It’s Getting Hot In Here

Cross-posted from OurTask.org, by Angeline Cione.

“…the world does not face separate crises – the “environmental crisis”, “development crisis”, and “energy crisis” are all one”

This statement was quoted in Thursday’s press release for the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)’s latest Global Environment Outlook, or GEO4.

As you may know, OT has been researching the latest, most respected international reports to get an idea of what our future holds – what type of world we are set to inherit from our parents. The GEO4 report is the most comprehensive study available, and it does an excellent job of highlighting our biggest global challenges and showing how challenges in each sector are related.

While we (humanity) have successfully addressed many global issues such as ozone layer depletion, protection of many natural areas, and regional health improvements, many greater challenges threaten to undo to the progress we have achieved. The study reveals that current trends in most major areas (climate change, consumption levels, food production, water demand, biodiversity, etc.) are highly unfavorable. If current trends continue, we will likely face many large-scale, interrelated disasters.

As the report emphasizes, major problems are highly interrelated so it’s important to focus on holistic solutions that address the bigger problem. For example, it is short-sighted to try to eradicate poverty (improve economic growth) through the continued use of fossil-powered energy. Gasoline cars and coal-fired power plants would greatly improve the standard of living for many people in the world – for a short period of time. However, the compounded impacts of increased pollution, rising fossil energy prices and climate change would likely counteract the previous efforts to combat poverty. In fact, climate change (caused by increase in use of fossil fuels) is projected to lead to water shortages, land changes, floods, and other consequences that will be disastrous for the world’s poorest people because they lack the capital to adapt to these changes. (Recall the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the poor populations along the Gulf Coast and the tsunami’s impact on the poor populations around Indonesia.)

Instead, true poverty eradication will come from holistic solutions that emphasize building economic growth on education, clean energies, high efficiency, environmental protection, and emergency preparedness. In fact, global shifts towards these holistic solutions are necessary, not just for poverty eradication, but for prevention of major disasters in the upcoming century. Humanity has faced many great disasters such as major world wars, plagues, food shortages, and the fall of many civilizations. But these events have primarily led to regional disasters. With our growing population and global interdependence, we are now more vulnerable than ever to global disasters – wars involving WMDs, global epidemics, global food shortages, and the fall of our global civilization.

Luckily, we have global communications and improved global diplomacy that will help us utilize and develop the many tools we need to address the challenges we face. But everyone must immediately focus on holistic, sustainable solutions in our pursuits of economic growth and well-being. As stated in the GEO4 report,
“while governments are expected to take the lead, other stakeholders are just as important to ensure success in achieving sustainable development. The need couldn’t be more urgent and the time couldn’t be more opportune, with our enhanced understanding of the challenges we face, to act now to safeguard our own survival and that of future generations”

How can you personally take real steps towards addressing these challenges? How can our government and social institutions take real steps toward addressing these challenges?