Horn of Africa Drought Needs Long Term Solutions - UNEP

Horn of Africa Drought Needs Long Term Solutions - UNEP

A 100 years later...same story!

DECEMBER 21, 1907		SEPTEMBER 22, 2008
INDIAN MIRROR		BUSINESS STANDARD
“The East Indian Railway was constructed in 1853-54 and opened in 1855. To protect the East Indian railroad from Burdwan onwards, a high embankment was constructed on the east bank of Damodar to stop the floods. Wherever embankments were thrown up, tanks and artificial lakes were choked with weeds and the crops suffered from want of fertilising silt. Scarcity and famines have become more frequent and severe, and cases of fever increased. … The villages were full of healthy inhabitants and people prospered… All this was changed when the Damodar was embanked to stop the inundation. …there was no malaria in the villages from Calcutta to Chagda. At the end of the rains there would be a few cases of fever but no malaria, as seen in the last 30 years and more… Malaria broke out one year after the construction of the railway, obstructing the natural drainage of the country eastward on account of inadequate and insufficient waterways in the railway embankment…”		“The jacketing or embanking of the river systems in north Bihar must go down as among the most ill-thought out schemes in Independent India… The plan was to introduce about 150 kilometres of embankment on the Kosi to protect a declared ‘flood prone’ area in the state of some 25 lakh hectares. Today, some 50 years later, north Bihar is a warren of over 3,500 kilometres of embankments, with the declared ‘flood prone’ area having crossed a staggering 75 lakh hectares. …most expert opinion warns against pursuing the embankment route to tackle perennial overflowing or swing in a river’s temperament, as it would impede natural drainage… The initial embankments, eight feet high, converted the Kosi bed into a catchment area for silt. Today, Kosi flows a good 25 to 30 feet above ground level… The river basin is way above ground level and water cannot flow upwards. The inundated villages between as well as outside the embankments stay water-logged for months on end, leading to rise in soil salinity, water-borne diseases and producing hordes of migrant labour.
FLOODS are not new to India. People living in flood-prone areas knew how to turn this menace into a blessing. But then, the saga of decay of this valuable tradition began...

Future of Marine Environments: UN

Declines in marine and coastal ecosystems due to human activities such as overfishing and pollution could be reversed if organisations, communities and other stakeholders adopt a more integrated approach to managing coastal environments. Closer partnerships between different marine users - such as fishing communities, the tourism industry and conservationists - can also help coastal communities become better prepared for natural disasters and the impacts of global warming, such ocean acidification and changes in sea levels.

The recommendations come in a new publication from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which outlines how planners and policy-makers in local, national and regional governments can adopt what is known as an ecosystem-based management (EBM) approach to help ensure sustainable development for marine and coastal environments and the many people who depend on them.

Launched on World Oceans Day 2011, Taking Steps Toward Marine and Coastal Ecosystem-Based Management: An Introductory Guide, explains in simple, accessible language how sharing knowledge and best practices across different sectors can make marine management more effective.

Using over 20 case studies and success stories, ranging from polar ecosystems in Antarctica to atolls in the Indian Ocean, the publication offers guidance to marine managers towards achieving long-term sustainability, from initial planning of how to deal with environmental degradation to on-site implementation of action plans.

"The future role of marine and coastal ecosystems in human well-being depends increasingly on developing the capacity of countries to manage human uses and impacts in order to ensure that ecosystem health and self-repairing capacity is not undermined", said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

"Central to a transformational response to decades of overfishing, pollution and unplanned urban development will be moving from sectoral marine and coastal management to a joined approach that marries seemingly competing interests", added Mr. Steiner.

Ecosystem-based management (EBM) is holistic, integrated approach that looks at marine and coastal ecosystems as units with many ecological and social links. These connections can be numerous and complex, with disruptions to any part of an ecosystem - such as changes to habitats or fluctuations in the population of a species - having many knock-on effects.

Agricultural run-off, for example, can pollute rivers or seas, leading to a decline in plants such as seagrasses consumed by fish. This, in turn, can lead to reduced catch for fishing communities and a resulting drop in prosperity and living conditions for coastal populations. EBM uses knowledge of such connections to guide different uses of oceans and coasts and to determine policies and priorities for managing future development.

The value of the natural services provided by marine and coastal areas is also a key part of EBM. Food security through fisheries as well as climate change adaptation, water purification, storm protection, tourism and recreation are among the many ecosystem services provided by healthy oceans and coasts..

The new UNEP guide highlights several examples of how determining the value of ecosystem services has helped improve marine management.

The UNEP-administered Mediterranean Action Plan, which brings together 21 developed and developing countries to protect the Mediterranean environment, recently produced an ecosystem services evaluation for the region. Initial results found that the total value of fisheries production, recreation, climate regulation, erosion control and waste treatment was 26 billion Euro annually. The results will have a significant impact on regional policy-making, which is seeking to address, among other things, the decline of seagrass meadows and coastal lagoons.

Different pathways to healthy oceans and coasts

Many aspects of EBM for marine ecosystems, such as ecosystem assessments, pollution monitoring or fisheries management, are already being carried out by marine and coastal managers across the world. What sets EBM apart, however, is its holistic, integrated approach.

Put simply, EBM is all about managing people - their activities and interactions with ecosystems and the services they provide. This could involve, for example, planning of marine protected areas in direct dialogue with other sectors like fisheries and off-shore energy exploration. In turn, this can provide for broad-scale healthy oceans rather than isolated 'pockets of biodiversity'.

The guide cites the example of California, where, over the past decade, the US state has rapidly expanded its system of marine protected areas, through a comprehensive marine spatial planning exercise. An example of EBM in action, a group of NGOs, state bodies and other stakeholders developed an ocean atlas, which maps the full range of economic and recreational uses of the state's waters. An online mapping tool also provides data on overlapping human uses relevant to marine protected areas. Given the success of the project, other US states have now started to develop their own atlases using the same approach.

As cross-boundary co-operation may be required to implement aspects of EBM, UNEP's Regional Seas Programme, which covers 18 regions of the world, is uniquely placed to assist. The programme addresses the degradation of the world's oceans and coastal areas by engaging neighbouring countries in specific actions to protect their shared marine environment. Initiatives such as regional action plans (there are currently 14 plans worldwide) can provide a basis for creating common agendas and building an EBM approach to sustainable marine development.

EBM approaches are also being used to tackle marine pollution issues affecting many countries worldwide. In March 2011, UNEP partnered with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to hold a major international conference to address marine debris. Marine experts from 35 countries, governments, researchers, corporations and trade associations met to make a new set of new commitments to tackle the problem of discarded plastic, industrial waste and other debris in the world's oceans. The resulting Honolulu Commitment encourages the sharing of technical, legal and market-based solutions to reduce marine debris and to improve local and regional understanding of the scale and impact of the problem, while advocating for better waste management worldwide.

With coastal and marine ecosystems coming under increasing pressure from pollution, coastal development, overfishing and climate change, new, collaborative strategies are needed to ensure long-term sustainability. Through shared knowledge, science and best practices, ecosystem-based management can help make communities more resilient to environmental change and ensure an equitable share of marine resources for all ocean users.

To download a copy of Taking Steps Toward Marine and Coastal Ecosystem-Based Management: An Introductory Guide, please visit: www.unep.org (See 'Publications') 

UNEP Regional Seas Programme:  http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/

World Environment Day Stories

Finding a sustainable solution to survive

4 Jun 2011, 1221 hrs IST
Do you think that government is doing enough to protect the forests and make environment a better place to live in? If not! Then participate in the World Environment Day 2011 celebration on 5 June.

‘Go Green’ this Environment Day

4 Jun 2011, 1214 hrs IST
To make the world a better place to live in, World Environment Day (WED) 2011 is a good time to initiate ideas and find solutions on environmental issues.

Protecting the biodiversity

4 Jun 2011, 1157 hrs IST
This year on June 5, for the first time, India will be the host of World Environment Day (WED) 2011 that will focus on improving the health of forests and quality of life



Thanks: Times Of India.

The significance

World Environment Day (WED) is observed on June 5 every year to promote awareness on the importance of preserving our biodiversity, the need to identify problems related to the environment and ways to take corrective action. It was on this day in the year 1972 that the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was formed. First celebrated in 1973, World Environment Day, also popularly known as Environment Day, is a means to tackle environmental challenges that include climate change, global warming, disasters and conflicts, harmful substances, environmental governance, ecosystem management and resource efficiency.

World Environment Day has received tremendous support from the public, non-profit organizations and governments around the world. Various awareness campaigns - beach clean-ups, concerts, exhibits, film festivals, community events and much more - are organized to spread the message, which is to improve the quality of life of all living beings on this planet without harming nature. All the activities are carried out to spread eco-awareness and increase green footprint.

Each year, World Environment Day is hosted in a different city with a different theme for one week that kicks off on June 5. A World Environment Day theme is selected along with an Environment Day slogan, which aims to emphasize the importance of protecting our planet and promote an understanding that they each individually can play a significant and effective role in tackling environmental issues.

This year, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has selected India as host of World Environment Day 2011. The Environment Day 2011 slogan is ‘Forest: Nature at your service’. Forests cover 1/3 of the earth’s land mass and play a key role in our battle against climate change, and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere while storing carbon dioxide – this is what the theme aims to reinforce.

With blogs becoming an effective means of communication, on Environment Day, the UNEP has started organizing blogging competitions to encourage people to protect the environment. Thousands of entries were received this year from different parts of the world. After reviewing all entries, budding engineer, Ximena Prugue of Florida, USA, was declared the winner for her blog on the effects of deforestation in rural India.

The UNEP also confers international awards - The ‘Champions of the Earth’, ‘UNEP Sasakawa Prize’, ‘The Seeds Awards’, among others - to individuals or organizations on World Environment Day based on their innovation, vision and performance in protecting or benefiting the environment.

Thanks: Times of India

India for the first time this year served as global host of the United Nations' World Environment Day June 5, marking the occasion with a week-long series of events across the country - walkathons, treeplanting and a green marketplace, films and art, and a seminar honoring the role of women in environmental protection.
The events all had a forest theme in keeping with this International Year of Forests.
India's Environment and Forests Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh chaired a one day seminar on "Nature and Livelihood: Women's Perspective" in New Delhi. He sadi, "Conservation of forests is crucial for sustainable development and green economy of the country," and added that women are "crucial" for forest conservation.
About 100 women from civil society organizations across the country shared their attempts to protect forests during interactive sessions with eminent environmentalists and grassroots leaders.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner and UN Resident Co-ordinator for India Patrice Couer Bizot highlighted the environmental concerns in the global perspective and praised the initiatives of women leaders at grassroots level in India in environmental awareness and forest conservation.

An environment seminar for World Environment day, from left: UN Resident Co-ordinator for India Patrice Couer Bizot, Environment and Forests Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh, Achim Stein, UNEP executive director (Photo courtesy Ministry Environment and Forests India)

Steiner released the UNEP report, "Forests in a Green Economy: A Synthesis," at a news conference with Ramesh in New Delhi.
Investing an additional $40 billion in the forestry sector each year could halve deforestation, create millions of new jobs and help tackle the devastating effects of climate change, the report finds.
The number of trees planted could rise by 140 percent by 2050 and as many as 30 million new jobs could be created by that same year.
Steiner said forestry is one of the key sectors capable of helping the world transition to a 'green economy' model that is resource-efficient and low in its use of carbon.
"There are already many encouraging signals," he said. "The annual net forest loss since 1990 has fallen from around eight million to around five million hectares and in some regions such as Asia, the Caribbean and Europe forest area has actually increased over those 20 years."
Minister Ramesh announced the establishment of the Gaura Devi Award to recognize the initiatives of Gaura Devi, a village woman who started the treehugger, or Chipko, movement in 1974 by gathering several dozen women to hug the trees in her village to protect them from being felled.
The Gaura Devi Award will carry a citation and cash prize of Rs 2 lakhs (US$4,470).
A green market, or Green Haat, in New Delhi attracted more than 50 exhibitors, showcasing the initiatives of forest dwellers, minority forest produce federations, women's self-help groups, and NGO partners. Ramesh declared that this green marketplace will now be a regular event.
A biodiversity film festival was organized in partnership with the Centre for Media Studies in New Delhi. From June 1-4, the festival screened more than 20 films on biodiversity from eminent national and international film makers.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh flags off the World Environment Day Walkathon in New Delhi, June 5, 2011 (Photo courtesy Ministry Environment and Forests India)

To create awareness among children, a painting competition took place today at Delhi Zoo.
Ramesh administered a pledge for "saving our environment" and waved a flag to start a Green Walkathon from India Gate, New Delhi with about 1,000 participants from all sections of the society.
In the southern city of Bangalore, another green marathon was flagged off in the morning.
A workshop on Emerging issues in Wildlife Conservation was organized by the Wildlife Institute of India at the northern city of Dehradun.
An exhibition on Mumbai's environment, in partnership with Bombay Natural History Society, highlighted the environmental issues of metropolitan and coastal cities at Chhatrapati Shivaji and Churchgate Stations this week.
In Pakistan, the day passed quietly with few aware of its significance.
In Dubai, about 150 ghaf trees were planted in Mushrif Park Sunday to mark World Environment Day 2011 by Dubai Municipality, in cooperation with the Environmental Centre for Arab Towns and Panasonic Middle East.
Models presented garments recycled from old clothes during a fashion show for World Environment Day in Seoul, South Korea on June 1.
Elsewhere around the world BirdLife International launched a new section of its website to highlight the organization's new initiative, BirdLife's Forests of Hope. The program aims to prevent deforestation or promote restoration of natural forest at up to 20 sites covering at least five million hectares of tropical forest by 2015

‘India’s Forest and Tree Cover-Contribution as a Carbon Sink’

This month the footlights are on the forests. The Haryana state government, which was recently rapped on the knuckles by the Supreme Court for ongoing the illegal mining activities in the Aravalli hills, has just announced its plans of using high-tech Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to monitor its forest cover. A few weeks before this, the Union Minster for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, released a report on ‘India’s Forest and Tree Cover-Contribution as a Carbon Sink’. It was the first ever study to calculate capacity of India’s 65 million hectare of forests to soak up carbon. Highlights of the report are:

Carbon stored in our forest has increased from 6,245 million tonnes in 1995 to 6,662 million tonnes in 2005.

This is equivalent to neutralizing 100 per cent emissions from all energy in residential and transport sector or 40 per cent of total emissions from the agriculture sector.

And to neutralizing 11.25 per cent of India’s total green house gas (GHG) emissions from all sectors (at 1994 levels).

It also says net worth of our forests is US $120 billion or Rs 6, 00,000 crores even after a conservative estimate of US $5 per tonne of CO2.

A Vic-tree over carbon?
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommends that if the entire available area of 420 million hectare in developing countries was forested, it would create a carbon sink to absorb two thirds of world’s emissions (assuming one ha forest absorbs 10 tonnes of carbon per year). This is one of the very few recommendations of IPCC, which has been readily accepted by the developed countries. Probably because it puts the onus on the developing world to reforest itself , while thy can continue to emit—‘business as usual’.

Bill Mc Kibben, founder of an NGO dedicated to arrest carbon levels at 350 ppm -350.org said “It’s like a bathtub. Increased forestation is a drain that reduces carbon, but if you’re still pouring water in from the faucet the level never really drops. So forestation can’t be a substitute for emissions reductions”
The burning issue: trees
Here’s why. What happens when something warms up? It becomes hot. And what happens when it is heated even further? It catches fire. And that is what is happening to acres of forests across the world. Europe has lost about 200,000 hectares of forest to fires till summer, which is much more than entire 2008, when 158,621 hectares were destroyed, according to the European Union. Even the snow-clad ranges of the Himalayas could not save 1,00,000 hectare of alpine forests in Nepal and 25,000 ha more in Himachal Pradesh from going up in flames.

More frightening are the predictions for the future. The Research by International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) says the ability for forests to sink carbon could be lost entirely if the Earth heats up by 2.5 degrees C or more.

Research by atmospheric scientists at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) warns that a type of carbon generated during forest fires, organic carbon aerosol, would build up in volume by as much as 40 per cent.

In other words, forests are not only losing their capacity to absorb carbon, but are actually running the risk of becoming be carbon emitters themselves. What do you think?

	Carbon Sequestration Most of you have heard this word before, but do know what it actually means? Carbon obviously denotes the emission of carbon dioxide gas from our cars, factories and everything we burn. But did you know that sequestration is the Scottish legal term for personal bankruptcy? It is one way of dealing with debts you cannot pay. The sequestration proceedings free you from overwhelming debts so you can make a fresh start. This might be possible in a man-made subject of economics, but not in a man-marred subject of environment. And thus the carbon sequestration policy is flawed from the ‘word’ go.

Humanity Can and Must Do More with Less

By 2050, humanity could consume an estimated 140 billion tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass per year – three times its current appetite – unless the economic growth rate is "decoupled" from the rate of natural resource consumption, warns a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme.

Developed countries citizens consume an average of 16 tons of those four key resources per capita (ranging up to 40 or more tons per person in some developed countries). By comparison, the average person in India today consumes four tons per year.

With the growth of both population and prosperity, especially in developing countries, the prospect of much higher resource consumption levels is "far beyond what is likely sustainable" if realized at all given finite world resources, warns the report by UNEP's International Resource Panel.

Already the world is running out of cheap and high quality sources of some essential materials such as oil, copper and gold, the supplies of which, in turn, require ever-rising volumes of fossil fuels and freshwater to produce.

Improving the rate of resource productivity ("doing more with less") faster than the economic growth rate is the notion behind "decoupling," the panel says. That goal, however, demands an urgent rethink of the links between resource use and economic prosperity, buttressed by a massive investment in technological, financial and social innovation, to at least freeze per capita consumption in wealthy countries and help developing nations follow a more sustainable path.

The trend towards urbanization may help as well, experts note, since cities allow for economies of scale and more efficient service provision. Densely populated places consume fewer resources per capita than sparsely populated ones thanks to economies in such areas as water delivery, housing, waste management and recycling, energy use and transportation, they say.

"Decoupling makes sense on all the economic, social and environmental dials," says UN Under Secretary-General Achim Steiner, UNEP's Executive Director.

"People believe environmental 'bads' are the price we must pay for economic 'goods.' However, we cannot, and need not, continue to act as if this trade-off is inevitable," he says. "Decoupling is part of a transition to a low carbon, resource efficient Green Economy needed in order to stimulate growth, generate decent kinds of employment and eradicate poverty in a way that keeps humanity's footprint within planetary boundaries."

"Next year's Rio+20 meeting represents an opportunity to accelerate and scale-up these 'green shoots' of a Green Economy, which are emerging across the developed and developing world."

The new report from UNEP's International Resource Panel, the fourth in a series, was launched in New York at the annual meeting of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, where sustainable consumption and production are key issues. And it precedes by a year the global UN Conference on Sustainable Development 2012 meeting (or "Rio+20" in Rio de Janeiro 4-6 June 2012) with its two central themes of a Green Economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and achieving agreement on an international framework for sustainable development.

While the report doesn't offer detailed policy and technology options – that's for later reports – it says technologies that have helped humanity extract ever-greater quantities of natural resources need to be re-directed to more efficient ways of using them.

Global average annual per capita resource consumption in year 2000 was 8 to 10 tons, about double the rate of 1900. In 2000, the average rate in industrialized countries (home to one-fifth of world population) was roughly twice the global average and four or five times that of the poorest developing countries.

Global (and national) consumption rates per capita are calculated by dividing total world (and national) extractions of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass by world (and national) population figures.

Rapidly expanding international trade, however, obscures responsibility for resource consumption and associated environmental impacts, the authors note.

Over the past century, pollution controls and other measures have reduced the environmental impacts of economic growth. And, thanks to innovations in manufacturing, product design and energy use – aided by the rising number of people living more efficient lifestyles in cities – the global economy has grown faster than resource consumption growth.

Still, those improvements have only been relative. In absolute terms – with population growth, continuing high levels of consumption in the industrialized countries, and increased demand for material goods, particularly in China, India, Brazil and other quickly-emerging economies – total resource use grew eight-fold, from 6 billion tons in 1900 to 49 billion tons in 2000. It is now estimated at up to 59 billion tons.

Decoupling is occurring but "at a rate that is insufficient to meet the needs of an equitable and sustainable society," the report says. Between 1980 and 2002, the resources required per $1,000 (U.S.) of economic output fell from 2.1 to 1.6 tons.

The report details progress in four countries where government policy supports decoupling. Germany and Japan have both demonstrated the possibilities.

* Germany has established goals for energy and resource productivity – aiming to double both by 2020. There are also ambitious 2020 targets for meeting heating, electricity and other energy needs from renewable sources, and the target of a 30 per cent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by that same year.

* Japan is committed to becoming a "Sustainable Society" focused on low carbon, the reduction, reuse and recycling of materials, and harmony with nature. The flow of materials is carefully accounted. Japan's measures "are probably the most advanced examples (of) increasing resource productivity and minimizing negative environmental impacts in practice," the report states.

* South Africa's Constitution requires "ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources." Policies explicitly call for "resource and impact decoupling" and greenhouse-gas emission cuts of 30 to 40 per cent by 2050. Progress, though, is undermined by a growing reliance on exports of coal and other minerals. Its carbon intensity is the world's highest and emissions per person are double the global average.

* China aims to build an "ecological civilization," with resource and environmental concerns top priorities. It has created decoupling indicators and fixed mandatory targets, including a 20 per cent reduction of energy intensity and has run nationwide energy saving and pollution-reduction programs. A National Action Plan on Climate Change targets a 40 to 45 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide intensity by 2020.

China, in particular, is a global test case, "because it wants to continue its rapid economic growth but use resources more sustainably," the report says.

"The measures that China introduces to reconcile these objectives will be of crucial significance for every other developing country with similar policy intentions."

The report emphasizes that cutting the rate of resource consumption and impacts is possible, in theory, if national economic improvement is defined in terms other than physical growth.

"It is time to recognize the limits to the natural resources available to support human development and economic growth," the authors say.

Decoupling "will require significant changes in government policies, corporate behaviour, and consumption patterns by the public. … Innovation, even radical innovation, will be required."

The report describes three scenarios whereby developed and developing countries consume resources equitably: 'convergence by 2050'

Scenario 1: Business as usual in developed countries, convergence by others

Per capita resource consumption in the industrialized countries remains stable, as it has for the past three decades, and the rest of the world continues the current trend to catch up. This path leads to annual total consumption of 140 billion tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass, or 16 tons per capita for a population of 9 billion, by 2050. Says the report: this "represents an unsustainable future in terms of both resource use and emissions, probably exceeding all possible measures of available resources and assessments of limits to the capacity to absorb impacts."

Scenario 2: moderate contraction of consumption in developed countries, convergence by others

Industrialized nations halve average per capita consumption to 8 tons and other countries rise to that level. The result: total world consumption of 70 billion tons in 2050. "This scenario presupposes substantial structural change amounting to a new pattern of industrial production and consumption that would be quite different from the traditional resource-intensive Western industrial model," the report says.

This scenario results in global consumption of 70 billion tons by 2050 - about 40% more annual resource extraction than in 2000. Average emissions of carbon dioxide per capita would rise almost 50% to 1.6 tons per capita and global CO2 emissions would more than double.

Absolute cuts in consumption – well short of the scale required in scenario two – have occurred in just a handful of countries, and in some cases only because they have lowered their per capita consumption rate by importing resources from elsewhere.

Scenario 3: tough contraction of consumption in developed countries, converging with others

Industrialized nations reduce per capita consumption by two thirds and other nations remain at current rates, resulting in a global per capita consumption rate of 6 tons and total world consumption of about 50 billion tons, the same as in year 2000.

This scenario would be so restrictive, and so unappealing to politicians, that it "can hardly be addressed as a possible strategic goal," the authors admit.

Yet, even such tough measures would maintain global consumption at levels many scientists still consider unsustainable. Average CO2 per capita emissions would be reduced by roughly 40% to 0.75 tons/capita and global emissions would remain constant at their 2000 level.

"These scenarios challenge our current thinking and assumptions about development," says the report. "If investments in developing and developed countries are made today that lock humanity into a business-as-usual or moderately improved resource intensive growth path, the risks of running into ecological and supply constraints will worsen."

"This finding has spurred the International Resource Panel to focus future reports on how to improve resource productivity and find viable alternatives for policy makers."

Challenges ahead include:

• Policymakers and the general public aren't yet convinced of the absolute physical limits to the quantity of resources available for human use.
• The wide discrepancies in per person consumption mean different levels of action are required. Poorer nations, likely the first to feel the impacts of resource shortages, must have a chance to improve conditions in the developed world. But if they emulate a profligate style of growth, they not only expose their economies to supply constraints, the planet's resource bank will go far deeper into the red.
• The best and most easily accessible mineral ores and fossil fuels are being exhausted. New sources are generally more remote and of lower quality. Finding and extracting them takes more energy and increases the environmental impact. About three times more material needs to be moved for the same ore extraction as a century ago, with corresponding increases in land disruption, water impacts and energy use.
• Resource extraction increasingly occurs in countries with lower legal and environmental standards, meaning "environmental impacts per unit of extracted material might become more severe."
• As trade expands, it becomes more difficult to assign responsibility for resource consumption, a crucial consideration if each country is required to limit per capita consumption. Should the reduction of mining and its impacts, for example, be the responsibility of the country where the extraction takes place, the one where the ore is processed into a manufactured product, or the one where that product is consumed?
• A "rebound" effect often leads to increased consumption after energy or manufactured goods become more efficient as consumers take advantage of cost savings to buy something else, or use a device more often – for example: putting more kilometres on a fuel-efficient car.

Reasons for optimism:

• According to the report, the certainty that resource shortages will eventually preclude business as usual ensures that any country "ahead of the game" by investing in innovation "will clearly reap the benefits when pressures mount for others to change rapidly."
• Developing countries, unburdened by existing technologies, can leapfrog to less resource-intensive processes and goods, as much of Africa has, for example, by bypassing hard-wired telephone services and moving directly to wireless.
• The rising cost of many resources creates an economic imperative to use less – although, at the same time, higher prices could allow exploitation of more expensive, environmentally hazardous sources such as oil from the high Arctic.
• Urbanization can reduce a population's consumption rate since it makes the provision of services more efficient and "concentrate(s) the knowledge, financial, social and institutional resources required for sustainability oriented innovations." However, the consumption numbers for cities can be artificially low if the urban area depends on energy and resources from the surrounding countryside. In addition, urban dwellers consume more as the economy grows. "This captures the dilemma of cities for sustainability," the report states. "They drive the global unsustainable use of resources, but they are also where the greatest potential exists for sustainability-oriented innovations."
• Even today, there is a vast difference in resource use rate across countries, even those with the same GDP per capita. This indicates that it is possible for countries to be much more resource productive and still grow their economies.

Quotes

"We must realize that prosperity and well-being do not depend on consuming ever-greater quantities of resources. Decoupling is not about stopping growth. It's about doing more with less. Global resource consumption is exploding. It's not a trend that is in any way sustainable," said Ernst U. von Weizsäcker, co-chair, UNEP Resource Panel, and Former Chair, Bundestag Environment Committee

"Decoupling impacts and consumption from growth is an extremely important breakthrough – a way of unlocking the logjam brought about by the notion there must be a trade-off between economic development and the environment. Developing countries could change their idea of what development means in a resource-scarce world," said Ashok Khosla, co-chair, UNEP Resource Panel; President, IUCN, and Founder, Development Alternatives, India

"Consumption of resources has exploded since the time of our great-grandparents due in part to efficiencies leading to reductions in resource prices. With food, rare metals, energy and other resources rising significantly in real price terms now, pre-conditions for determined decoupling efforts are stronger than ever before."

* * * * *

Media Contacts:

Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson/Head of Media, on Tel: + 254 20 7623084, Mobile: + 254 733 632755 / +41 79 596 57 37, e-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org

Moira O'Brien-Malone, UNEP Information Officer, Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE), Paris, + 33-1-4437-7612, Mobile: +33- 6 82 26 93 73 moira.obrien-malone@unep.org

Terry Collins, Tel: +1-416-538-8712; Mobile: +1-416-878-8712, email: TerryCollins@rogers.com

Jim Sniffen, UNEP Programme Officer, New York, Tel: +1-212-963-8094 or 8210

info@nyo.unep.org

About the International Resource Panel

The International Resource Panel for short, was officially launched in November 2007 and is expected to provide the scientific impetus for decoupling economic growth and resource use from environmental degradation. The objectives of the Resource Panel are to:

• Provide independent, coherent and authoritative scientific assessments of policy relevance on the sustainable use of natural resources and in particular their environmental impacts over the full life cycle
• Contribute to a better understanding of how to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation.