The World Bank's work in this area draws heavily on the achievements of Rio. Nevertheless the economic crises in East Asia and Latin America show the fragile nature of some of these gains as countries, faced by imminent financial collapse, ditch environmental safeguards and cut back on public spending designed to protect the environment. But it is not just in East Asia and Latin America that we have cause for concern. I do not need to rehearse in the pages of this magazine the enormity of the challenge. The world's forests continue to be depleted at an alarming rate.
Urban pollution takes a huge toll on people's health.
Topsoil is washed away in vast quantities. Fishstocks are depleted devastatingly fast. There is mounting evidence of climate change. And all kinds of biological species, on land and under water, are threatened - in many instances, with extinction. We need to lift our sights to more distant horizons.