Written by David Steele

 

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has released their latest Global Environmental Assessment, titled A Future We Choose (1). It was written by 287 experts – from 82 countries with deep knowledge of the natural, social, behavioral and cultural sciences; over 800 additional experts reviewed it. The report also incorporates indigenous- and local knowledge. As the UNEP itself notes, this is “the most comprehensive scientific assessment of the global environment to this day.” 

The 1200+ page document outlines the dangerously precarious state our ecosphere has been put into by the intertwined crises of global warming, biodiversity loss, land degradation, pollution and waste. It not only emphasizes the extreme urgency of the situation. It goes further. and lays out powerful strategies that can and would turn it all around. 

“Now is the time for courage and creativity,” says António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in the report.

Below are highlights of both some of the dangers enumerated and the opportunities we have to not only eliminate them, but to also make this a far more livable, far more fundamentally prosperous world.

A few of the dangers:

If we continue on our current path, we face – (unless otherwise indicated, likely by 2050):

• 3.9 degrees of global warming by 2100
• the loss of hundreds of millions of hectares of natural lands
• the decimation of vital species, including pollinators
• major reductions in the food supply
• 4 million additional deaths each year from particulate pollution alone
• mass migrations of desperate people from lands too hot and too barren to support them
• a substantial reduction in global GDP

 

A glimpse at the opportunities:

• investment in clean energy (combined with the phaseout of fossil fuels) and ecosystem restoration would create millions of jobs and dramatically reduce global warming, other ecological damage and future economic costs
• moving towards sustainable, mostly plant-based food systems would better feed us all, prevent massive biodiversity loss, and reduce pollution and global warming
• economic benefits could reach 20 trillion dollars US per year by 2070
• about 100 million people could be lifted out of extreme poverty

 

Heeding the UNEP’s recommendations would take substantial up front investment – about $8 trillion annually until 2050, but it would payoff with about a 20 trillion dollar annual dividend by 2050. Some might balk at the financial return, but this is far, far from just about money. The payoff in lives and well being would be extreme. We’re talking about preventing ecological and societal collapse! All other investments are moot if we find ourselves in a mostly unliveable world.

That said, we don’t have a lot of time before it’s too late. Continuing on our current path can only lead to catastrophe. The time to act is now!

Let’s heed the UNEP’s expert call and urge all of our representatives to “acknowledge the urgency of the global environmental crises, build on progress made in recent decades, and collaborate in the co-design and implementation of integrated policies, strategies and actions to deliver a better future for all.”

 

1. UNEP Global Environment Outlook 7: A future we choose – Why investing in Earth now can lead to a trillion-dollar benefit for all https://wedocs.unep.org/items/bba44efd-7715-4054-8432-92b270ee9d67