Foresight Briefs

The Foresight Briefs provide guidance and inspiration for policy and action, by exploring a range of plausible, alternative futures and their implications. They help to identify emerging environmental issues and trends that need to be monitored and assessed for early warning. The public at large, and decision-makers at all levels, are provided with the opportunity to learn about what is happening to their changing environment and the consequences of everyday choices and to think about future directions for policy which they can influence through their policy processes. There is a growing need to keep information brief, visual and relevant for policymakers while describing the implications of environmental change in terms of human impacts. Foresight Briefs incorporate systems thinking analysis with a focus on environmental change, emerging issues, and futures. 

Recently Published Foresight Briefs

The 34^th edition of UNEP’s Foresight Briefs looks at the negative effects of tyre abrasion particles and how they can be regulated.

Vehicle Tyre Particles in the Environment

34 / 34

Water as a Circular Economy Resource

33 / 34

Role of Remote Sensing and Social Research

32 / 34

Sustainable production and consumption: Design for disassembly as a circular economy tool

31 / 34

Charcoal as a global commodity: is it sustainable?

30 / 34

Plastics in agriculture - an environmental challenge

29 / 34

The shrinking Arctic Sea Ice

28 / 34

The growing footprint of digitalisation

27 / 34

People's livelihood and cities -
building back greener

26 / 34

Working with plants, soils, and water

25 / 34

“Sargassum: Brown tide or golden jewel?”

24 / 34

Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Challenges

23 / 34

Desert locusts’ upsurges: A harbinger of emerging climate change-induced crises? Arabic

22 / 34

The need to eliminate lead paint globall

21 / 34

Food loss and waste in the
Sustainable Development Goals’ nexus

20 / 34

Blockchain technology and environmental sustainability Chinese | Spanish

19 / 34

Unveiling plastic pollution in oceans

18 / 34

Challenges for the growth of the electric vehicle market Chinese | Spanish

17 / 34

Seagrasses, the forgotten ecosystems

16 / 34

Growing popularity of alternate food systems for environment and health

15 / 34

Building a digital ecosystem for the planet

14 / 34

Putting Carbon back where it belongs - the potential of carbon sequestration in the soil

13 / 34

Environment, climate change and security

12 / 34

We are losing the Little things that run the world

11 / 34

Alternatives for the use of glyphosate

10 / 34

Revisiting ocean acidification, food security and our earth system

9 / 34

Faith for earth

8 / 34

Smoke-haze: A transboundary air pollution issue in Southeast Asia

7 / 34

Hacking economics for people and planet

6 / 34

Emerging sponge cities

5 / 34

Lake Urmia: Signs of recovery

4 / 34

The Changing Aral Sea

3 / 34

Marine plastics litter and microplastics

2 / 34

Saving Lake Faguibine

1 / 34

All foresight briefs