Global Change and Our Common Future Papers from a Forum (1989) / Chapter Skim
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1. Toward a Global Environmental Policy
1. Toward a Global Environmental Policy
Pages 3-9
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From page 3... ...
Our goal is not so much to manage planet earth as to make ourselves less like a pathogen and more like those helpful bacteria that dwell in our own guts. So make no mistake: It is not nature as a whole we are trying to protect; this is not about environmental protection.
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From page 4... ...
Current resources foregone or spent to prevent the buildup of greenhouse gases are a sort of insurance premium. And, as long as we are going to pay premiums, we might as well pay them in a fashion that will yield some dividend, in the form of greater efficiency, improved human health, or more widely distributed and sustainable prosperity.
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From page 5... ...
If the four-fifths of humanity now in developing nations attempts to create wealth using the methods of the past, the result will at some point be unacceptable world ecological damage, such as accelerated ozone depletion or global warming. If what is sustained is poverty, the result, given current population growth, will be mass death, social chaos, and accelerated environmental degradation of the type that results from poverty.
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From page 6... ...
Although diplomats and lawyers may argue passionately over the form of words, talk is cheap. In the United States, for example, which has a set of environmental statutes second to none in their stringency, and where for the past 15 years, poll after poll has recorded the American people's desire for increased environmental protection, the majority of the population continues to participate in a most wasteful and polluting style of life.
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From page 7... ...
Another example is found in the Marshall Plan for reconstructing Europe after World War II. In 1947 the United States spent nearly 3 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP)
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From page 8... ...
In most nations, we now realize, a prosperous rural society based on sustainable agriculture must be the prelude to any future development. To obtain that, land tenure reform will have to be instituted in many countries and basic international trading relationships will have to be redesigned to eliminate the ill effects on the undeveloped world of agricultural subsidies and tariff barriers in the rich nations.
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From page 9... ...
can and should be a source of significant leadership in the transition to sustainable development and in support of developing countries in effecting this transition.'' The annual budget of the United Nations Environment Programme is $30 million, a laughable amount considering its responsibilities. If we are serious about sustainability, we will provide our central international environmental organization with serious money, preferably money derived from an independent source to reduce its political vulnerability.
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