Monday 23 April 2012

World needs more food, energy, jobs :UN

ban ki-Moon

UNITED Nation Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says “the world will need at least 50 per cent more food, 45 per cent more energy, 30 per cent more water and many millions of new jobs”.He stated this in his massage on the eve of the 40th Earth Day. Mother Earth is a common expression for the planet Earth in a number of countries and regions, which reflects the interdependence that exists among human beings, other living species and the planet. For instance, Bolivians call Mother Earth Pachamama and Nicaraguans refer to her as Tonantzin.

The proclamation of 22 April as International Mother Earth Day is an acknowledgement that the Earth and its ecosystems provide its inhabitants with life and sustenance. It also recognizes a collective responsibility, as called for in the 1992 Rio Declaration, to promote harmony with nature and the Earth to achieve a just balance among the economic, social and environmental needs of present and future generations of humanity. This year in June, world leaders will gather at the Rio+20 sustainable development conference, to discus on two main themes: how to build a green economy to achieve sustainable development and lift people out of poverty; and how to improve international coordination for sustainable development.

In official statement, The UN Secretary General says “The annual observance of International Mother Earth Day honours our one and only planet and the place of human beings in it. It is also meant as a call to action against human disregard for nature’s life-supporting resources and ecosystems.”

He also stressed that in the next 20 years, the world will need at least 50 per cent more food, 45 per cent more energy, 30 per cent more water and many millions of new jobs.More than one billion people called for the protection of our planet today as they gather around the world to celebrate Earth Day. Their mission: to raise support for a more sustainable future as climate change continues to wreak havoc across the globe.Frustrated by the lack of “green” policy at the international level, campaigners are now calling for a new deal to be signed at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit this June.Forging a new agreement couldn’t be more critical — the Kyoto protocol, which legally binds us to curb global carbon emissions, will expire this year.

After the Copenhagen talks collapsed three years ago, world governments promised to sign a new deal in 2012. But, they are now backtracking on that pledge. Instead, they are looking to 2020 as their new timeline.

According to Lord Stern, author of a landmark paper on the economics of climate change, “postponing an agreement until then marks “a collective failure” which “is taking considerable risks with the planet.”

Last November, the United Nations predicted that there will be a rise in “wild weather” over the next century. A week later, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that the world is on the brink of irreversible climate change. According to its research, global warming will hit the point of no return in five years in time.

That gives us five years to act; five years to draw up a plan, put it into action and make sure that it works. In other words, we’re entering a state of “emergency.” According to Nasa climate scientist Jim Hansen, we have created a dangerous weather system which will be impossible to fix in the future unless we take action now.He believes that we have an overriding moral duty to hand over a safe home to both our children and our grandchildren: “Our parents didn’t know that they were causing a problem for future generations, but we can only pretend that we don’t know because the science is now crystal clear.”—Agencies

Ref: http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=151836

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