GEO Resource Book - Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Medio ...

The GEO Approach to Integrated Environmental Assessment
Module 1
Today, the GEO Cities initiative in LAC includes more than 30 cities. In Africa, Asia and the Pacific
and Europe, discussion and consultations are underway to initiate similar environmental reporting
for selected cities, possibly including Nairobi, Lusaka, Dakar, Dhaka, Kathmandu and Shenzhen
(China).
The GEO Mexico City Environment Outlook responds to Decision 11 (Environment Indicators) of
the Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean, which requested
UNEP to continue the development of sectoral and targeted assessments using the GEO approach,
especially in the assessment of urban areas.
Geographical scope
The Mexico City report (PNUMA and CentroGeo 2003) is an example of a municipal level IEA in
the GEO Cities initiative. The reporting program covers the Metropolitan Zone of Mexico City
(MZMC), the biggest urban area in Latin America and the Caribbean. The MZMC is located in the
middle of three great mountain ranges that unite in the center of Mexico, the Sierra Madre
Oriental, the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the Neo-volcanic mountain range.
Figure 6: Mexico City
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When it was done
The GEO Mexico City initiative started in November 2001 and was completed in November 2003.
The initial results of the assessment were reviewed by specialists at a workshop held in November
2002. That was followed by a consultation on the final draft conducted in September 2003 involving
governmental officials, academics, representatives of NGOs and representatives of the private
sector.
Members of assessment team
The assessment was led by UNEP, Centro de Investigaciones en Geografía y Geomática “Ing. Jorge L.
Tamayo” (CentroGeo), which is part of the Public Research Center System of the National Science
and Technology Council (CONACYT), with the support of the local and the national governments
of Mexico.
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GEO Resource Book
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