Vital Graphics

In order to inform environmental and development policy-making processes, UNEP keeps under review the state of the world environment. UNEP’s environmental assessments, such as the Vital Graphics series developed by UNEP/GRID-Arendal, are fundamental communication initiatives that promote the interaction between science and the various stages of the policy and decision-making cycle. They reduce complexity but add value by summarizing, synthesizing and illustrating critical environmental issues. They also identify consensus by sorting out what is known and widely accepted from what is not known or not agreed. Vital Graphics packages are an ideal tool for mainstreaming environmental issues, in other words, for preaching to the ‘non-converted’.

Available titles

Vital Water Graphics - 2nd Edition (2008) An Overview of the State of the World’s Fresh and Marine Waters The report presents an overview, through a set of graphics, maps and other illustrations, of the current state of the world’s fresh, coastal and marine waters. It illustrates the causes and effects of trends that threaten our water resources, with examples of areas of major concern and future scenarios for the use and management of fresh, coastal and marine waters.	Kick the Habit: A UN Guide to Climate Neutrality A new UNEP publication, written and produced by UNEP/GRID-Arendal for World Environment Day 2008, shows how various levels of society can work towards climate neutrality. Written and reviewed by experts from many disciplines and various countries, the book is aimed at a broad audience.
Vital Caspian Graphics - Challenges Beyond Caviar We often associate the Caspian Sea with caviar that is legally or illegally finding its way to our tables, but overlook the footprints left by a number of industries installed on shores of the Caspian that are serving the world wealthiest market demands.	Vital Ozone Graphics "Vital Ozone Graphics – resource kit for journalists" is a joint publication of UNEP DTIE OzonAction and GRID-Arendal. It features 30+ new graphics explaining physical, technical, economic and political aspects of the disconcerting process of ozone destruction in the atmosphere and the human action that has been taken to stop the process.
Balkan Vital Graphics Environmental protection is one of the areas where the Balkan countries still face a big challenge to catch up with their western neighbours. After the 1990s conflicts and the breakup of Yugoslavia, six new Balkan states emerged.	The Vital Climate Graphics for Latin America and the Caribbean Vital Climate Graphics Latin America and the Caribbean is a collection of graphics that highlight greenhouse gas emission trends, observational evidence, and projected impacts of warming and adverse weather events in the region.
Vital Climate Graphics - Update The publication of this second edition was prompted by the popularity of the first edition and the obvious need for providing updated information to our readers. The contents of this publication are accessible on this web site where all the graphics are reproduced in data formats that could be downloaded for further use.	Vital Arctic Graphics The fate of the Arctic environment deserves global consideration. The Arctic is the world’s last continuous, undeveloped and unexploited coastal and marine region. It is an area highly unique in terms of its landscape, its peoples and ecosystems; as well as its vulnerability to climate change.
Vital Waste Graphics 2 The second edition of Vital Waste Graphics looks at the lifecycle of products and provides a wealth of data, text and graphics that shed a light on types of waste that are usually hidden to the consumers.	Vital Waste Graphics The publication "Vital Waste Graphics" was initiated by the Basel Convention Secretariat and produced in partnership with the Division of Environmental Conventions (DEC) of UNEP, Grid-Arendal and the Division of Early Warning Assessment-Europe of UNEP. It is being published for the seventh meeting of the Conference to the Parties of the Basel Convention (COP7).
Vital Climate Graphics Africa The latest report (Third Assessment Report) of the UNEP/WMO Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) notes a warming of approximately 0.7°C over most of the African continent during the 20th century based on historical records. While the exact nature of the changes in temperature or precipitation, and extreme events are not known, there is general agreement that extreme events will get worse, and trends in most variables will change in response to warming.	Vital Climate Graphics Vital Climate Graphics are based on the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was established by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization. The IPCC's 1995 Second Assessment Report is widely respected as the most authoritative source of climate change information available.