In
the words of the Geo 4:
“GEO-4 aims
to provide a comprehensive, reliable and scientifically credible, policy-relevant,
up-to-date assessment of, and outlook for, the state of the global environment.”
The United Nations
Environment Programme and the Global Environment Outlook process have
over the past 10 years produced a series of global integrated environmental
assessment reports on the interaction between environment and society.
This latest GEO-4 is the first of the GEO series of comprehensive reports
to enter into a five-year production cycle.
The report indicates that there are declines in nearly all aspects of
Earth’s natural environment almost all as a direct result of humankind’s
activities.
Some damning conclusions
state:
• There is "visible and unequivocal" evidence of the impacts
of climate change
• Many farming systems have reached their limits of production
• Warmer temperatures and ocean acidification threaten food supplies
• 1.8 billion people face water shortages by 2025
• Three-quarters of marine fisheries exploited to or beyond their
limits
• Exposure to pollutants causes 20% of disease in developing nations
• Pollution being "exported" to developing world
• About 60% of "ecosystem services" are degraded
The world’s population has grown at an unprecedented rate, doubling
to 6.5 billion since 1960 and is forecast to be over 8 billion in thirty
year’s time. With increases like this it is hardly surprising our
environment is starting to feel the strain and could be critical by the
middle of the century.
The few positives
such as the slowing down in the destruction of the rain forests and cleaner
air quality over Western Europe are greatly overshadowed by the downward
slide.
In our corner of the
globe, the greater prosperity and growing number of individual households
are contributing to unsustainable patterns of production and consumption.
Sustainable Development
refers to the ability to progress and grow within a replenishing environment
and according to the report: The world as a whole is living far beyond
its means. The human population is now so large that “the amount
of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available... humanity’s
footprint [its environmental demand] is 21.9 hectares per person while
the Earth’s biological capacity is, on average, only 15.7 ha/person...
“
For some of the world’s
persistent problems the damage may already be irreversible. GEO-4 warns
that tackling the underlying causes of environmental pressures often affects
the vested interests of powerful groups able to influence policy decisions.
The only way to address
these harder-to-manage problems requires moving the environment from the
periphery to the core of decision-making: environment for development,
not development to the detriment of environment.
You can download the
report from the UNEP website http://www.unep.org/geo/geo4/media/index.asp
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