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We are fooling ourselves if we think
the environment can survive with the world's current set of government
policies.
In 1996, 25 percent of the world's 4,630 mammal species and 11 percent of the world's 9,675 bird species risked total extinction. From 1950 to 1996, global emissions of carbon dioxide nearly quadrupled, further threatening global climate change. These startling findings were part of the recently released Global Environment Outlook-2000 (GEO-2000), the flagship publication of the United Nations Environment Program. Besides providing a region by region analysis of the state of the world's environment, GEO-2000 assesses the effects of national and international policies on the environment and offers a future outlook and recommendations. According to the report, one quarter of humanity still lives in dire poverty. The increasing gap between rich and poor threatens the stability of society and the global environment, as poverty combined with rapid population growth leads to the widespread degradation of renewable resources (mainly forests, soils and water). At the same time, the global economy more than quintupled in size since 1950. And rich economies continue to consume immense quantities of energy and raw materials and produce high volumes of waste and polluting emissions, causing global environmental damage and disruption to ecosystems. Regarding Europe, over half of the region's large cities are over-exploiting their groundwater reserves. Pollution of land through the excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides and by contaminants such as heavy metals is widespread. Forest area in Western and Central Europe has grown by more than 10 percent since the 1960s but nearly 60 percent is damaged by acidification, pollution, drought or forest fires. Per capita waste production in Western Europe rose by 35 percent since the 1980s and Europe produces about one-third of global greenhouse gases. On the positive global side, some key environmental successes are reported. A prime example is that the ozone layer is expected to recover within 50 years largely as result of the Montreal Protocol. Policy gains have been achieved through improved regulation, information, prices and technologies. Behaviour and lifestyles have been somewhat affected from a better public understanding of the environmental damages of consumer society. In Europe, public participation and access to environmental information have improved and successes are reported with cleaner production and eco-labelling programmes. The global outlook, however, is that full-scale emergencies now exist. If trends continue in population, economic and consumption growth, two-thirds of the global population will live in water-stressed conditions by 2025. Land degradation has reduced fertility and agricultural potential, negating many advances made through increasing agricultural areas and productivity. Many species are condemned to extinction because of the slow response times of both the environment and policy-makers. And it's probably too late to prevent global warming. Current policies will not lead to a sustainable future, but if new technologies and alternative policies to solve environmental issues are implemented immediately, the world could be set on a more sustainable course. New policies should address the root causes of many environmental problems, including population growth and consumption patterns. And policy-makers should recognise that a tenfold reduction in resource consumption in the industrialized countries is needed to release adequate resources in the developing countries. Current knowledge gaps act as a collective blindfold that hides the road to environmental sustainability. Information related to the current state of the environment, whether new policies and expenditures have desired results, and the effects of trade and financial flows on the environment is now very weak. Finally, a shift in values away from material consumption is needed. Without it, environmental policies can only bring marginal improvements. And of course, environmental thinking must be integrated into other sectors including agriculture and trade. |
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