This first issue of the biennial Global Environment Outlook (GEO) is a snapshot of an ongoing worldwide environmental assessment process. It was initiated in response to the environmental reporting requirements of Agenda 21 and to a UNEP Governing Council Decision of May 1995, which requested production of the first in a new, comprehensive State of the Environment Report series in time for the next UNEP Governing Council in January 1997. The decision recognized the need to advance consensus on several essential environmental issues and on the implementation of the recommendations of Agenda 21. A regional and participatory process was used to produce GEO-1. Input was solicited from an extensive array of sources throughout the world: 20 regional Collaborating Centres, United Nations organizations, and independent experts. Draft chapters benefited from discussions and recommendations of participants in regional consultations organized by the UNEP Regional Offices and were extensively amended and reviewed thereafter. Chapter 1 elaborates on this region-based participatory process, and a GEO technical report provides further details on the outcome of the regional consultations.