The Index focusses on seven global challenges of our millenium. Within the framework of a comprehensive analysis of political, economic and social target systems, seven global fields for action have been identified.

Of particular significance in this context are the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, the European Union’s sustainability strategy, the Global Environmental Outlook of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the ten Principles of the UN Global Compact. 

These challenges do not stand in isolation from one another, but are closely interdependent. Climate protection measures, for example, have a positive impact on the availability of drinking water. Biodiversity and deforestation are also closely linked. This overall interdependence is particularly pertinent to the issue of poverty. Progress in the other fields for action always represents an important step toward combating poverty.


Climate Change

• The IPCC forecasts a rise in the average global temperature of between 1.8 and 4.0 degrees Celsius by 2100, if no measures are taken.
  
  
• The Stern Report forecasts a significant increase in the costs of climate change: by the middle of this century, annual losses will amount to at least 5% of global GDP, currently reckoned to stand at around US$ 2,200 billion.

• Drinking water is a scarce resource: only one per cent of the world’s water reserves is available as drinking water.
  
  
• According to UN estimates, 1.1 billion people have no access to clean drinking water.
  
  
• Illnesses caused by polluted water cost the lives of around 6,000 children every day.

• The rate of global deforestation stands at 13 million hectares per annum, principally due to conversion into agricultural land (FAO, 2005).
  
  
• 36% of all forests are primeval forests - 6 million hectares are destroyed or converted annually (FAO, 2005). Every year, between 0.5 and 1% of the tropical rainforest is lost.
  

• According to the red list of threatened species published by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in 2006, around 15,500 species worldwide are threatened with extinction, including 23% of all mammals, 12% of birds and 31% of amphibians.
  
  
• The total number of species fell by 40% between 1970 and 2000.

• Every minute, more than 150 people are born, principally in developing countries and NICs. The UN forecasts that over the next four decades almost three billion more people will be added to the world’s current population of around 6.4 billion.
  
  
• The industrialised countries face the threat of an ageing population. According to UN forecasts, by the year 2050 8 million Germans will be over 80 years old

• Worldwide, around 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty. According to the World Bank’s definition, these are people who have less than one dollar per day available to them.
  
  
• Closely linked to this are poor preventive medicine, high infant mortality and illiteracy.

Literature:

• CDB – Convention on Biological Diversity:
  www.cbd.int
  
  
• German Foundation for World Population:
  www.weltbevoelkerung.de/en
  
  
• EU Sustainable Development Strategy:
  http://ec.europa.eu/sustainable
  
  
• IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:
  www.ipcc.ch
  
  
• SD-M - Sustainable Development Management:
  Axel Hesse: Big Six - The six most important global challenges for Sustainable Development in the 21st century, www.sd-m.de/Publications.htm
  
  
• UN Environmental Program (UNEP)
  Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-4), www.unep.org/geo/geo4
  
  
• UN Global Compact:
  www.unglobalcompact.org
  
  
• UN Millenium Development Goals:
  www.un.org/millenniumgoals
  
  
• World Economic Forum:
  Global Risks 2008, www.weforum.org/pdf/globalrisk/report2008.pdf