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The Outlook for the Future

Economic, political and social integration, com- There is a mix of both worrying developments and
bined with good governance, is making Europe a substantial progress in global environmental gov-
leader in trans-boundary environmental decision- ernance systems. For example, there is continuing
making. North America is a model in providing concern about the state of the stratospheric ozone
access to superior quality environmental informa- layer that gives protection from harmful ultraviolet ra-
tion, and investments in research and development. diation. On the positive side, precautionary action
Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the on stratospheric ozone depletion was introduced
Caribbean and West Asia have also made great by some industrialized countries, before the impacts
strides in tackling some of their environment and were evident. Their leadership was key to making
development challenges. reductions in the manufacture and consumption of
ODS a global success story.
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48 VITAL GEO GRAPHICS