The Worldwatch Institute, a US-based environmental NGO, recently released it’s newest Vital Signs report which brings several worrying facts and urge us even more to act fast.
This version notes that the energy consumption and the depletion of natural resources are threatening the world at an unprecedented rate.
All this put at risk both Mankind as a whole but also most of the species living on our Planet in many different ways.
The report advocates the European Union to convince the United States to begin to act in an important way on climate change and depleting resources.
According to Environment News Service :
Record levels of consumption by a global population that now numbers 6.6 billion people are pushing the limits of ecosystem services upon which all life depends, according to the latest Worldwatch Institute report, “Vital Signs 2007-2008.”
The 44 trends tracked in Vital Signs illustrate the urgent need to check consumption of energy and other resources that are contributing to the climate crisis, starting with the largest polluter, the United States, which accounted for over 21 percent of global carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning in 2005.
“The world is running out of time to head off catastrophic climate change, and it is essential that Europe and the rest of the international community bring pressure to bear on U.S. policymakers to address the climate crisis,” said Erik Assadourian, Vital Signs project director.
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“The United States must be held accountable for its emissions, double the per capita level in Europe, and should follow the EU lead by committing to reducing its total greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050,” he said.
This summer, the European Union became a deadly example of how the world is being transformed by climate change, with fires in Greece and the Canary Islands, floods in England, and heat waves across the continent.
Assadourian urged European leaders to push the United States “to engage more constructively with the international community on climate change,” starting at the United Nations later this month and in the Bali climate negotiations in December.
“With the U.S. Congress preparing to take up far-ranging climate legislation this fall, and with President [George W.] Bush planning to hold an international climate change summit in Washington, now is the time to act,” urged Assadourian. “If the U.S. and other nations walk away without concrete plans to implement a binding agreement, the EU should not hesitate to use its diplomatic clout to press the issue.”
While U.S. carbon emissions continue to grow, the fastest rise is occurring in Asia, particularly China and India. But without a U.S. commitment to emissions constraints, says Assadourian, persuading China and India to commit to reductions is unlikely.
Sources :
- To learn out more, you can read the full article from Environment News Service : ” Vital Signs: Record Resource Consumption Depletes a Warming World “
- To buy the full report, please go to the Worldwatch Institute website.
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