Notwithstanding the enormous challenges, moving on to a pathway that leads to meeting internationally agreed environmental goals and targets is possible and the transition is already under way. There are, today, great opportunities to scale up policies that can help to reverse negative environmental trends and address inequalities and inadequate institutional frameworks within which human society currently operates. It is also imperative for the international community to invest in structural solutions, from fundamental shifts in the values, design and structure of institutions to innovative policy frameworks, that will help tackle the root causes, rather than merely the symptoms, of environmental degradation. Solutions are within reach, but urgent, ambitious and cooperative action is imperative to meet internationally agreed goals and targets and to avoid irreversible changes to the life-support functions of the planet and further escalating economic, environmental and human well-being costs.