2013)

Different types of microplastics found in the Francisco Bay
Fibre

Film

PelletFragment

Foam

Differenttypes
typesofofmicroplastics
microplastics foundDifferent
found inin thetheFrancisco
FranciscoBay
Bay
Fibre

Film

PelletFragment

Foam

in 2009.29 Plastic fibres–polyester, acrylic, and polyamides–areshed from garments through mechanical abrasion in washingmachines and then drained with the effluent water.

FILM
2%

FOAM
1%
FILM
2%

FRAGMENT
17%

FOAM
1%

PELLET
FRAGMENT
17% 0%PELLET
0%

MICROPLASTIC
PARTICLES INWASTEWATERMICROPLASTIC
PARTICLES INWASTEWATER

FIBER
80%
FIBER
80%

FIBER

(SYNTHETIC FABRIC,
CLOTHING, FISHING LINES)

FIBER

FILM

(PLASTIC BAGS,PACKAGING)

FILM

FOAM

(POLYSTYRENE,
CIGARETTE FILTERS)(SYNTHETIC FABRIC,FRAGMENT (PLASTIC BAGS,PELLET
PACKAGING)
CLOTHING, FISHINGLINES)(INCLUDESMICROBEADS,(MICROBEADS,OTHER SOURCES)NURDLES)FOAM(POLYSTYRENE,
CIGARETTE FILTERS)FRAGMENTPELLET
Photo Credit:
Sherri A.MICROBEADS,
Mason/State Universityof New York at Fredonia(INCLUDES(MICROBEADS,
Source: San Francisco
Estuary Institute (2015)43
OTHER SOURCES)NURDLES)

Another source of microplastic pollution is the plastic debris
from mechanical abrasion of car tyres on pavement that iswashed by rain, snow melt, and street cleaning into naturaland municipal drainage systems.6 On-going research focuseson potential sources of microplastics. One monitoring andsampling investigation, conducted over many months of2014 and 2015, suggests that atmospheric fallout delivers
microplastics to whole landscapes, and to any closely
associated marine environments. The study sampled an urbansite and a suburban site in the region of Paris, France, andfound fibres made up most of the microplastic deposition,that deposition at the urban site notably exceeded thesuburban site, and that nearly 30 per cent of the fibres weresynthetic, specifically made from hydrocarbons.32

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORTThe Norwegian Environment Agency found that emission of
microplastic in wastewater from washing synthetic clothingis an order of magnitude higher than that from the personalcare products and cosmetics.12 Experiments show that morethan 1,900 microplastic fibres are released from a single
synthetic garment in just one wash by a laundry machine.30
Their microscopic size and buoyancy allows these microplastic
pollutants to pass through both the coarse (larger than 6
millimetre) and fine (1.5-6 millimetre) screen filters that are
most commonly used in wastewater treatment facilities.
They then end up in sludge or in natural water bodies thatreceive the effluent. Researchers estimate that about 10 per
cent of synthetic fibres present in the wastewater can passundetected through the treatment facility.31

37

MICROPLASTICS: TROUBLE IN THE FOOD CHAIN

Plasticized food chains
Numerous studies in recent years have provided moreevidence on the presence, distribution, and starting sourcesof microplastic. However, the current stage of knowledge
does not provide a definitive explanation of how microplastic
contaminants interact chemically and physiologically withvarious organisms at different trophic levels. Ultimately,
the risks microplastics pose to human health throughconsumption of contaminated food need to be considered,
but these are still difficult to determine. Researchers areattempting to answer these questions with focus on specificareas. First is the level of exposure.
In a recent study, a quarter of the marine fish sampled frommarkets in Indonesia and California, USA, were found to haveplastic debris and fibres from textiles in their guts.33 Besides
seafood, emerging evidence shows that the microplastics,
especially synthetic fibres, have been detected in a variety
of foods, including drinking water, beer, honey, sugar, andtable salt.34-36 The presence of microplastic in foodstuffs could
potentially increase direct exposure of plastic-associatedchemicals to humans and may present an attributable risk tohuman health. However, on the basis of current evidence, therisk to human health appears to be no more significant thanvia other exposure routes.6
Many chemicals of concern, such as heavy metals andpersistant organic pollutants (POPs) are present in themarine environment, and are taken up by marine organisms.
Research has shown that harmful and persistent substances
both bioaccumulate over time and biomagnify as predators
eat prey, especially in species high in lipids (oils and fats).
Depending on how much an organism consumes and how
high it is on the food chain, each assumes some of thechemical burden of the prey and of the environment.37 In thismanner seafood can become contaminated, particularly inhigher-level predators such as tuna and swordfish, causing
concern for human health, in some circumstances.38

38

Many POPs are hydrophobic, meaning they are repelled bywater. When these chemicals encounter plastics in lakes andoceans, they are absorbed into the plastic surface. The degree ofadsorption varies widely depending on different characteristicsof the POP and its host, as well as other environmental
variables. However, plastic resin pellets collected from theoceans and beaches have been found to contain POPs at ordersof magnitude higher concentrations than the water.39

Heavy metals
Heavy metals normally occur in nature and are essential
to life, but can become toxic through accumulation inorganisms. Arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel,
lead and mercury are the most common heavy metals
which can pollute the environment. Sources of heavy
metals include mining, industrial production, untreatedsewage sludge and diffuse sources

Persistent organic pollutants
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are chemical
substances that remain in the environment, aretransported over large distances, bioaccumulate throughthe food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects
to the environment and human health. POPs include
pesticides such as DDT, industrial chemicals such aspolychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and unintentionallygenerated chemicals such as polychlorinated dibenzo-pdioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF)

Bioaccumulate
The accumulation of a substance, such as a toxic chemical,
in various tissues of a living organism. Bioaccumulation
takes place within an organism when the rate of intake
of a substance is greater than the rate of excretion or
metabolic transformation of that substanceUsually, when microplastics and the contaminants they sequester
are detected in seafood, they are in the animal’s stomach. Except
for shellfish, humans tend to remove and discard the stomachof the seafood they consume. The risk of chemical contaminants
being transferred to humans would then depend on: i) the
retention time of the particles in the fish gut, ii) the rate anddegree to which contaminants are released from the plastic andcross the gut wall, iii) the degree to which fine particles might betranslocated from stomach to other tissues of animals, and iv) the
degree to which chemical contaminants can transfer from theconsumed seafood to human body.22,40 At present scientists only
have results from laboratory feeding studies using non-commercial
fish species to examine contaminant transfer and accumulationin the tissues and that note any altered predatory behaviour. A
number of these experiments with a range of marine species showthat microplastics are able to translocate from stomach to otherorgans such as liver and hepatopancreas.41,42 Currently there isinsufficient evidence to assess the potential for transfer of thesecontaminants to the fish flesh, and hence be made available topredators, including humans.6,40

Biomagnify
The increasing concentration of a substance, suchas a toxic chemical, in the tissues of organisms at
successively higher levels in a food chain. As a result of
biomagnification, organisms at the top of the food chain
generally suffer greater harm from a persistent toxin or
pollutant than those at lower levels.
Video: Are microplastics in our water becoming amacroproblem?

Different types of microplastics found in the Francisco Bay
Cl

CCl3
Cl
CH

(Cl)n

(Cl)n

CCl2
Cl

CHCl2
CH

DDE

DDT

• Industrial products for a variety of uses
including dielectric fluid, heat meduim,
and lubricants• Endoctrine disrupting chemicals

C

DDD
Cl

Cl

Cl

• DDT and its metabolites suchas DDE and DDD.
• DDT was used as insecticides• Endoctrine disrupting chemicals

Microplastic typically found along the Rhine River
Microplastic typically found along the Rhine River.

absorption from ambient seawater

HCH

Cl H

Cl

Plastic
Pellet
Cl
H

H

Cl

H

Nonylphenol (NP)
OH

H

H
Cl
Cl

• Insecticide

additives© National Geographic
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHCgA-n5wRw
Photo Credit: Coprid/ Shutterstock.com

C9H19• Antioxidant (TNP)• Raw material of plastic additives• Endocrine disrupting chemicals

44
Courtesyof International Pellet Watch (2016)
Modified from the International Pellet Watch (2016)

44

Plastic resin pellets
Plastic resin pellets are the raw material for the
manufacturing process of plastic items

Opaque spherules, fragments and fibres;(a/b) transparent spherules with gas bubbles, polymethylmethacrylate;(c/d) opaque spherules, polystyrene
Source: Mani et al. (2015)26

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

DDTs

PCBs

Source: Mani et al. (2015)2639

MICROPLASTICS: TROUBLE IN THE FOOD CHAIN

Addressing the issue at the source
While more research to investigate the physiological,
biological, and chemical interactions between microplastic
and organisms is underway, it is imperative to continue withthe effort by all stakeholders to reduce new influx of plastic
into the environment. Concerted efforts have been made byvarious stakeholders to tackle the issue of microplastics atthe source including governments, private sector and NGOs.
The Netherlands intends to become the first country to be
free of microbeads in cosmetics by the end of 2016. Member
companies of the Dutch Cosmetics Association are working
towards removing microbeads from their products. By 2017,80 per cent of the companies are expected to have completed
the transition to a microbead-free product line. In December
2015, the United States passed a law that prohibits the saleand distribution of cosmetic products containing plastic
microbeads with a phase-out period until 1 July 2017 when
the bead manufacturing will be completely banned. The
legislation also preempts state laws and regulations related
to microbeads, which helps close some loopholes, such as
banning only non-biodegradable plastic microbeads. Other
countries such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom
are following suit.

Starting in 1992, with the goal to minimise the impact ofpellet leakage into the environment, the Operation Clean
Sweep initiative has become even more relevant as theissue of microplastic has become a global challenge. It is an
example of industry-driven effort with the aim to prevent raw
plastic materials such as plastic pellets, flakes, and powder
from entering the waste stream. Targeting different segmentsof the plastic industry including supplier, manufacturer, andtransport operators, the initiative aims to achieve a zero loss ofthese materials through better containment, reclamation, andproper disposal.
Further engagement of other relevant industries thatuse primary microplastics in their industrial processes orindirectly generate secondary microplastics is crucial. Textile
industries may have an important role to play in research anddevelopment for synthetic textiles that shed fewer fibres,or simply minimise the use of synthetic material in theirproducts. Involvement of the producers of washing machines
Video: Operation Clean Sweep

As a front runner in raising awareness of the issue andcampaigning against the use of microbeads, the Beat theMicrobead initiative has so far attracted more than 79 NGOs
from 35 countries and 59 companies in the cosmetic industry
to join the effort. A smartphone App developed by the
initiative has been used by consumers around the world toscan the bar code to check for the presence of microbeads inpersonal care products available in the market.
The European Union through its project, MERMAIDS, works
to address the issue of microplastic fibres released throughtextile washing processes into the European waters. The
project is investigating different technologies that cancapture released fibres in the washing process, or prevent the
breakage of fibres from garments through innovative textile
or detergent additives.

40© Operation Clean Sweep/American ChemistryVideo Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54QQ8t8TePY
Photo Credit: XXLPhoto/ Shutterstock.com

is necessary for the enhancement of filtering capacity toeffectively capture microscopic fibres from drain water. The
shipyard, aviation, and automobile industries are key in the
reduction of microplastic leakage through the effective
containment and appropriate disposal of spent abrasive
blasting materials and generated dust.
Recognizing the environmental and economic impacts ofplastics in the marine environment, in June 2014 the United
Nations Environment Assembly, represented by over 163
countries, adopted a resolution on marine plastic debris
and microplastics to address the issue through legislation,
improved waste management, efficient use and soundmanagement of plastics, enforcement of international
agreements, and education. The G7 summit in June 2015
expressed their commitment to address the land-based
and sea-based sources of marine litter by improving waste
management, searching for sustainable solutions to reduce or
prevent microplastic pollution, and promoting best practices
throughout the plastic value chain. In September 2015,
world leaders agreed on a specific target to “prevent andsignificantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, particularly

from land-based activities, including marine debris andnutrient pollution” by 2025 (SDG Target 14.1) of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, indicators
to be used for monitoring progress towards the target are
currently under development among governments andstakeholders.
Concentration of DDTs in plastic resin pellets collected
Concentration of DDTs in plastic resin pellets collectedfromaroundtheworld
frombeaches
beaches around
the
world

© International Pellet Watch

Photo Credit: UN Photo/Martine Perret© International Pellet Watch© International Pellet Watch

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT© International Pellet Watch
Concentration
PCBs
in plasticpellets
collected from
Concentration ofof
PCBs
in plastic
resinresin
pellets
collected
beachesaroundthetheworld
from beaches
aroundworld

41

MICROPLASTICS: TROUBLE IN THE FOOD CHAIN

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articles/srep14340

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

23.

43

LOSS AND DAMAGE: UNAVOIDABLE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON ECOSYSTEMS

Photo Credit: OlegD/ Shutterstock.com

Loss and Damage:
Unavoidable Impacts of Climate Change on Ecosystems
What is Loss and Damage?
Anthropogenic climate change is underway and will continue
for the foreseeable future. It is manifesting more rapidly
and more intensely than many expected.1,2 The most recent
global assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change indicates that the world has become 0.85°C warmer
than in the late nineteenth century and extreme weather
events are likely to become more frequent. Increase in thefrequency, intensity and/or amount of heavy precipitation
is to be expected; drought is to become more intense andprolonged in many regions; and incidence and/or magnitude
of extreme high sea level is likely to increase.1 These climaticchanges and extreme events pose an unprecedented threat topeople, ecosystems, assets, and economies.

44

Mitigation and adaptation–described as avoiding theunmanageable and managing the unavoidable, respectively–
remain the most important paths to reduce the adverse
effects of a changing climate.3,4 However, given the delays overthe last 25 years in accomplishing mitigation and the late starton tackling adaptation, scientific evidence indicates that limits
to adaptation are clear and that losses and damages fromclimate change in human and natural systems are inevitable.5-8
While there is no universally agreed definition to date,8-11
the term ‘loss and damage’ may be used to describe theadverse effects of climate change that cannot be avoided
through mitigation measures or managed through adaptation

EUROPE
ASIA
NORTH
efforts. Loss and damage become evident when adaptation
AMERICAmeasures are unsuccessful, insufficient, not implemented, or
impossible to implement; or when adaption measures incur
unrecoverable costs or turn out to be measures that increase
SMALL ISLANDS
vulnerabilities, called maladaptations.11

Global patterns of observed climate change impacts
CENTRAL & SOUTH
AMERICAEUROPENORTH AMERICA

ARCTICAFRICAANTARCTIC

ASIA

AUSTRALASIASMALL ISLANDSEUROPE

Video: Interview with Frans Berkhout, King’s College London© LossAndDamage
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp8WEhG2UHs

ASIA
NORTH
AMERICASMALL ISLANDSAUSTRALASIA

Confidence in attribution to
Observed impacts attributed to climate change forclimate change Confidence in attribution
Physicalto systems
Biologicalsystems
Human and managed systems
Observed impacts attributed
to climatechange forclimate change

very

very

low low med high highvery low med high verylowhighindicates
confidence range

indicates
confidence range

Glaciers, snow, ice
Terrestrial ecosystems
and/or permafrost
Rivers, lakes, floods,
Wildfire
and/or drought
Coastal erosion
Marine ecosystems
and/or sea level effects
Outlined symbols / bars = Minor contribution of climate change
Filled symbols / bars = Major contribution of climate change

Physical systems
Biological systems
Human and managed systems
Glaciers, snow, ice
Food production
Terrestrial ecosystems
and/or permafrost
Livelihoods, health,Rivers, lakes, floods,
Wildfire
and/or economics
and/or drought
Coastal erosion
Marine ecosystems
and/or sea level effects
Regional-scale
Outlined symbols / bars = Minor contribution of climate change
impacts
Filled symbols / bars = Major contribution of climate change

Food production
Livelihoods, health,and/or economics
Regional-scale
impacts

Global patterns of observed climate change impacts
reported since AR4. Each filled symbol in the top panels
indicates a class of systems for which climate change has
played a major role in observed changes in at least one
system within that class across the respective region,
with the range of confidence in attribution for thoseregion-wide impacts indicated by the bars. Regionalscale impacts where climate change has played a minor
role are shown by outlined symbols in a box in therespective region. Sub-regional impacts are indicatedwith symbols on the map, placed in the approximate
area of their occurrence. The impacted area can vary from
specific locations to broad areas such as a major river
basin. Impacts on physical (blue), biological (green), andhuman (red) systems are differentiated by color. This map
represents a graphical synthesis of Tables 18-5, 18-6, 18-7,
18-8, and 18-9. Absence of climate change impacts fromthis figure does not imply that such impacts have notoccurred.
IPCC (2014)2

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

Loss and damage can occur from a spectrum of climatechange impacts, ranging from sudden onset events such as
cyclones, hurricanes, flash floods, and landslides to slow-onset
processes such as increasing average temperature, sea levelrise, drought, soil salinization, and ocean acidification.12-15
Extreme events alter ecosystems. As a result, they disrupt foodproduction, water supply, infrastructure and settlements, andhuman lives and livelihoods.2 With more than 60 per centof the ecosystems and their services already degraded or
exploited unsustainably.16 Climate change will cause further
changes and adverse consequences, including alterations in
the efficiency of ecosystem services.17-19 Understanding theserious implications of loss and damage should motivate
policy makers, governments, communities, and individuals tominimize, and ultimately prevent, losses and damages.

45

LOSS AND DAMAGE: UNAVOIDABLE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON ECOSYSTEMS

Expected loss of ecosystems and their services
There are a number of sudden- and slow-onset events inrecent years that may be attributable to climate change andhave caused losses and damages to human systems andecosystems. Since 1950 heat wave frequency has increased inlarge parts of Europe, Asia, and Australia.1 The European heatwave of 2003 is seen as the shape of things to come, reflecting
temperature that are extreme now, but projected as normal
summers in the later 21st century.20,21 To some degree thisevent can be attributed to climate change. Recent studies
suggest that severe heat waves, formerly occurring twice a
century, are now expected to occur twice a decade.22 Direct
and indirect consequences of the 2003 heat wave on humanand ecosystems were devastating. At least 30,000 people
died as a consequence of the high temperatures and their
persistence over a period of three months.23 The economic
losses in the European Union’s agricultural sector amounted
to US$14.7 billion.24 It caused a significant decrease in glacier
volumes across the continent and damaged montane
permafrost through increased thawing. Alpine glacier mass
reduced by 10 per cent in that year.25 Water resources, alreadystressed from high temperatures and precipitation deficit,
were put under further pressure from substantially increased
demand for water supply and electricity generation.23,26-29

The Sahel and the semi-arid drylands of East Africa are in many
ways emblems of climate change vulnerability. The regions
have faced challenges such as crop and livestock losses, foodinsecurity, displacement, cultural losses including traditional
livelihood systems, and conflict. Many of these challenges
are caused by climate variability and exacerbated by climatechange. At the beginning of 2015 an estimated 20.4 million
people were food insecure as a result of ongoing drought
mostly in Niger, Nigeria, Mali, and Chad where conflict andpoverty compound food insecurity.38 The Sahel seesaws
between drought and flood events, and increased drying
temperatures have partially offset the recovery of rainfall since
Loss and damage to people and properties
and Damage
to people and properties due to Typhoon Haiyan
dueLoss
to Typhoon
HaiyanLegendDamaged / Destroyed Buildings

Damaged Buildings Collapsed Buildings
Displaced People in [Percent]

30

10

50

20

0

90

70

40

60

80

100

Displaced Families [Total Number]

500
0

2000

1000

4000

3000

6000

5000

8000

7000

8000+

SourceExamples of sudden-onset events include the powerful
typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in 2013 that killed 6,300 and leftnearly 800,000 people displaced.30 Aside from this direct harmto people, both agriculture and ecosystems were affected,
especially in coastal zones.31 An estimate of 260,000 tons ofrice production was lost due to strong winds and continuous
inundation.32 Haiyan’s storm surges were exceptionallyhigh.33,34 The sea level rise associated with climate change
can increase the height of storm surges.35 For the Philippines,
the sea level was already 30 centimetres higher than thatin 1993.36 A storm surge in Tacloban was found to reach amaximum inundation height of 7 metres above sea level.34
Along Samar Island, the surge contaminated surface waterand deeper aquifers that supply water to local communities. It
will take many years to recover.37

46

Destroyed-Damaged Buildings: OSM Footprint, ESRI
Displaced People: OCHA Philippines, PHIL GIS
Displaced Families: OCHA Philippines, PHIL GIS

0

0,75

1,5

3

0

0,475

0,95

1,9

Kilometers
Miles

OSM; Source: Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics,
CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN,
IGP, swisstopo, and the GIS User Community

the great drought of the 1980s. During the same period inmuch of East Africa, rainfall trends have declined.39-42
From 2012 through 2015, California experienced the most
severe drought in the last 1,200 years.43 A range of scientificresearch has suggested a link between anthropogenic
warming and an increase in the occurrence, strength, andlength of high impact droughts in this region of the U.S. The
economic impacts of drought on California agriculture in 2015
alone were estimated at US$2.7 billion.44 About 60 per centof water supply to California comes from groundwater.45 The
groundwater storage has been overdrawn for many decades.
The long period of drought drastically increased groundwater
withdrawal and, as a result, lowered the groundwater leveland storage capacity.46 Reduced rainfall also means lessreplenishment for the underground aquifer. This has led toan irreversible aquifer-system compaction, causing the landto subside. In 2014 a large area measured 96 kilometres longsubsided further by 33 centimetres as a result of this recent
drought.47
Temperature anomaly in the Central and Western Europe
Temperature Anomaly in the Central and Western Europe

Temperature
andandrainfallvariation
andWestWestAfrica
AfricaTemperature
rainfallvariationin
inEastEast andSemi-arid drylands of East and West Africa

Source: Millenium Ecosystem Assessment

Semi-arid Drylands

Temeperature Change from 1951 - 2013

Source: CIESIN, based on CRUTS3.22:
Climatic Research Unit (CRU) Time-Series (TS) Version 3.22

<0.1

0.3 0.4 .51

Trend in Annual Surface Temperature (1951-2013) in degrees celsius per decade

Source: CIESIN, based on CRUTS3.22:
Climatic Research Unit (CRU) Time-Series (TS) Version 3.22

<10 10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Coeﬃcient of Variation of Rainfall (1951-2013) in Percentages
50 104Diﬀerence in the number of years that received adequate rain fall
for sorghum and millet (1990-2009 compared with 1950-1969) (450 mm threshold)Annual Temperature Anomaly [°C]00.2

Coeﬃcient of variation of rainfall from 1951-2013 (in % of the long term average)

Legend

-10

0.1

10

Monthly Temperature Anomaly [°C]
Source0

10

Courtesy of Reto Stockli and Robert Simmon, based
upon data provided by the MODIS Land Science Team.
Columbia Research Institute for Climate and Society,
Columbia University.

Source: Alessandra Giannini, IRI, Columbia University

Years
<-14

-12

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

Land subsidence in California from 1988 to 2013
© USGS/Justin Brandt

Land subsidence in California from 1988 to 2013
©USGS/Justin Brandt

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

-10

47

LOSS AND DAMAGE: UNAVOIDABLE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON ECOSYSTEMSReducing risks associated with climate change
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030
is an internationally agreed framework that guides the risk
management of multiple hazards including those associatedwith climate change.48 A number of risk management
strategies and instruments described in the framework
can be considered as transitional through mitigation andadaptation to loss and damage. These include: risk reduction,risk retention, risk transfer, and approaches to specificallydeal with slow-onset events. Applying these strategies, andfollowing through, could reduce loss and damage by enabling
management through adaptation.
Risk reduction measures are implemented before the adventof a weather event or climatic process to prevent loss anddamage and can be structural or non-structural.49 For example,
sea level rise is considered a slow-onset threat and often notapparent until a convergence of circumstances delivers an
extreme event. Most recent projections of sea level suggest
a global average rise of up to 1.30 metres by 2100.50 Further
research suggests that global average sea level will continue
to rise for at least 5,000 years.51 These projections of rise in
sea level may seem gradual and in a distant future. However,when extreme low pressure, high tides, an unobstructed
angle of approach, strong winds, and a long fetch converge to
produce extreme storm surges, ever rising sea level becomes amore relevant part of coastal life. This is what happened in thecase of Typhoon Haiyan and also when Hurricane Sandy hit
the Greater New York City region in 2012.52 New York City had
been implementing an adaptation strategy before the event,since 2008, so when Sandy arrived decision makers could
reduce risks through strategic actions during the event.52
Risk transfer is a practice of formally or informallyredistributing the risk of financial consequences for particular
negative events from one party to another.53 The variety of risk
transfer mechanisms, such as insurance, form an essential partof disaster risk management strategies. Insurance tools playa role in preventing and managing loss and damage caused48

by events which cannot be foreseen when and where theyoccur.54 Insurance is used to address the consequences ofextreme weather events but is not generally feasible for slowly
developing and foreseeable events that happen with highcertainty under different climate change scenario.55 Insurance
is not optimal for events that occur with very high frequency,such as recurrent inundation of flood plains.56
Risk retention refers to approaches that allow country to “selfinsure” against climate stressors by means of its own social,economic, cultural, and other resources.49 For example, social
protection measures can help societies to bounce back fromthe onset of unexpected severe weather events, and build
resilience of the population to slow onset climatic processes.
Establishing financial reserves to cushion the unexpectedfinancial consequences from climate change impacts help
repair the damage, and help societies recover from losses.49
Risk retention works more effectively when implemented
together with other risk management approaches.56
Video: Interview with Koko Warner, United Nations University© LossAndDamage
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSQCb3VWcWc

Progress on addressing Loss and Damage

The Paris Agreement proposes several areas for international
cooperation and facilitation to enhance understanding, action,and support including early warning systems; emergency
preparedness; slow onset events; events that may involve
irreversible and permanent loss and damage; comprehensive
risk assessment and management; risk insurance facilities,
climate risk pooling, and other insurance solutions; noneconomic losses; and resilience of communities, livelihoods,
and ecosystems.57
Increasing international efforts to support developing
countries to avert, minimise, and address loss and damage
including through the Warsaw International Mechanism will
be important. The UNFCCC, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction provide a framework through which loss anddamage can be addressed. Institutional and legal frameworks
that are applicable at various scales will also be essential.
To implement comprehensive risk management strategies
that reduce and avert loss and damage, decision makers
will need a better understanding of the potential range,
magnitude, and location of future climate change impacts.
Enhancing understanding of the role of ecosystem services
to human well-being is crucial to informing policy responses.

When ecosystems are not functioning at optimal standards,
their provisioning capacity becomes unstable and theirregulating of Earth systems can fail.58 Averting loss anddamage must include ways to safeguard ecosystems andtheir services that underpin human abilities to protect against
loss and damage. The research community has a criticalrole to play in developing innovative tools and measures toaddress loss and damage. But the most important role is todeliver capacity to communities at the frontline of ecosystem
destruction who need substantial investment and incentive
to avert damage to and loss of ecosystems and their services.
With the growing scientific knowledge on the residual impactsof climate change, it is imperative that societies anticipate loss
and damage, and are prepared well enough to avert it.
Video: Interview with Saleemul Huq at COP 21 in Paris© AcclimatiseVideo Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJI8F_6mGmY

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORTIn 2013 the UNFCCC specifically addressed loss and damage
associated with the adverse effects of climate change by
establishing the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss andDamage. The Paris Agreement that emerged from the 2015
UNFCCC Conference of the Parties strongly recognised loss
and damage by making the Warsaw International Mechanism
a permanent institution. The Agreement calls on Parties
to recognise “the importance of averting, minimising andaddressing loss and damage associated with the adverse
effects of climate change, including extreme weather
events and slow onset events, and the role of sustainable
development in reducing the risk of loss and damage”.57

49

LOSS AND DAMAGE: UNAVOIDABLE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON ECOSYSTEMS

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Campos, C. Dubeux, Y. Nojiri, L. Olsson, B. Osman-Elasha, M. Pelling, M.J.
Prather, M.G. Rivera-Ferre, O.C. Ruppel, A. Sallenger, K.R. Smith, A.L. St.
Clair, K.J. Mach, M.D. Mastrandrea, and T.E. Bilir (eds.)]. In: Climate Change
2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part B: Regional Aspects.
Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Barros, V.R., C.B. Field, D.J.
Dokken, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, T.E. Bilir, M. Chatterjee, K.L. Ebi,
Y.O. Estrada, R.C. Genova, B. Girma, E.S. Kissel, A.N. Levy, S. MacCracken,
P.R. Mastrandrea, and L.L. White (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 1757-1776.

54.

Warner, K., Yuzva, K., Zissener, M., Gille, S., Voss, J. and Wanczeck, S.
(2013). Innovative Insurance Solutions for Climate Change: How tointegrate climate risk insurance into a comprehensive climate risk
management approach. UNU-EHS, Bonn. http://i.unu.edu/media/ehs.
unu.edu/news/3796/11484.pdf

55.

IPCC (2012). Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to
Advance Climate Change Adaptation. [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D.
Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K.
Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA, 582 pp. https://www.ipcc.ch/
pdf/special-reports/srex/SREX_Full_Report.pdf

56.

IUCN (2013). Loss and Damage – An IUCN Discussion Paper for UNFCCC
COP 19. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland. https://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/iucn_loss_and_damage_discussion_
paper_unfccc_cop19.pdf

57.

UNFCCC (2015). Adoption of the Paris Agreement. The 21st session of
the Conference of the Parties, FCCC/CP/2015/L.9/Rev.1. https://unfccc.
int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09r01.pdf

58.

Rockström, J., Steffen, W.L., Noone, K., Persson, Å., Chapin III, F.S., Lambin, E.,
Lenton, T.M., Scheffer, M., Folke, C., Schellnhuber, H.J. and Nykvist, B., 2009.
Planetary boundaries: exploring the safe operating space for humanity.
Photo Credit: Vidguten/ Shutterstock.com 

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53

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORTPOISONED CHALICE: TOXIN ACCUMULATION IN CROPS IN THE ERA OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Photo Credit: Crystal51/ Shutterstock.com

Poisoned Chalice:
Toxin Accumulation in Crops in the Era of Climate Change
Climate changes trigger accumulation of
toxins in crops
Climate change is already underway, with shifting weather
patterns that will present serious challenges to agricultural
productivity. Each of the past several decades has beensignificantly warmer than the previous one. The period 2011–2015 was the hottest on record, and 2015 was the hottest year
since modern observations began in the late 1800s.1 The 2013global assessment released by the Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change reports that since 1950 the frequency ofheat waves has increased in large parts of Europe, Asia, andAustralia; that the frequency and intensity of droughts haveincreased in the Mediterranean and West Africa; and that thefrequency and intensity of heavy precipitation events arelikely to increase in North America and Europe.2

54

Given that more than 70 per cent of agricultural production
relies on rainfall, increasing climate variability poses anunprecedented challenge to agriculture and to foodproduction systems around the world.3 Climate threats
to food security are expected to be worse in countries
at subtropical and tropical latitudes.4 For instance, thefrequency, severity, and range of droughts in the entire
African continent have significantly increased between 1900
and 2013.5,6 Specifically in East Africa, the well-documented
2010–2011 drought greatly affected agricultural yield andincreased food insecurity in the region.7 In 2015-2016, El
Niño-related dry conditions reduced crop production in partsof Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, and Oceania, while
drought conditions in East and Southern Africa resulted
in decreased cereal production.8 Analysis of detailed cropExtreme climatic conditions reduce yields and increase
postharvest losses. They also trigger biophysical reactions inplants in response to environmental stresses. These reactions
include concentrating chemical compounds that are harmful
to animal and human health. Despite a plant’s various
protective responses, in prolonged unfavourable conditions
stress can overwhelm its ability to thrive, and can weaken
the plant further, leading to increased disease susceptibility.
In such cases, either the plant itself or invading microbes
can produce specific chemical compounds at levels toxic tohuman health.
SPEI Global drought map

Video: A dry season© VOA Learning English
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbpuviS-s4c
Photo Credit: Earl D. Walker/ Shutterstock.com

Global drought map – comparison between 1955 to March 2016
Source: Santiago et.al., 2006 (http://sac.csic.es/spei/map/maps.html)© SPEI Global Drought Monitoring
http://sac.csic.es/spei/map/maps.html

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

statistics time series suggests that between 32-39 per cent of
the fluctuations in observed global crop yield is a direct resultof climate variability, particularly for maize, rice, wheat, andsoybean.955

POISONED CHALICE: TOXIN ACCUMULATION IN CROPS IN THE ERA OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Contamination pathways–implications for crops, animals,
and people
Worldwide, over 80 plant species are known to cause
poisoning from accumulation of nitrates.10 Under normal
growing condition, plants convert nitrate into amino acids andprotein. Drought conditions slow or prevent the conversion,
causing nitrate to accumulate indefinitely to the level that
becomes toxic to animals.11 Common crop plants mostsusceptible to nitrate accumulation are barley, maize, millet,
millet, maize, sorghum, soybean, sudangrass, and wheat.12
When cattle, sheep, and goats consume large quantities ofhigh nitrate plants, their ruminant digestive processes cannot
break down the nitrate fast enough to avoid poisoning.
Acute nitrate poisoning in animals can lead to miscarriage,
asphyxiation, and death. Nitrate poisoning in livestock canruin the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and herders.

amounts of aflatoxins.16 Acute exposure can be lethal, whilechronic exposure can lead to cancer. Evidence further
suggests it may also stunt foetal and infant development,
block nutrient uptake, and suppress immunity.17 Poorer
farmers may feed mouldy grains to livestock, but this is not asafe option. Aflatoxins and other mycotoxin contaminants can
reduce animal productivity and increase mortality, and they
can persist in animal-sourced food products such as milk to
impair human health and nutritional status.18

Sufficient rain can revitalize plant growth and help reduce
nitrate accumulation. However, after a drought-breaking
rainfall or irrigation inflow, rapid growth in water-stressed
plants could result in dangerous accumulation of anothertoxic compound called hydrogen cyanide or prussic acid.13
Examples of plants that can accumulate prussic acid arecassava, flax, maize, sorghum, sudangrass, arrow grass, velvet
grass, apricot, peach, cherry, elderberry, and apple.12
Another important category of toxin associated with changing
climate is mycotoxins, chemical by-products of fungal
growth. Mycotoxins can cause severe damage to the health ofanimals and humans even at small concentration. Mycotoxinproducing fungi infect many crops such as coffee, groundnut,
maize, oilseeds, peanut, sorghum, tree nuts, and wheat. An
estimate in 1998 suggested that mycotoxins contaminated atleast 25 per cent of cereals worldwide14,15
Aflatoxins are a type of mycotoxin produced by a speciesof Aspergillus fungi. About 4.5 billion people in developing
countries are exposed to uncontrolled and unmonitored

56

Photo Credit: UN Photo/James Bu

A study of aflatoxin occurrence in Serbian maize confirmsthat the contamination detected in the 2012 maize harvest
resulted from that year’s prolonged warm weather andextreme drought conditions.19 Normally, environmental andclimatic conditions in Serbia and other temperate regions
do not favour the growth of aflatoxins, in contrast to tropicaland sub-tropical zones where aflatoxin contamination ismore evident.20 However, the risk of aflatoxin contamination,
particularly in maize, is expected to increase in higher
latitudes due to rising temperature. A recent model study
predicts that aflatoxin in maize will become a food safetyissue for Europe, especially in the most likely scenario of a 2°C
increase in global temperature. Areas at high risk of aflatoxin
outbreaks include Eastern Europe, the Balkan Peninsula, andthe Mediterranean.21

Video: Nitrate Toxicity in Corn

© SUNUPTV
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GguOOGzeOWk
Photo Credit: Kent Weakley/ Shutterstock.com

Source: Battilani et al. (2016)21

Figure 1. Risk maps for aflatoxin contamination in Materialmaizeavailable
at harvest
inLicense,
3 different
climate scenarios, present,
under Public
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4828719/+2 °C, +5 °C. Mean daily data used as input result from 100-year run of the predictive model AFLAmaize in2254 geo-referenced points throughout Europe, in the 3 scenarios. The scale 0–200 refers to the aflatoxin risk
index (AFI), output from the predictive model; increasing the (present (a), +2°C (b), +5°C (c)) number, the riskof contamination increases. Maps generated using Mathworks, Matlab. Computer Program, 2012

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

Risk maps for aflatoxin contamination in maize at harvest in 3 different climate scenarios, present, + 2 °C, +5 °C

57

POISONED CHALICE: TOXIN ACCUMULATION IN CROPS IN THE ERA OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Remediating toxic contamination in plants and animals
We are just beginning to recognize the magnitude of toxinrelated issues confronting farmers in developing countriesof the tropics and sub-tropics. As warmer climate zones
expand towards the poles, countries in more temperateregions are facing new threats.21-23 Deteriorating climaticconditions combine with enhanced capacities of diagnostic
surveys for toxin detection to reveal that more and moreglobal food stocks appear to be at risk of contamination.
The effects of other environmental cues on plant-pathogen
interactions or on a plant’s own biochemical responses have
yet to be resolved.24-25 However, it is clear that more extreme
environmental conditions can trigger toxin accumulationin crops. The ability to detect these toxins is becoming lessexpensive and more mobile, which will help ensure that the
food being produced and consumed is safe.
Growing recognition of these challenges has prompteda range of efforts to understand, prioritize, and respond.
In at-risk regions, an important start has been made on
programmes to increase productivity and reliability of cropsthat are less susceptible to toxin contamination. These are
combined with drought and disease surveillance programs
and warning systems.26-27 Such mutually reinforcing efforts canhelp deploy effective strategies and targeted rapid responses
to outbreaks when climatic conditions become severe.

A growing number of projects are applying science-based
solutions to address these health and development challenges.
Examples include accelerating the international network of
National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS)–supportedby FAO, the Consultative Group for International Agricultural
Research (CGIAR), and their constituent agencies–as wellas international plant breeding efforts and technologies;
bio-control strategies to apply natural antagonists of toxinproducing fungi in farmers’ fields, proper postharvest drying
and storage; and development of mobile diagnostics anddecontamination.29,30 Risk assessment and mapping is a
powerful tool for decision making based on an understandingof various aspects of contamination risk.26,31 Some research
focuses on strategies to develop more varied droughttolerant or disease-resistant crops, including genome editing
to eliminate genetic elements underlying susceptibility
to risky diseases or toxins; transformation with disease
resistance, drought tolerance, or toxin-degrading genes; andcharacterization of available agro-biodiversity options for
on-farm production, for both the crop itself and the microbialcommunities influencing productivity and stress tolerance.32

At the global and regional level, relevant programmes
are underway: the Comprehensive African Agricultural
Development Program; the African Union Commission’sPartnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA); food safety
and regulation efforts by the UN Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO), the World Food Programme, and theWorld Health Organization; and the 2030 global agenda
for sustainable development with a specific sustainable
development goal seeking to “end hunger, achieve foodsecurity and improved nutrition, and promote sustainableagriculture.”28
Photo Credit: Smereka/ Shutterstock.com

58Video: Aflatoxin contamination in Kenya

A Fungal Toxin Infecting the Food Chain
Persistent high levels of aflatoxins—naturally occurring carcinogenic
byproducts of common fungi on grains and other crops—pose significant
health risks to animals and humans in many tropical developing countries.
Chronic exposure to aflatoxins leads to liver cancer and is estimated to cause
as many as 26,000 deaths annually in sub-Saharan Africa. This infographic
depicts the ways that aflatoxins persist throughout the food chain. At eachlevel, research can help understand how to manage risks.

Susceptible
Crops
Field crops infested
with aflatoxin
Tree nuts
Spices
Oil seeds
Cereals© UNEP

Distribution of liver cancer cases attributable to aflatoxin in
different regions of the world

Poor
Storage
Toxins increaseduring storage

Europe0%

Human
Consumption
Humans consume toxins in
staple foods and dairy products

Impact on
Dairy Production

Impact on
Human HealthLivestock produce less,loss of income and foodConsumers experience livercancer, poisoning
Acutepoisoning

Western
Pacific
20%

Africa40%

Southeast
Asia
27%

Liver
cancerLinked to stunting andimmunosuppression

Eastern
Mediterranean
10%
Source: Tackling Aflatoxins:
An Overview of Challenges and Solutions,
Laurian Unnevehr and Delia Grace.

North
America0%Latin America
3%

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

AnimalConsumption
Animals and dairy are infectedfrom contaminated feed

Source: © ILRI

Data Source: Liu and Wu (2010)34
Distribution of liver cancer cases attributable to aflatoxin in different regions of the world.
Data Source: Lin and WU (2010)59

POISONED CHALICE: TOXIN ACCUMULATION IN CROPS IN THE ERA OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Integrated approaches to meet the challenge
As farmers and consumers the world over face increasing
challenges to boost food production, an aggressive strategy tosafeguard agricultural yields in drought-prone areas is an essential
part of efforts to safely feed the world’s growing population.
Mitigation strategies are being resolved, tested, and scaled up.
These efforts must be significantly expanded and accelerated tosecure a safe harvest for current and future generations.33

Technology solutions must work in concert with stakeholder
consultations and be supported by agricultural field extension inrural communities. Appropriate and effective capacity building at
various levels must underpin intervention deployment. Equippedwith a rapidly increasing understanding of the hidden dangers ofcrop production under changing climate, we must work to securea sufficient and safe harvest for all.

National and regional agricultural systems – from research
to extension to policy and regulatory – must be engaged
and strengthened to sustainably address these complex
challenges at appropriate intervention points. A number ofcritical elements are lacking today that can be addressed
through such strategically inclusive and integrated researchfor development systems.

Video: Intiatives to tackle the aflatoxin contamination in
Africa

1.

2.

3.

4.
5.
6.
7.

8.

60

Building the evidence base for the prevalence and humanhealth implication of various toxins, particularly for longterm exposure to sub-acute levels of toxins in the diet.
Recognising the interactions between animal health, humanhealth, and the environment and addressing the issue in thecontext of One Health and EcoHealth approaches.
Characterizing and modelling the factors affecting toxins’
accumulation in different crops, and identifying mitigation
measures that are effective, adoptable, and scalable withindifferent farming and agroecological systems.
Prospecting existing or traditional on-farm practices forsolutions.
Reducing production and postharvest risk with bestpractice interventions.
Using risk assessment and mapping to predict
contamination hotspots and assess mitigation options.
Advancing and deploying mobile testing, andincentivizing farmers by providing an alternative-use
market for contaminated products where possible.
Continuing research to continually evolve options to
produce a sufficient and safe harvest in marginal areas
around the world.

© UNEP1.

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Dai, A. (2013). Increasing drought under global warming in observations
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UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORTEXOTIC CONSUMERISM: ILLEGAL TRADE IN LIVE ANIMALSThe Latest Frontier
Exotic Consumerism: Illegal Trade in Live Animals
Pet tradeAs the passengers at the Cairo International Airport gathered
to board a recent flight to Kuwait, one solitary man was
different from the rest. It was not his height or his clothes that
set him apart, or even his nationality. It was the fact that hehad a live chimpanzee in his carry-on bag.
When officials behind the security x-ray machine saw theskeleton of a hunched-up animal on their screens, they unzipped
the suitcase to find an infant chimpanzee staring up at them.
Egyptian customs officials confiscated the chimpanzee,
which is an endangered species listed as Appendix I by theConvention on International Trade in Endangered Species

64

Photo Credit: GRASP

of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Trade is prohibited in suchspecies in all but the rarest of cases, and then only withproper documentation – of which this shipment had none.
But the attempt to smuggle an exotic animal through a majorinternational hub only hints at the massive and lucrative
illegal trade in live animals that threatens to decimate wild
populations and ecosystems, even as it exposes entire cities
and regions to corruption, violence and deadly diseases.
Great apes and other live animals comprise a highly profitable
and symbolic aspect of the US$23 billion illegal wildlife trade-the fourth most lucrative black market after drugs, people andarms smuggling – and the live trade relies heavily on corrupt
officials and steely couriers to sustain the traffic. Commonly
known as the “pet trade,” this criminal network is able toIt is estimated that millions of live animals and plants are
shuttled illegally around the world each day, sometimes as
openly as the infant bonobo that was hand-carried in a bassinet
like a baby through the Paris airport in 2006, or the gibbon
stuffed inside a suitcase that was discovered at the Jakarta
airport in 2014. Exact numbers are difficult to come by, but it isestimated that 40,000 live primates, 4 million live birds, 640,000
live reptiles, and 350 million live tropical fish are traded globallyeach year. In a single market in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, up
to 90,000 mammals were sold in a single year, and a survey
at a market in Thailand that spanned 25 weekends found
70,000 birds, representing of 276 species, were sold. A similar
survey of four markets in Bangkok found that of the 36,537
birds observed, only 37per cent were native to Thailand, while
63% were nonnative species. There is a growing number of
documentaries and news briefings on this issue.

The illegal trade in live animals is markedly different thanthe more commonly discussed traffic in elephant ivory, rhino
horn, shark fins or pangolin scales. To begin with, all of thosecommodities are dead, and carry little of the urgency – orrisk – associated with the live trade. Animals transported alivenearly always require a courier, a human being to accompany
them along the supply line, thereby raising the stakes for law
enforcement and seizure if an arrest is made. The live trade isalso time-sensitive – most animals cannot survive for long in
the cramped, contrived manner in which they are shipped – sothe fastest route is usually the favored route.

Disease transmission
The live trade often requires a degree of corruption in orderto pass through customs and security check-points, but thegreatest risk is posed by the illicit traffic of animals and plants
is the threat of disease transmission. None of the fauna or florathat comprises the illegal live trade goes through quarantine
or any veterinary screens. As a result, animals – many of whom
have been kept in unsanitary conditions for days and weeks –pass through transit countries and arrive at their destinations
carrying all of the bacteria and parasites capable of spreading
diseases.
In fact, experts point to pandemics such as severe acuterespiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory
syndrome (MERS), Avian flu, Monkeypox and even Ebola assome of the diseases most likely to make the jump to global
human populations in the future as a result of the live tradein illegal wildlife. Since 1980, a new infectious disease has
emerged in humans at an average of one every four months.
The origin of HIV is likely linked to human consumptionof nonhuman primates, for instance, and recent Ebola
hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in humans have been traced
to contact with infected great apes that are hunted forfood. Meanwhile, the SARS-associated coronavirus has been
associated with the international trade in small carnivores.

Photo Credit: Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme

Many diseases are transmitted through the same species ofparasites carried by imported animals. From November 1994

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

supply cheetahs to the United Arab Emirates, bonobos toArmenia, macaws to the Czech Republic, and chimpanzees toChina. Although data on the scale and scope of the live illegal
wildlife trade is limited, it is clearly big business that attracts
drug cartels, arms suppliers, counterfeit organizations, and ahost of other illegal networks.

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EXOTIC CONSUMERISM: ILLEGAL TRADE IN LIVE ANIMALSVideo: Stolen Apes

Yet even those species that do survive the gruesome ordealof capture and trade face an uncertain future. Many countries
face crisis-level issues related to invasive species that havebeen imported and then released, turning ecosystems
inside out and decimating native wildlife populations. The
exotic pet trade is responsible for six species of pythons
being introduced into Florida in the U.S., and a 20-year study
indicates that 52 other species have become established there
as well. As a result, the U.S. spends over $135 million USD eachyear on programmes to eradicate invasive species.

© GRASP
Video Link: https://vimeo.com/60813938

to January 1995, the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspected
349 reptile shipments from 22 countries containing 117,690
animals. Ticks were removed from animals in 97 shipments,
and infested shipments included 54,376 animals. Ticks carry
many diseases that threaten livestock and human health,including heartwater disease, Lyme disease, and babesiosis.
But what about the animals themselves? A wide range offactors are used to gauge the real loss to wild populations of
the live illegal pet trade – such as 10 dead chimpanzees killedduring the hunt and capture for every live specimen that is
procured for sale – but most of those numbers are inexact,
or require verified data as to the size and location of wild
populations. CITES used to require countries to monitor theloss of specimens held in captivity prior to trade, but that rule
was quietly dropped in 2007. Nevertheless, a recent study by
Pro Wildlife show that, incredibly, up to 100 percent of birds
in Senegal and Indonesia, up to 85 percent of ornamental
fish in India and Hawaii, and up to 50 percent of chameleonsin Madagascar die after they’re captured and before they’re
exported.

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Yet a series of confiscations and arrests in recent months
suggests that the global trade remains considerable – andconsistent. In July 2015, officials at the Kuwait airport
intercepted a pair of infant orangutans being smuggled into
the country from Indonesia, and six months later, and Qatar
law enforcement officials arrested a man attempting to sell alive chimpanzee in the Doha suburb of Al Aziziya. Meanwhile,a pet tiger fell off a truck in Doha in late 2015 and spent
several hours wandering among the city’s rush-hour traffic.

Photo Credit: Common Commons

Photo Credit: GRASP

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UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORTEXOTIC CONSUMERISM: ILLEGAL TRADE IN LIVE ANIMALS

It is estimated that less than 10% of illegal wildlife is actuallydetected. Analysts suggest that as many as 13 million live
animals were actually brought into the U.S. in that time period– and up to 9.7 million of them died before they reached theintended buyer.
The U.S. trade data found that some of the most popular
wildlife in illegal trade included tropical fish, freshwater turtles,
coral, and pythons. In fact, the U.S. data reported that 53,799
individual tropical fish were seized during the 2005-2014
period, along with 68,680 turtles and 18,000 pythons. Coral,
which is sourced for jewelry and other artifacts, was almost
entirely illegal and sourced from the wild (91 percent).

Photo Credit: Wildlife Conservation Society

The Middle East has long played a pivotal role in the illegal
traffic of live animals. Beginning in the 1990s, it was adestination market to supply the private menageries of
the wealthy elite, and many of the Gulf States establishedpipelines to exotic wildlife cartels in Egypt. A decade later,
however, the Middle East had evolved into a transit market tofeed the burgeoning live animal trade in China, Thailand andother Asian consumers.

68

Rare and exotic birds also comprise a huge element of the live
illegal trade in wildlife. BirdLife International estimates thatseveral million birds are trafficked annually from 4,000 species
involved in the domestic and international trade, many ofthem traded as infants and stuffed head-first into plastic
water bottles to avoid detection. It is estimated that onethird of all living bird species have been recorded as tradedinternationally for the pet trade and other purposes. Given
that 266 of these species are considered globally threatened,
and over half of these (152) are faced with potentiallyunsustainable exploitation, it is now estimated that 1,375
species – or 13% of extant species, basically one in eight -- areglobally threatened with extinction.

Today, the Middle East serves as both a transit and destination
market for illegally traded wildlife, an industry that now
uses the internet and popular social media sites such as
Facebook and Instagram to contract customers. But it’s notjust great apes, and it’s not just the Middle East. Millions of live
animals and plants – many of them endangered or criticallyendangered species – are being moved between major cities
via airports and ports and rail routes every day, all going toserve lucrative markets.

The most commonly affected families of birds involved in
the pet trade include finches, weavers, parrots and raptors.
Small birds comprise 70 percent of the trade, while large birds
such as macaws, parrots, cockatoos, parakeets, and lorikeets
account for 20 percent of the trade. Prior to the enactment of
the Wild Bird Conservation Act in 1992, approximately 800,000
wild-harvested birds were imported annually to the U.S. tosupply the pet trade.

According to data from the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS), 3,726 illegal shipments containing nearly
330,000 live animals attempted to enter the United States
between 2005 and 2014. Yet much of the trade is still invisible.

Reptiles and amphibians are also big-ticket items among
the exotic and illegal pet traders. In late 2014, a Chinese
national named Kai Xu – also known as “Turtle Man” – wasapprehended at the Canadian border with 51 live turtles

Exotic consumerism
But what facilitates this live trade in illegal wildlife? Clearly,
markets willing to pay $40,000 for a gorilla in China or$10,000 for a Cheetah in Kuwait are enough to sustain the
supply lines, and the rapidly expanding use of social media
sites such as Facebook and Instagram to advertise wildlife
makes transactions easier than ever. A recent survey by
TRAFFIC of 14 Facebook sites in Malaysia over a period offive months uncovered over 300 wild, live animals for saleas pets, including gibbons, sun bears, binturongs and otherendangered species – but the fact that those posts involved
106 different sellers indicates the widespread nature of the
problem.

carefully taped to his legs and hidden in his groin. Xu wasalready a suspect in the smuggling of thousands of reptiles allover the world, and his arrest in the Detroit-Windsor tunnel
that connects the U.S. to Canada was a major break in cracking
the illegal live trade.
A few weeks later, Xu, while out on bail, drove a hired car to
Detroit Metropolitan Airport in the U.S. His accomplice carried
two suitcases containing almost 1,000 turtles – valued at over
$30,000 USD on the black market. Agents made the discovery
while inspecting the bags, and both men were arrested andfaced federal charges. Experts say that some endangered
turtles can be sold for $1,800 USD in North America andEurope, and triple that amount in China.
Meanwhile, Egyptian customs officials made anotherhorrifying discovery in April 2016 when they detectedsuspicious movement while monitoring the X-ray baggage
scanner. Sixty Egyptian cobras – one of the largest anddeadliest snakes in Africa -- were found to be stuffed in six
bags inside two foam boxes and surrounded by ice to keep
their movement limited, their mouths closed with surgicalthread.

Video: Exotic animal species smuggled© Nature Documentary Films
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzgTAbp-Fyo
Photo Credit: IUCNUNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

The illegal trade in live animals is also a big enough businessto attract drug cartels. In Mexico, the record high prices
offered for sea cucumbers -- a slug-like species that is
considered a delicacy in Asia and sells for $500 USD per
kilogram -- led to pitched battles between rival gangs inYucatán and Campeche in 2014. One year later, 10 armed
men attacked three armed guards and stole 3.5 tonnesof dehydrated sea cucumber in El Cuyo on the Yucatánpeninsula, and Mexican customs officials followed soon69

EXOTIC CONSUMERISM: ILLEGAL TRADE IN LIVE ANIMALS

thereafter with a seizure of 17 tonnes of live sea cucumbers at
the Cancun International Airport, the largest confiscation everof that species.
Sea cucumber numbers have plummeted across Latin
America, with the fisheries depleted on Ecuador’s mainland
coast and in the Galapagos Islands, and highly impacted in
Mexico.
Back in Egypt, meanwhile, pet shop owners alternate between
the internet and walk-up business to deliver the goods. Many
stores promise same-day delivery from vast wildlife holding
centers along the Cairo-Alexandria Road, while one Facebook
advert guarantees a lion cub delivery within 25 days.
These sellers, however, are decidedly upscale compared tosome of the wild animal markets that exist in Africa and Asia.
Sprawling, semi-permanent open-air markets thrive in a
number of major cities, such as the Benfica market in Angola,
the Juba market in Nigeria, or the Taipint market in China, allof which offer wildlife for sale that violates CITES regulations
Video: Trafficked through Thailand: Cracking down on
animal smuggling© The New York Times
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzgTAbp-Fyo
Photo Credit: GRASP

70

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

on a daily basis. While the wildlife on offer in these sites ispredominantly destined for human consumption, much of it
is sold alive and none of it is regulated. The disease risks areclear, and the legal implications are equally troubling.
In fact, a 2014 study of seven live wildlife trade markets
in China’s Guangdong and Guangxi provinces uncovered
13 endangered or critically species for sale, along with
Indochinese box turtles and Burmese pythons, indicating thattrans-border trade was occurring in species without proper
documentation.
But even documents can be procured, if necessary. The 2015
arrest of the former wildlife director of Guinea, Ansoumane
Doumbouya, pulled back the curtain on a West African empireof live illegal wildlife trade that spanned nearly a decadeand resulted in the illegal export of hundreds of animals.
Doumbouya, who also served as the head of Guinea’s CITES
authority beginning in 2008, issued fraudulent permits for
chimpanzees, gorillas, manatees, bonobos, parrots andother endangered wildlife on a regular basis that fueled acomplex web of illegal traders and ultimately led to Guinea’s

trade suspension from CITES in 2013. Nevertheless, when
Doumbouya was arrested, he was still carrying blank CITES
export permits, several years after he’d left his post.
And where did those animals go? China was a major importerof chimpanzees from Guinea beginning around 2007, sincethat country’s rapidly expanding middle class demanded
zoos and safari parks and animal entertainment shows thatare popular in China. In 2010 alone, China imported 69
chimpanzees from Guinea under fraudulent CITES permits
that indicated the animal were “captive-bred” and therefore
legal to trade, and existing data indicates a total of 138
chimpanzees and 10 gorillas were sent to China over a periodof several years.

Photo Credit: GRASP

The illegal trade in elephant ivory or rhino horn is a grim trafficthat tolls a steady march towards extinction. Yet the numbers– no matter how devastating – are clear: every pair of tusks
represents a dead elephant, and every horn represents a deadrhinoceros. The live illegal wildlife trade, however, only hints atthe devastation and the loss of biodiversity. Who can say how
many bonobos really died as a result of the infant that was
seized from a speedboat in the Democratic Republic of Congo
last month? What do the dozens of slow lorises confiscatedin a recent raid on Bangkok’s Chatuchak market say about
the impact on wild populations? More information is clearlyneeded to understand the scale and scope of the live illegal
trade in wildlife, but the more pertinent questions are what
are the levers that policy-makers can use to stop live trade andhave we left enough time to put them in place.
Photo Credit: IUCNUNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT

Crossing the frontier71

Acknowledgements
The Financial Sector: A Linchpin to Advance Sustainable
Development
Authors
Ivo Mulder, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya
Eric Usher, UNEP Finance Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland
Gabriel Thoumi, Climate Advisors, Washington DC,
United States
Cary Krosinky, Brown University, Rhode Island, United States
Reviewers
Careen Abb, UNEP Finance Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland
Annie Degen, UNEP Finance Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland
Philip Drost, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya
Iain Henderson, UNEP Finance Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland
Hunter Lovins, Natural Capitalism Solutions, Colorado,United States
Anders Nordheim, UNEP Finance Initiative, Geneva,
Switzerland
Zoonoses: Blurred Lines of Emergent Disease andEcosystem Health
Authors
Delia Grace, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI),
Nairobi, Kenya
Bernard Bett, ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya
Hu Suk Lee, ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya
Susan Macmillan, ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya
Reviewers
Robyn Alders, University of Sydney, Australia
John McDermott, CGIAR Program on Agriculture for Nutrition
and Health, Washington DC, United States
Franklin Odhiambo, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya

72

Microplastics: Trouble in the Food Chain
Authors
Pinya Sarasas, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya
Peter Kershaw, GESAMP, United Kingdom
Heidi Savelli, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya
Jing Zhang, China
Reviewers
Christopher Corbin, UNEP, Kingston, Jamaica
Tamara Galloway, University of Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom
Chelsea Rochman, University of California, Davis, California,
United States

Loss and Damage: Unavoidable Impacts of Climate
Change on Ecosystems
Authors
Kees van der Geest, United Nations University, Bonn, Germany
Stefan Kienberger, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
Alex de Sherbinin, Center for International Earth Science
Information Network (CIESIN), New York, United States
Gillisann Harootunian, California State University, California,
United States
Asha Sitati, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya
Stephanie Andrei, International Centre for Climate Change
and Development (ICCCAD), Dhaka, Bangladesh
Reviewers
Zinta Zommers, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya
Janak Pathak, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya
Barney Dickson, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya
Mohammad Hafijul Islam Khan, Centre for Climate JusticeBangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Poisoned Chalice: Toxin Accumulation in Crops in the Era of
Climate Change
Authors
Jagger Harvey, ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya
Monika Macdevette, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya
Josiah Mutuku, ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya
Samuel Mutiga, ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya
Peter Emmrich, ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya
Tilly Eldridge, ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya
Reviewers
Mozaharul Alam, UNEP, Bangkok, Thailand
Abdelkader Bensada, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya
Volodymyr Demkine, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya
Felix Fritschi, University of Missouri, Missouri, United States
Janak Pathak, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya
Ken Shirasu, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science,
Yokohama, Japan
Edoardo Zandri, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya

Production team
Pinya Sarasas (editor-in-chief ) and Asha Sitati, UNEP, Nairobi,
Kenya
Copy Editor
Catherine McMullen, Ireland
Graphics, multimedia, design and layout
Audrey Ringler and Chris Mungai, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya;
Jinita Shah and Samuel Kinyanjui, UNON, Nairobi, Kenya
Printing
UNON/Publishing Services Section/Nairobi, ISO14001:2004Certified

UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORTThe Latest Frontier
Exotic Consumerism: Illegal Trade in Live Animals
AuthorDouglas Cress, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya73www.unep.org
United Nations Environment Programme
P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Tel: +254-(0)20-762 1234
Fax: +254-(0)20-762 3927
Email: uneppub@unep.org
web: www.unep.org

978-92-807-3553-6
DEW/1973/NA

UNEP FRONTIERS
2016 REPORTEmerging Issues of Environmental Concern

2014