Boost expertise to achieve green economy, says UNEP

According to a UNEP report,the world is facing a major shortage of experts capable of tackling sustainable development challenges that could undermine efforts to achieve a green economy .It said that this shortage needed to be addressed both through training and the upgrading of existing expertise. The report launched at UNEP's 12th special session of its governing council in Nairobi, Kenya, recently presents a list of key environmental concerns, and then asked more than 400 leading environmental scientists from around the world to rank the list in order of importance. The report aims to provide governments, civil society and businesses with scientific assessments to help them forge an agreement at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil in June. According to UNEP chief scientist, Joseph Alcamo, there is a wide skills gap in many priority areas, including renewable energy, ecosystem services, food safety and security, and water. The report put this lack of skills as the second most important challenge. However, the issue rated most important was environmental governance.