As we approach the millennium, humanity maintains a collision course with environmental disaster. World population has increased over tenfold since 1900 and will pass 6 billion by the year 2000. At current growth rates, population could exceed 14 billion by the year 2100 (WCED Report), almost certainly more than can be supported at any acceptable standard of living. 90 percent of this growth will occur in the poorest nations where it can least be afforded. Mass media has transmitted the vision of consumer capitalism to billions more people who now strive for an unsupportable lifestyle.
Stresses on the Earth's resources continue to be compounded by the demands to create jobs, alleviate poverty and sustain industrial growth. Toxic pollution continues to plague the air, land, and water in increasingly pernicious ways. Burning fossil fuels for energy and the widespread use of hydroflourocarbons for refrigeration are altering the atmosphere by damaging the ozone layer and creating the greenhouse effect. These factors will change the climate and cause widespread alterations in agricultural production as well as possible increases in sea levels.
The Earth's ability to heal itself and sustain humanity is being stripped away. Forests are being destroyed for wood and ranchland at an unprecedented rate. Farmland topsoil is being washed away or rendered useless with over irrigation and the overuse of fertilizers in desperate efforts to increase yields. The problem is exacerbated by the incessant pressure to produce cash crops such as coffee, tobacco and cocaine to pay off debt and finance industrialization. And, as their habitats disappear, thousands of species become extinct each year, destroying our biological legacy.
It is clear that now more than ever nations must cooperate to protect the environment. Global interdependency is expressed most eloquently in the oft quoted 1854 passage by American Indian leader, Chief Seattle, in a letter to the President of the United States. His lands were being usurped by the onrush of new settlers and his people conquered, victims of an expanding, industrializing population. "This we know, the Earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the Earth. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web he does to himself."
The problems of the environment know no political boundaries and are of concern to all people of all nations. Chernobyl's effects were felt throughout Eastern Europe and as far away as England and France. Its effects will be still be felt far into the future. Overfishing in the Mid-Pacific using illegal driftnets kills migratory fish, birds, and all other sea animals, affecting fish populations and food supplies thousands of miles away in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Rain forest devastation in the Amazon and coal burning power plants in Chicago both contribute to global warming. A species of plant brought to extinction by slash and burn agriculture in Costa Rica steals a possible pharmaceutical miracle for all humanity.
The pressures of population and development on the global environment are complex and the demands of different regions diverse. While the developed Northern Hemisphere countries have less than 25 percent of the population, they consume over 85 percent of energy and resources. The less developed nations of the Southern Hemisphere-sometimes called the Group of 77-require more lands for agriculture and new ways to exploit their natural resources to support the rapid industrial growth necessary to keep up with growing populations. In the developed countries, birth rates are falling, while in the less developed nations they remain high; 90 percent of projected population growth is in the nations where the environment is most sensitive and most strained.
The primary specialized agency coordinating environmental programs, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), was established in 1972. UNEP promotes international programs for environmental preservation. Other UN organizations also play a pivotal role in environmental solutions.
The UN plays a pivotal role in preserving the environment. UN programs are devoted to the principle that the natural environment is the common heritage of all humanity. UN programs address the oceans, the atmosphere, outer space, Antarctica and the world's forests. Even though much of these fall within the sovereignty of nations, the UN believes they must be managed for the benefit of all.
The second principle upon which much of the UN's environmental work is based is that of sustainable development, developing resources without destroying them. In addition to the services provided by the UNEP, the UN Development Program assists nations in finding sustainable means of enhancing their economies and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization works to ensure that techniques of sustainable agriculture are used instead of those that deplete and erode the topsoil.
