Editorial Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director, UNEP Learning from disaster Mikhail Gorbachev describes how the misuse of natural resources by the unregulated free market is threatening the planet, and proposes concrete actions Being prepared Le Huy Ngo draws lessons from his country's award-winning programme to prepare for disasters and reduce their impact The way forward Dominique Voynet argues for reinforcing international governance of the environment and for the eventual creation of a World Environment Organization Breaking the cycle Didier J. Cherpitel unravels the intricate, insidious relationships between poverty, the environment and disasters Flip-flop to catastrophe Pier Vellinga describes how increasing emissions of greenhouse gases may destabilize the global climate, with disastrous consequences Nature's warnings Jan Pronk says that we cannot continue to ignore the warnings of climate change At a glance Disasters

Competition Insuring against catastrophe Gerhard Berz describes how global warming is increasing natural disasters, and calls on the insurance industry to act Recreating sustainability Sergio Vieira de Mello describes how rebuilding East Timor, after its destruction, offers an opportunity to design a sustainable future The legacy of conflict Pekka Haavisto describes the environmental effects of the conflict in Kosovo and explains how such assessments provide a new tool for the international community Ask us, involve us Oral A. Ataniyazova describes the impact of the Aral Sea disaster on the health of local people and calls for them to be consulted on their future The poor suffer most Alcira Kreimer and Margaret Arnold describe how a new consortium is putting disaster reduction on the development agenda Through a slanted lens Judi Conner examines television coverage of disasters