A better world is possible - Global Commons Institute

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com Further reading Ethical Consumer, Stop the Oil Sands, July/August 2009 Monbiot, G, 2007, Heat, Penguin 58
Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com Section C - Destruction of the earth – the effect of continuing economic growth on the planet "As the world struggles to recover from the most serious global economic crisis since the Great Depression, we have an unprecedented opportunity to turn away from consumerism. In the end, the human instinct for survival must triumph over the urge to consume at any cost." Christopher Flavin, President, Worldwatch Institute We are consuming and destroying the planet’s resources at a rapidly growing rate that is unsustainable. Since the early 1970s, we humans have been steadily exceeding the Earth’s bio-capacity by more and more. There’s a limit to what “spaceship earth” can provide. Currently we consume 30% more than the earth’s capacity and both world population and their expectations are growing. We are spending our capital. Every year human beings consume 400 years’ worth of ancient solar energy in the form of fossil fuels. We cannot go on like this. Ecological footprint Ecological footprint measures humanity’s demand on the biosphere in terms of the area of biologically productive land and sea required to provide the resources we use and to absorb our waste. This needs to be in balance with the biosphere’s capacity to provide what we need, cope with our waste and regenerate (Ecological footprint). In 2005 the global Ecological Footprint was estimated at 17.5bn global hectares (gha), or 2.7gha per person (a global hectare is a hectare with world-average ability to produce resources and absorb wastes). Putting it another way, our footprint was 1.3 planet Earths and humanity used ecological services 1.3 times faster than Earth can renew them. On the supply side, the total productive area, or bio-capacity, was 13.6bn gha, or 2.1gha per person. A country’s footprint is the sum of all the cropland, grazing land, forest and fishing grounds required to produce the food, fibre and timber it consumes, to absorb the wastes emitted when it uses energy, and to provide space for its infrastructure. Since people consume resources and ecological services from all over the world, their footprint affects everywhere, regardless of where they are located on the planet. Bio-capacity is divided into six main land types: Cropland - subdivided into primary and marginal land (e.g. wheat and olives), measured in tonnes per hectare per year of crop that you can harvest Pasture - tonnes per hectare per year of meat/dairy, though the total footprint of the livestock will take into account the cropland and fisheries needed for animal feed Forestry - metres cubed per hectare per year, there is no difference between natural or managed land Fisheries - the maximum sustainably caught yield in tonnes per hectare per year Carbon - the area of forestry required to sequester the tonnage of carbon dioxide, including nuclear which is considered to be equivalent to fossil fuels 59
Page 1 and 2:
Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rig
Page 3 and 4:
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8: Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rig
Page 57: Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rig
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
Page 161 and 162:
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165 and 166:
Page 167 and 168:
Page 169 and 170:
Page 171 and 172:
Page 173 and 174:
Page 175 and 176:
Page 177 and 178:
Page 179 and 180:
Page 181 and 182:
Page 183 and 184:
Page 185 and 186:
Page 187 and 188:
Page 189 and 190:
Page 191 and 192:
Page 193 and 194:
Page 195 and 196:
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
Page 201 and 202:
Page 203 and 204:
Page 205 and 206:
Page 207 and 208:
Page 209 and 210:
Page 211:
show all

A better world is possible - Global Commons Institute

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?