ENVIRONMENT: Degradation Leading the Field on All Fronts

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Jan 27 1997 (IPS) - An overview of world-wide action to protect the environment released Monday, showed efforts to stop the degradation of the planet are advancing far too slowly.

The depletion of the water, soil, forests, fish and urban air quality as a result of human action and contamination are happening at a rate far faster than nature can repair the damage, said the World Environmental Outlook document produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The maintenance of this tendency will use up the essential ingredients for life on the planet, said the report.

The UNEP document said these conditions meant the planet was well on the way to food insecurity and conflict situations.

During the last ten years, from a world perspective, the environment has continued to be degraded everywhere and the most important environmental problems are still encrusted in the social and economic fabric of nations from all regions.

The advances made towards a sustainable world future have been happening too slowly and lack the necessary sense of emergency, said UNEP.

The report said the world was still facing the challenge of developing fair and equitable harmonisation between the environmental and trade regimes.

The international community must take action to “radically modify” energy consumption. New sources are needed, improved energy efficiency and a reduction in emissions.

UNEP also called for the development of appropriate technologies in all sectors of the economy to achieve the most efficient use of natural resources and the reduction of waste production.

The water problem, which already affects 27 percent of the world population, became the main obstacle to development in many regions.

The report stated there was a lack of information on environmental issues and recommended topping this up with the contribution of regular evaluations, the development of databases and the preparation of integral forecasts.

In a study of the regional perspectives, UNEP observed that Africa still has the highest rate of population growth in the world, deteriorating trade terms, scarce financial resources and the longest droughts.

One of the main problems this continent faces is the imbalance in the use of natural resources, with the over-exploitation of some and the under-use of others.

The quest for balance between economic development and sustainability is still the biggest challenge for the African continent, further complicated by the variety of its cultural heritage and natural riches.

Some 500 million hectares of Africa are degraded to a moderate or severe degree. The African savannas, the richest pasture lands in the world, carry the burden of many indigenous plants and animals, including the highest concentration of mammals in the world.

Africa contains 19 of the 25 countries with the highest percentage of population without access to drinking water. Africa’s environmental deterioration is tightly linked to poverty and the poor economic performance.

In the Asia-Pacific region, where more than two-thirds of the population live in absolute poverty despite the high levels of economic growth, UNEP said there were problems with soil degradation, the marine and coastal resources, deforestation and inadequate water supplies.

Pollution is seriously on the increase in the largest megacities of the region: Mumbai, Jakarta and Manila. The small island states, like Fiji, the Maldives and West Samoa, all have problems with waste disposal.

Asia’s timber reserves could last as little as 40 years more. Around 70 percent of waste waters tipped into the Pacific ocean are untreated.

The region of Latin American and the Caribbean is characterised environmentally for its immense hydrological systems (like the Amazon and the River Plate) which have unique biodiversity systems.

A high growth rate amongst the urban population and marginality on agricultural lands are the main causes of environmental degradation in the region.

UNEP affirmed the structural adjustment policies had promoted the economic recovery of Latin America and the Caribbean but that they had also increased poverty.

Meanwhile, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay were experiencing the effects of increased ultraviolet-B rays due to a more pronounced reduction in the ozone layer than in any other inhabited region of the planet.