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Survival of man rest on climate change action
By Graham Tibbetts
Last Updated: 6:01pm BST 25/10/2007



The survival of mankind depends on nations overcoming their lethargy and tackling the problems of climate change, species extinction and feeding a growing population, a panel of the world's leading scientists has said.


Report described climate change as a 'global priority'
Launching a landmark report in London on the state of the planet's environment, the experts warned that economies - including Britain's - would be crippled by the rising cost of dealing with catastrophic natural changes.

One said humans were locked in a race against time to reduce the effects of environment change and described it as "one of the most epic races humanity will ever run".

The stark message was contained in a five-year study by the United Nations Environment Programme. The fourth Global Environment Outlook Report (GEO-4) was prepared by 390 scientists and reviewed by more than 1,000 across the world, making it one of the most comprehensive studies in decades.

It looked at changes to the planet in the 20 years since the Brundtland Commission outlined the detrimental impact humans were having on the world around them.

During that time:

Carbon dioxide concentrations have increased by a third
The amount of fish stocks which have collapsed has doubled to 30 per cent
Freshwater availability has halved in West Asia as more water is used for irrigation
Energy consumption per head in America has increased by 18 per cent.advertisement
Global warming and the exploitation of fish and forests for food meant that a sixth mass species extinction is now underway, threatening to destroy fragile ecosystems, some of which may not be fully understood.

GEO-4 said that "Planet Earth Plc" was living way beyond its means. The amount of resources being consumed per person is now 21.9 hectares per person, while the earth's capacity is only 15.7 hectares per person.

The report described climate change as a "global priority" but found there was a "remarkable lack of urgency" and a "woefully inadequate" global response.

Achim Steiner, UNEP's executive director, said: "There have been enough wake-up calls since Brundtland. I sincerely hope GEO-4 is the final one.

"The systematic destruction of the earth's natural and nature-based resources has reached a point where the economic viability of economies is being challenged - and where the bill we hand on to our children may prove impossible to pay."

Marion Cheatle, deputy director of UNEP's division of early warning and assessment, said: "The report provides incontrovertible evidence of unprecedented environmental change over the last 20 years that unless checked will fundamentally undermine economic development for current and future generations."

Britain should look to countries like Denmark, which has become a world leader in wind energy.

"That has been a huge boost and other contries can replicate that. Britain's economy is influenced by transport - how is it going to get to grips with its huge increase in airline travel while reducing its carbon footprint?" she said.

During the last 20 years global wealth in GDP has increased by a third, yet that wealth is not being used to protect future resources, said Ms Cheatle.

She said it would be far cheaper to take action now than later, but while the general public often shared scientists' concerns they were ignored by governments.

"We have the solutions to so many of these problems. But time and again there is not enough effort and resources or political will to tackle them to the extent we need," said Ms Cheatle.

The GEO-4 report offered some hope, observing that in the last two decades the international community has produced the Kyoto Protocol and cut ozone-layer damaging chemicals by 95 per cent.

But it concludes: "The need couldn't be more urgent and the time couldn't be more opportune... to act now to safeguard our own survival and that of future generations."

Mike Childs, campaigns director of Friends of the Earth, welcomed the report and called for political action to protect wildlife and ecosystems.

He added: " We need governments, businesses and individuals to harness humankind's amazing abilities in innovation to create a fairer and greener world."

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