日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Newsmakers

'Good life' needs rethinking to avoid eco-disaster

By Julian Shea in London | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2019-05-08 00:30
Share
Share - WeChat

UN report highlights environmental cost of consumer society

Robert Watson, the British environmental scientist who chairs IPBES, launches a report on the damage done by modern civilisation to the natural world. [Photo/Agencies]

A report published by the United Nations has warned that as many as 1 million animal and plant species are at risk of extinction because of environmentally damaging practices and behavior.

The document published by the UN's Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, known as IPBES, warned that consumerism and pollution were the biggest contributors toward actions that could permanently damage the world around us.

It also said climate change and biodiversity protection are inextricably linked, with predicted temperature rises based on current increase rates posing a huge threat to vulnerable species.

"The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever," said IPBES chairman Robert Watson. "We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide."

The 1,800-page report used 15,000 source materials and referenced the work of 145 scientists. It highlighted factors such as a 300 percent increase in crop production globally since 1970 and a 10-fold rise in plastic pollution during the last three decades as factors that were taking such a toll, and said that there must be "transformative change" in the way humanity treated the environment to stop the alarming decline.

"Unless we act now to reduce the loss of biodiversity, we will undermine human well-being for current and future generations ... we need actions," Watson said.

Environmental groups said the report's findings supported many of the things they have been campaigning for.

"We are destroying our own home," said Mark Wright, the World Wildlife Foundation's director of science.

He added that the findings "paint a terrifying picture of a broken world".

"It shows we are chopping down our forests, overfishing our seas and melting the Arctic — and driving the other life we share this planet with to extinction at an unprecedented rate."

John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said deeds must replace words to halt the slide toward mass extinction.

"Business as usual — destroying the rainforests, emptying the seas of marine life, and polluting our air and water — is getting us there at breakneck speed," he warned.

The knock-on effects of environmental damage could be huge.  More than 75 percent of food crops, including some dietary staples, depend on animal pollination so would be hit by falling insect numbers, and the habitats of 40 percent of amphibians, one-third of marine mammals and one-third of reef-forming corals are also endangered.

One of the report's co-authors, Sandra Diaz, said a fundamental reappraisal of consumer society is needed.

"We need to change the way we think about what a good life is," she said. "We need to change the social narrative that puts an emphasis on a good life depending on a high consumption and quick disposal."

The director general of the UN's cultural and scientific agency UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, said the report highlights how environmental issues unite the entire human race, but this was a source for a hope.

"Our local, indigenous and scientific knowledge are proving that we have solutions and so no more excuses: we must live on earth differently," she added.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产欧美成人 | 国产精品第一页在线 | 丁香午夜 | 不卡一区 | 欧美一级小视频 | 在线a视频网站 | 亚洲国产精品一区二区久久 | 日韩在线欧美 | 久久久蜜桃 | 国外成人直播 | 久久99精品久久久久久噜噜 | 天天摸夜夜摸狠狠摸夜夜摸 | 午夜视频一区二区三区 | 九九爱国产 | 国产一级在线看 | 亚洲第一在线播放 | 色综合久久综精品 | 日本精品免费 | 91久久国产视频 | 青青草福利视频 | 免费一二区 | a久久久久一级毛片护士免费 | 好吊视频 | 日韩在线不卡 | 欧洲色图亚洲色图 | 日韩一二区 | 久草干 | 日韩精品一级毛片 | 欧美久久xxxxxx影院 | 操操片 | 国产午夜精品理论片免费观看 | 国产一级特黄aa大片免费 | 国产精品v欧美精品v日韩精品 | 国产一区 | 欧美精品一区三区 | 色一欲一性一乱一区二区三区 | 免费看a | 亚洲一级在线观看 | www久久av| 91成人在线免费视频 | 素人视频在线观看免费 |