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WHAT SHOULD BE DONE: AN AGENDA FOR TODAY

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The six problems just discussed carry an urgent message to us all, that the explosive and unevenly distributed growth of an unprecedented human population is putting unsupportable strains on the global ecosystem. The long period of transition from a hunter-gatherer society, in which widely dispersed humans were one of millions of species of organisms, to a modern industrial society, in which humans consume, co-opt, or waste 40 percent of the total global productivity, has now reached a point where our traditional modes of operation seem increasingly unlikely to lead us to stability and prosperity. In the light of this grave threat to Here we shall discuss some of the concerns that we consider to be top priorities for global attention.

1. Population stability must be attained throughout the world, and the industrialized countries must assist others in carrying out their plans in this respect. It is especially important for industrialized countries to attain stable population levels, since their people consume such a disproportionately large share of what the world is capable of producing. There is no hope for a peaceful world without overall population stability, and no hope for regional economic sustainability without regional population stability. Thus, it is difficult to understand why international assistance for family planning is decreasing, or why the United States would choose not to make available to other countries, on their request, the same contraceptive means that are fully available domestically.

2. Women 's rights need to find fuller expression everywhere. Ensuring that all women have access to the full range of human opportunities would address environmental problems in two significant ways. First, it would greatly accelerate our progress toward global population stability. Second, because we will need all of the talent available in order to build a sustainable society, we cannot afford to limit any individual 's potential for contributing to this effort.

3. New energy sources must be sought. The greenhouse effect associated with increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere ought to stimulate research into alternative energy sources. Even if we officially choose to believe that the supplies of fossil fuels such as coal and oil are infinite, burning them in the quantities we do now is certainly not an environmentally sound practice. To make major changes
in our sources of energy will require so high a level of readjustment that the effort must he begun well before it is to have a significant impact. Renewable energy sources such as solar/hydrogen power and biomass production should be explored while there is still time to accomplish changes.
4. A comprehensive energy plan: must be implemented for the world. At present, the three fourths of the world 's people who live in developing countries use about 20 percent of the world 's industrial energy. Their numbers are growing rapidly, however, and even without any increase in their standard of living, these countries will use much larger quantities of energy in the future. If and when they industrial, and if there has been a global consensus on limiting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, we who live in the industrial nations of the world will find ourselves insisting that developing countries not hum coal, or that they take steps to remove gases from coal smoke that are far more rigorous and expensive than any we have used in our own countries. Such a strategy seem unlikely to prevail�¢??unless we all share in paying for it. The key is for those of us who live in the industrialized nations to realize that the implementation of a comprehensive energy plan for the developing world is a necessary ingredient for our own future security as well as for global stability. It must involve reducing our own profligate use of energy,
which certainly cannot be sustained�¢??much less used as a model for the rest of the world.

5. Regional cooperation will be necessary to solve many pollution and conservation problems. Acid precipitation, for example, is a problem that mast be solved regionally. A country, such as the United Kingdom or the United States, that "export-" acid precipitation to other countries by erecting tall smokestacks with inadequate scrubbers lo remove sulfates saves money, but it causes other countries to incur substantial costs and may cause them to adopt highly negative and ultimately dangerous attitudes toward us. When the problem is viewed regionally, there is an overall economic gain to ending the pollution. The Earth summit that took place in Brazil in 1992 was a significant step in the process of considering common problems in an appropriate governmental, collective context. Such efforts, which should be supported strongly, have begun to form a framework for the actions that will be necessary to achieve a secure future.

6. Soil and water must be better conserved. Plans for the sustainable use of the soil and water of all regions of the world must be developed, with provisions for sustainable forms of agriculture and forestry. Underdeveloped countries can achieve stability only if their best lands�¢??those capable of sustainable productivity�¢??are developed properly and if appropriate land-use schemes are implemented. Many experts agree that all of the agricultural and forestry needs of the poor people who live in the tropics could certainly be met by proper development of lands that have already been deforested. It is a profound human tragedy that we are not accomplishing this development. Instead, the
nural are ignored, left to "mine" undisturbed a one-time basis, and so convert potentially sources into nonrenewable waste-

7. Biodiversity must he truly protected throughout the world. We live in a situation where up to one fourth, or more, of the world 's species of plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms are likely to become extinct over the next several decades.
Once they are gone, they will he gone forever; their disappearance is the crime for which our descendants will be least likely to forgive us. Our entire sustainable use of the world 's resources depends on the wise management of biodiversity, because we obtain individual products from individual kinds of organisms, and we depend on the management of communities of organisms, regardless of how poorly we understand them, for the global preservation of soil, water, and air.

8. Biotechnology provides us with remarkable new opportunities for the improvement of agriculture and forestry systems, and should be utilized in the development of improved crops throughout the world. We- simply cannot afford our current inefficient use of biological resources, or the hunger that results from insufficient supplies of food in many regions. A global effort should be made to utilize the tools that are available to us for the improvement of many traditional tropical crops, such as manioc and yams, and for the development of additional ones that can be grown in areas not now under cultivation. Efforts to cause alarm about the use of biotechnology only tie our hands and contribute directly to human suffering.

9. Individual values could use improvement, particularly among those making economic decisions. Often, businesspeople acquire assets and manage them guided strictly by economic considerations, without thinking about the serious environmental consequences of their actions. Many of these consequences have been discussed in this book. New methods of conducting business that internalize environmental costs are emerging, as are new work patterns such as telecommuting, in which travel is minimized.

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<h1>WHAT SHOULD BE DONE: AN AGENDA FOR TODAY</h1><br />by aalinaeden<br />The six problems just discussed carry an urgent message to us all, that the explosive and unevenly distributed growth of an unprecedented human population is putting unsupportable strains on the global ecosystem. The long period of transition from a hunter-gatherer society, in which widely dispersed humans were one of millions of species of organisms, to a modern industrial society, in which humans consume, co-opt, or waste 40 percent of the total global productivity, has now reached a point where our traditional modes of operation seem increasingly unlikely to lead us to stability and prosperity. In the light of this grave threat to Here we shall discuss some of the concerns that we consider to be top priorities for global attention.<br /><br />1. Population stability must be attained throughout the world, and the industrialized countries must assist others in carrying out their plans in this respect. It is especially important for industrialized countries to attain stable population levels, since their people consume such a disproportionately large share of what the world is capable of producing. There is no hope for a peaceful world without overall population stability, and no hope for regional economic sustainability without regional population stability. Thus, it is difficult to understand why international assistance for family planning is decreasing, or why the United States would choose not to make available to other countries, on their request, the same contraceptive means that are fully available domestically.<br /><br />2. Women 's rights need to find fuller expression everywhere. Ensuring that all women have access to the full range of human opportunities would address environmental problems in two significant ways. First, it would greatly accelerate our progress toward global population stability. Second, because we will need all of the talent available in order to build a sustainable society, we cannot afford to limit any individual 's potential for contributing to this effort.<br /> <br />3. New energy sources must be sought. The greenhouse effect associated with increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere ought to stimulate research into alternative energy sources. Even if we officially choose to believe that the supplies of fossil fuels such as coal and oil are infinite, burning them in the quantities we do now is certainly not an environmentally sound practice. To make major changes<br />in our sources of energy will require so high a level of readjustment that the effort must he begun well before it is to have a significant impact. Renewable energy sources such as solar/hydrogen power and biomass production should be explored while there is still time to accomplish changes.<br />4. A comprehensive energy plan: must be implemented for the world. At present, the three fourths of the world 's people who live in developing countries use about 20 percent of the world 's industrial energy. Their numbers are growing rapidly, however, and even without any increase in their standard of living, these countries will use much larger quantities of energy in the future. If and when they industrial, and if there has been a global consensus on limiting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, we who live in the industrial nations of the world will find ourselves insisting that developing countries not hum coal, or that they take steps to remove gases from coal smoke that are far more rigorous and expensive than any we have used in our own countries. Such a strategy seem unlikely to prevail�¢??unless we all share in paying for it. The key is for those of us who live in the industrialized nations to realize that the implementation of a comprehensive energy plan for the developing world is a necessary ingredient for our own future security as well as for global stability. It must involve reducing our own profligate use of energy,<br />which certainly cannot be sustained�¢??much less used as a model for the rest of the world.<br /> <br />5. Regional cooperation will be necessary to solve many pollution and conservation problems. Acid precipitation, for example, is a problem that mast be solved regionally. A country, such as the United Kingdom or the United States, that "export-" acid precipitation to other countries by erecting tall smokestacks with inadequate scrubbers lo remove sulfates saves money, but it causes other countries to incur substantial costs and may cause them to adopt highly negative and ultimately dangerous attitudes toward us. When the problem is viewed regionally, there is an overall economic gain to ending the pollution. The Earth summit that took place in Brazil in 1992 was a significant step in the process of considering common problems in an appropriate governmental, collective context. Such efforts, which should be supported strongly, have begun to form a framework for the actions that will be necessary to achieve a secure future.<br /> <br />6. Soil and water must be better conserved. Plans for the sustainable use of the soil and water of all regions of the world must be developed, with provisions for sustainable forms of agriculture and forestry. Underdeveloped countries can achieve stability only if their best lands�¢??those capable of sustainable productivity�¢??are developed properly and if appropriate land-use schemes are implemented. Many experts agree that all of the agricultural and forestry needs of the poor people who live in the tropics could certainly be met by proper development of lands that have already been deforested. It is a profound human tragedy that we are not accomplishing this development. Instead, the<br />nural are ignored, left to "mine" undisturbed a one-time basis, and so convert potentially sources into nonrenewable waste-<br /> <br />7. Biodiversity must he truly protected throughout the world. We live in a situation where up to one fourth, or more, of the world 's species of plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms are likely to become extinct over the next several decades.<br /> Once they are gone, they will he gone forever; their disappearance is the crime for which our descendants will be least likely to forgive us. Our entire sustainable use of the world 's resources depends on the wise management of biodiversity, because we obtain individual products from individual kinds of organisms, and we depend on the management of communities of organisms, regardless of how poorly we understand them, for the global preservation of soil, water, and air.<br /> <br />8. Biotechnology provides us with remarkable new opportunities for the improvement of agriculture and forestry systems, and should be utilized in the development of improved crops throughout the world. We- simply cannot afford our current inefficient use of biological resources, or the hunger that results from insufficient supplies of food in many regions. A global effort should be made to utilize the tools that are available to us for the improvement of many traditional tropical crops, such as manioc and yams, and for the development of additional ones that can be grown in areas not now under cultivation. Efforts to cause alarm about the use of biotechnology only tie our hands and contribute directly to human suffering.<br /> <br />9. Individual values could use improvement, particularly among those making economic decisions. Often, businesspeople acquire assets and manage them guided strictly by economic considerations, without thinking about the serious environmental consequences of their actions. Many of these consequences have been discussed in this book. New methods of conducting business that internalize environmental costs are emerging, as are new work patterns such as telecommuting, in which travel is minimized.<br /><h2>About the Author</h2><p>Aalina Eden has written for <a href="http://www.encyclopedialive.com/">Encyclopedia</a></p> <br /><h3><a href="http://www.content4reprint.com/environment/what-should-be-done-an-agenda-for-today.htm" title="WHAT SHOULD BE DONE: AN AGENDA FOR TODAY">Article Source:</a> <a href="http://www.content4reprint.com" title="Free high quality articles">Content for Reprint</a></h3>