STWR - Share The World's Resources

Leading scientists have called on the upcoming Rio Summit to grapple with environmental ills that they said pointed to "a humanitarian emergency on a global scale". A report from the four-day conference of the international scientific community, Planet Under Pressure.

Global greenhouse gas emissions could rise 50 percent by 2050 without more ambitious climate policies, as fossil fuels continue to dominate the energy mix, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

South Africa suffered a sobering case of civil society failure at the COP17 climate summit last December. This doesn’t auger well for unity in future campaigns to save the climate, nor for mobilising to save the SA economy from the Minerals-Energy Complex and its own finance ministers, says Patrick Bond.

Blue Planet Prize laureates represented by Dr. Robert Watson presented their joint paper at a meeting held by the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya, warning that abuse of the environment has created an 'absolutely unprecedented' emergency.

Ordinary consumers can be encouraged to behave more sustainably without lowering their quality of life, starting with millennium consumption goals for the rich that parallel the millennium development goals for the poor, writes Prof. Mohan Munasinghe.

The evidence suggests that sharing the world's resources can secure social justice for all without overstepping key environmental goals. But this will require that the rich consume considerably less and redistribute wealth and resources more equitably, explains George Monbiot.