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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/12/consumerism-and-the-climate-crisis-threaten-equitable-future-for-humanity-report-says>
"All of humanity could share a prosperous, equitable future but the space for
development is rapidly shrinking under pressure from a wealthy minority of
ultra-consumers, a groundbreaking study has shown.
Growing environmental degradation and climate instability have pushed the Earth
beyond a series of safe planetary boundaries, say the authors from the Earth
Commission, but it still remains possible to carve out a “safe and just space”
that would enable everyone to thrive.
That utopian outcome would depend on a radical transformation of global
politics, economics and society to ensure a fairer distribution of resources, a
rapid phase-out of fossil fuels and the widespread adoption of low-carbon,
sustainable technologies and lifestyles, it said.
This would probably mean that limits have to be placed on excess consumption
and that taxes have to be used to address inequality and raise revenue for
investment in technology and infrastructure.
The scale of the required change will alarm many governments, acknowledged one
of the lead authors. “It won’t be immediately welcomed. To some extent, it is
frightening, but it shows that there is still a space for people and other
species,” said Joyeeta Gupta, a former co-chair of the Earth Commission and a
professor of environment and development in the global south at the University
of Amsterdam.
The paper is a 62-page “thought experiment” by an international team of 65
natural and social scientists that seeks to map out how the world’s 7.9 billion
people could remain within safe planetary boundaries while accessing necessary
levels of food, water, energy, shelter and transport. It then projects how this
may change by 2050, when the population is likely to be 9.7 billion people.
Published in the
Lancet Planetary Health journal on Wednesday, the paper
first sets a justice “floor” of basic daily living standards – defined as 2,500
calories of food, 100 litres of water, and 0.7kWh of electricity, along with a
living area of 15 sq metres and annual transportation of 4,500km (2,800 miles).
Then they calculated how much space there was between this and a safety
“ceiling” – which was defined by planetary boundaries – that estimated how much
humanity can push the climate, ecosystems, nutrients and phosphorus and water
sources without destabilising the Earth’s systems.
The results showed that under the current highly unequal, fossil-fuel intensive
social and environmental conditions, it is now impossible for all humans to
live healthy lives within this “safe and just corridor”. That is underscored by
previous studies that show that seven of the eight planetary boundaries have
already been breached."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
