UN Environment Programme Report Reveals $5 Billion Hourly Environmental Cost from Food and Fossil Fuel Production
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has released its Global Environment Outlook (GEO) report, a comprehensive document spanning about 1,100 pages that details the environmental damage caused by food and fossil fuel production. Produced by around 200 researchers, the report estimates that environmental damage is occurring at a staggering rate of $5 billion per hour (approximately £3.8 billion).
Annually, this damage totals around $45 trillion, with the food system responsible for $20 trillion, transport for $13 trillion, and fossil-fuel powered electricity for $12 trillion. The GEO report highlights the need for externalities from energy and food to be priced to reflect their true costs. Proposed measures include universal basic income, taxes on meat, and subsidies for healthy plant-based foods.
Co-chairs Robert Watson and Edgar Gutiérrez-Espeleta emphasized the urgent need for a transformation in governance, economics, and finance to avoid environmental collapse, noting that the window for effective action is rapidly closing. They estimate that the benefits of climate action could amount to about $20 trillion per year by 2070 and up to $100 trillion by 2100. They also stressed the importance of political courage and called for environmental policy to become the backbone of national security, social justice, and economic strategy, with significant private-sector involvement.
The geopolitical landscape presents challenges, including US influence under Donald Trump and resistance from vested interests, which have hindered progress. This was underscored by the inability to agree on the policymakers’ summary of the report due to objections from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, Turkey, and Argentina. However, a UK-led statement representing 28 countries affirmed that science is not negotiable, reaffirming international commitment to evidence-based environmental policy.
