GENEVA — Countries are on track to miss the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) relating to environmental protection, two UN entities warn in new report issued on Saturday to coincide with the International Day for Biological Diversity. Despite making progress in areas such as clean water, sanitation, clean energy and forest management, the world is still living unsustainably and biodiversity loss and climate change have continued to deteriorate. “We have still not embraced the rate of change necessary to come in line with the 2030 Agenda”, said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which produced the study together with the UN Environment Program (UNEP). Going backwards “The report makes it clear that we are falling short, and, in some cases, actually receding. The world cannot sustain our rate of use and abuse forever, and it is imperative that we accept the changes in life >Better data for a greener planet The report calls for improved data, and indicators, to understand how to ensure development progresses in a practical way. Gaps were identified in the diversity and use of environmental data and statistics to inform government policies, particularly “big environmental data” produced through technologies such as remote sensing and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, many existing data products, statistics and indicators appear to be under-utilized, while governments also have failed to put emphasis on that data in policy formation or decision-making. “Our comprehension of the environmental dimension of the SDGs is lagging”, said Jian Liu, Director of the Science Division at UNEP. “Our limited capacities to collect, disseminate and effectively use environmental data have hindered our holistic understanding of the environment and the effect of socio-economic factors – we hope this report will support countries as they strengthen action on the environmental dimensions with a view to meeting the 2030 Agenda.” — UN News