Bail out the planet
Von HernandezPublished: Jun 5, 2009 3:02 AM | Updated: Jun 5, 2009 7:36 AM
The moment of truth for the planet's six billion human inhabitants is dawning upon us.
For decades, ecologists have been warning against the inevitable consequences of man's mindless pursuit and addiction to economic growth fueled by the burning of fossil fuels and continuing dependence on dwindling non-renewable resources.
The moment of truth for the planet's six billion human inhabitants is dawning upon us.
For decades, ecologists have been warning against the inevitable consequences of man's mindless pursuit and addiction to economic growth fueled by the burning of fossil fuels and continuing dependence on dwindling non-renewable resources.
The collapse of the global financial markets and the escalating intensity and frequency of climate related disasters point to an unprecedented crisis whose converging consequences threaten to outstrip whatever key economic gains human societies have achieved in the past.
The terrifying consensus among the scientific community is that we are edging towards this critical ecological tipping point much faster than previously thought. Latest scientific projections indicate the disappearance of ice in the Arctic region within our current lifetimes.
A few months ago, an ice bridge about the size of Jamaica, which links the Wilkins Ice shelf to Antarctica, has been shattered - demonstrating the frightening speed by which these impacts are already taking place, and highlighting in contrast the sluggish pace by which governments worldwide are responding to this problem.
In this climate compromised scenario, the countries of Southeast Asia face the grim prospect of massive ecological and economic meltdown.
Low lying areas would be inundated by rising sea levels which threaten to displace hundreds of millions of people especially those living in coastlines across the region. Food production will be gravely undermined by escalating weather patterns, increasing drought incidence and declining water availability.
Short-sighted development schemes
Our people's basic capacity to survive and adapt to these rapid changes in the environment will be heavily challenged, and the poor who are most vulnerable to these impacts will find it extremely difficult to survive.
Despite these alarming trends, our governments and decision-makers remain lamentably fixated with short-sighted development schemes whose template of ecological ruin is deemed responsible for bringing the world to the brink of a runaway climate crisis.
While the responsibility for addressing the current climate crisis rests primarily with the industrialised world, it is imperative for the developing world to leapfrog over the mistakes and excesses of Western industrialisation and enable the transition to a low carbon economy while still providing for the needs of its people. If our economies were to develop in the same way as the United States, the consequences for the current and future generations would be unthinkable.
The ongoing economic crisis provides an extraordinary opportunity for governments to veer away from the over-consuming development paradigm which has been the main driving force of the ecological crisis.
While the capitalist agenda has spurred massive breakthroughs in the creation and enhancement of financial, technological and manufacturing capital, it has done so ironically at the expense of the natural capital which makes life possible and worth living in the first place.
Distilled down to its simplest, the large scale depletion of the natural capital has essentially been an exercise to convert our finite resources into waste and pollution.
The world needs to break free from this linear treadmill of destruction defined by carbon intensive fossil fuel dependence.
In a region considered to be among the most vulnerable and least prepared to cope with the impacts of climate change, it is critical that the Asean governments' response to the economic downturn also enable the required strategic investments that would lay the foundation for a massive shift in the way we have looked at development, prosperity and growth.
The need of the hour is to make the best possible use of investment funded by fiscal stimulus and rescue programmes toward the goal of building a resilient, sustainable, and green recovery, and enable the transition towards clean, innovative, resource-efficient, low-carbon technologies and infrastructure.
Investments in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture, zero waste and clean production also have the potential of alleviating poverty and generating millions of jobs.
This is what the ecological and financial crises demand of our leaders - not more money squandered on coal plants, nuclear facilities and similar destructive technologies that only serve to aggravate the problem.
In this era of climate consequences, building more coal power stations becomes not only an act of deadly denial, but a declaration of war against humanity's collective interest.
Establishing the leadership that will move our societies away from this deadly and destabilising addiction to fossil fuels therefore becomes an absolute obligation.
Asean cooperation and leadership on the issue of climate change is a must. The stakes in the region make it paramount for Asean to help ensure that governments agree to a strong climate deal when world leaders meet in Copenhagen later this year.
Governments including ours must learn to transcend the narrow economic calculus by which they have defined and measured progress in the past.
It is time for all of us to insist on a brand of development which shows that people and nature really matter - one which ensures that the rights of present and future generations to live in a safe, productive and healthy environment are valued and fully respected.
VON HERNANDEZ, executive director, Greenpeace Southeast Asia. Today is World Environment Day.
For decades, ecologists have been warning against the inevitable consequences of man's mindless pursuit and addiction to economic growth fueled by the burning of fossil fuels and continuing dependence on dwindling non-renewable resources.
The collapse of the global financial markets and the escalating intensity and frequency of climate related disasters point to an unprecedented crisis whose converging consequences threaten to outstrip whatever key economic gains human societies have achieved in the past. The terrifying consensus among the scientific community is that we are edging towards this critical ecological tipping point much faster than previously thought. Latest scientific projections indicate the disappearance of ice in the Arctic region within our current lifetimes.
A few months ago, an ice bridge about the size of Jamaica, which links the Wilkins Ice shelf to Antarctica, has been shattered - demonstrating the frightening speed by which these impacts are already taking place, and highlighting in contrast the sluggish pace by which governments worldwide are responding to this problem.
In this climate compromised scenario, the countries of Southeast Asia face the grim prospect of massive ecological and economic meltdown.Low lying areas would be inundated by rising sea levels which threaten to displace hundreds of millions of people especially those living in coastlines across the region. Food production will be gravely undermined by escalating weather patterns, increasing drought incidence and declining water availability.
Short-sighted development schemes
Our people's basic capacity to survive and adapt to these rapid changes in the environment will be heavily challenged, and the poor who are most vulnerable to these impacts will find it extremely difficult to survive.
Despite these alarming trends, our governments and decision-makers remain lamentably fixated with short-sighted development schemes whose template of ecological ruin is deemed responsible for bringing the world to the brink of a runaway climate crisis.
While the responsibility for addressing the current climate crisis rests primarily with the industrialised world, it is imperative for the developing world to leapfrog over the mistakes and excesses of Western industrialisation and enable the transition to a low carbon economy while still providing for the needs of its people. If our economies were to develop in the same way as the United States, the consequences for the current and future generations would be unthinkable.The ongoing economic crisis provides an extraordinary opportunity for governments to veer away from the over-consuming development paradigm which has been the main driving force of the ecological crisis.
While the capitalist agenda has spurred massive breakthroughs in the creation and enhancement of financial, technological and manufacturing capital, it has done so ironically at the expense of the natural capital which makes life possible and worth living in the first place.
Distilled down to its simplest, the large scale depletion of the natural capital has essentially been an exercise to convert our finite resources into waste and pollution.The world needs to break free from this linear treadmill of destruction defined by carbon intensive fossil fuel dependence.
In a region considered to be among the most vulnerable and least prepared to cope with the impacts of climate change, it is critical that the Asean governments' response to the economic downturn also enable the required strategic investments that would lay the foundation for a massive shift in the way we have looked at development, prosperity and growth.
The need of the hour is to make the best possible use of investment funded by fiscal stimulus and rescue programmes toward the goal of building a resilient, sustainable, and green recovery, and enable the transition towards clean, innovative, resource-efficient, low-carbon technologies and infrastructure.
Investments in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture, zero waste and clean production also have the potential of alleviating poverty and generating millions of jobs.
This is what the ecological and financial crises demand of our leaders - not more money squandered on coal plants, nuclear facilities and similar destructive technologies that only serve to aggravate the problem.
In this era of climate consequences, building more coal power stations becomes not only an act of deadly denial, but a declaration of war against humanity's collective interest.Establishing the leadership that will move our societies away from this deadly and destabilising addiction to fossil fuels therefore becomes an absolute obligation.
Asean cooperation and leadership on the issue of climate change is a must. The stakes in the region make it paramount for Asean to help ensure that governments agree to a strong climate deal when world leaders meet in Copenhagen later this year.
Governments including ours must learn to transcend the narrow economic calculus by which they have defined and measured progress in the past.
It is time for all of us to insist on a brand of development which shows that people and nature really matter - one which ensures that the rights of present and future generations to live in a safe, productive and healthy environment are valued and fully respected.
VON HERNANDEZ, executive director, Greenpeace Southeast Asia. Today is World Environment Day.
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