Measuring Progress: Environmental Goals and Gaps

This report presents the findings of a United Nations Environment Programme study, supported by the Government of Switzerland, that catalogued and analysed existing global environmental goals contained in international agreements and conventions. It examines why the aims and objectives of these policy instruments have often fallen well short of their original ambitions and concludes that one important reason is the lack of sufficiently specific goals. The report finds that the relatively small number of goals that are specific and measurable have generally demonstrated a much stronger record of success.