International Environmental Governance : Accomplishments and Way Forward

A plethora of environmental problems are ravaging the planet and its inhabitants. How well do existing structures convene governments to address these challenges? What is the role of science and civil society in this context? And, does international cooperation properly support countries with limited capacities? This report seeks to respond to these questions, based on an analysis of actions taken to renew international environmental governance to fulfill commitments made at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in 2012. This report outlines possibilities to strengthen the UN Environment Programme and to enhance synergies among global environmental conventions to ensure that international environmental governance continues evolving and improving to secure human well-being and planetary health

Toxic Effect of Anionic Surfactants on Freshwater Sponge <i>Lubomirskia baikalensis</i> and Its Endosymbiotic Microalgae <i>Chlorella</i> sp.

A number of reports on sponge diseases, including from Lake Baikal, have increased dramatically all over the world in recent years. Herewith, there are various hypotheses for sponge mortality. Lubomirskia baikalensis (phylum Porifera, order Spongillida) is a unique endemic freshwater sponge of Lake Baikal that contains a complex community of eukaryotic and prokaryotic endosymbiotic microorganisms. In this work, we present the first results for the effect of anionic surfactants viz. linear alkylbenzene sulphonates (LAS) at low 10 and 20 µg L−1 concentrations on Baikal sponge species and their symbiotic community as an experimental model. A new toxicity test protocol under conditions close to natural is proposed. It uses the sponge amoebocytes called as SA1-cells, which contain eukaryotic green microalgae Chlorella sp. These SA1-cells are shown to be representative indicator in assessing the impact of anionic surfactants. The acute toxic effect resulted in 97–100% sponge cell death in less than 48 h, as well as 100% symbiotic microalgae Chlorella sp. death over 72 h was noted under LAS solution (20 μg L−1) exposure during in vivo experiments. This includes the cell membrane fatty acid changes, change in the cell sizes, cell swelling, and lysis. Long term exposure to LAS solution (10 μg L−1) reflected in cellular stress (oxidative stress) and accompanied by malondialdehyde formation (0.16–2.0 μg g−1 of dry weight) during 14-day exposure was noted. Oxidative stress and mortality of L. baikalensis are associated with their low antioxidant activity. Trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) found in the range from 0.00031 to 0.00077 Trolox equivalents for these freshwater sponges