From the Earth System Science Partnership
International scientific community issues first “State of the Planet Declaration”
Scientists issued the first “State of the Planet” declaration at a major gathering of experts on global environmental and social issues in advance of the major UN Summit Rio+20 in June.
The declaration opens: “Research now demonstrates that the continued functioning of the Earth system as it has supported the well-being of human civilization in recent centuries is at risk.” It states that consensus is growing that we have driven the planet into a new epoch, the Anthropocene, where many planetary-scale processes are dominated by human activities. It concludes society must not delay taking urgent and large-scale action.
“This is a declaration to our globally interconnected society,” said Dr Lidia Brito, director of science policy, natural sciences, UNESCO, and conference co-chair.
“Time is the natural resource in shortest supply. We need to change course in some fundamental way this decade,” she added.
Over 3,000 experts in climate change, environmental geo-engineering, international governance, the future of the oceans and biodiversity, global trade, development, poverty alleviation, food security and more discussed the intricate connections between all the different systems and cycles governing our ocean, air, land and the human and animal life dependent on those environments.
Dr Mark Stafford Smith, Planet Under Pressure conference co-chair, said, “In the last decade we have become a highly interconnected society. We are beginning to realise this new state of humanity can be harnessed for rapid innovation.”
“But we need to provide more open access to knowledge, we need to move away from GDP as the only measure of progress, and we need a new way of working internationally that is fit for the 21st century,” he added. “This conference has provided new ideas and practical solutions for the way forward.”
The declaration concludes that, “a highly interconnected global society has the potential to innovate rapidly. The Planet Under Pressure conference has taken advantage of this potential to explore new pathways.”
But, say Brito and Stafford Smith, effective planetary stewardship also requires: “More ways of participation at all levels, stronger leadership in all sectors of society; greater connectivity between those generating new knowledge and the rest of society; and rethinking the roles of science, policy, industry and civil society.”
The conference presented new initiatives as recommendations for the Rio+20 Summit:
- Going beyond GDP by taking into account the value of natural capital when measuring progress.
- A new framework for developing a set of goals for global sustainability for all nations.
- Creating a UN Sustainable Development Council to integrate social, economic and environmental policy at the global level.
- Launching a new international research programme, Future Earth, that will focus on solutions.
- Initiating regular global sustainability analyses.
The conference also previewed the first Inclusive Wealth Report, developed by UN University’s International Human Dimensions Programme (UNU-IHDP) and the UN Environment Programme.
Based on a new economic indicator that measures natural, human and produced capital, the tool goes beyond GDP and can provide guidance for economic development towards sustainability.
Says Professor Anantha Duraiappah, Executive Director of UNU-IHDP: “Until the yardsticks which society uses to evaluate progress are changed to capture elements of long-term sustainability, the planet and its people will continue to suffer under the weight of short-term growth policies.”
The report, scheduled to be published at Rio+20, will describe the capital base of 20 nations: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Nigeria, Norway, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, USA, United Kingdom and Venezuela.
Off the back of the declaration and recognizing the interconnectedness of the current challenges, the four major international research programmes under ICSU that direct global environmental change science (the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme; DIVERSITAS; the International Human Dimensions Programme; and the World Climate Research Programme) aim to rapidly reorganize to focus on global sustainability solutions.
Additionally, the programmes are proposing to develop platforms that facilitate cooperation with all sectors of society to develop a new strategy for creating and rapidly translating knowledge into action. “Such interactions should be designed to bring societal relevance and trust to science-policy interfaces, and more effectively inform decision-making to keep pace with rapid global change,” reads the declaration. This strategy will form part of “a new contract between science and society” and includes the launch of a new international research programme, Future Earth.
The Planet Under Pressure conference marked the beginning of this new shift in direction, according to the conference co-chairs.
Delegates in London were joined by almost 8,000 people online worldwide and reached more than a million people through social media in the first three conference days.
Dr Brito said, “We have a positive message: strong leadership from all sectors and harnessing the increased connectivity offers some hope that the risk of long-term environmental crises can be minimized.”
“This new connectivity is the beginning of how the scientific community needs to operate. We need a powerful network of innovation, North and South. This approach needs to be part of our DNA from now on,” she added.
In recorded remarks, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said today that “climate change, the financial crisis and food, water and energy insecurity threaten human wellbeing and civilization as we know it.”
“My High-level Panel on Global Sustainability has just recommended that I consider naming a chief scientific advisor or establishing a scientific board to advise me and other organs of the United Nations.
“I also intend to engage the scientific community on other projects, such as the Global Sustainable Development Outlook report,” he added, “I am also ready to work with the scientific community on the launch of a large-scale scientific initiative.”
UN Rio+20 Executive coordinator, Elizabeth Thompson, said, “politician or public servant, scientist or citizen, community or company, we are the shareholders of Earth Incorporated and have a joint responsibility to protect our common patrimony.”
“The scientific community can help us make sense of these complex and interconnected challenges.”
Conference delegates also heard how research advances in the previous decade have shown humanity’s impact on Earth’s life support system has become comparable to planetary scale geological processes such as ice ages. “Consensus is growing we have driven the planet into a new epoch, the Anthropocene, in which many Earth system processes are now dominated by human activities,” the declaration states.
This new force risks pushing parts of the Earth system – the sum of our planet’s interacting physical, chemical, and biological processes including life and society – past so-called tipping points.
Tipping points include the disappearance of summer sea ice in the Arctic, permafrost in Arctic regions releasing large quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and the drying out of the Amazon rainforest. If these tipping points are crossed they can increase the likelihood of going beyond other thresholds generating unacceptable and often irreversible environmental change on global and regional scales with serious consequences for human and all forms of life on the planet.
The declaration stated that existing international arrangements are failing to deal with long-term development challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss in an interconnected way indicating that it would be a mistake to rely on single international agreements. Research indicated that comprehensive sustainability policies at local, sub-national, national, and regional levels should be encouraged to provide “essential safety nets should singular global policies fail.”
* The State of the Planet Declaration is by the Co-Chairs of the Planet Under Pressure conference, Dr Lidia Brito and Dr Mark Stafford Smith, supported by the conference Scientific Organizing Committee.
The statement in full is available online athttp://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/
The research discussed in the press releases, the conclusions drawn and the opinions offered are those of individual speakers or research teams at the Planet Under Pressure conference.
More information about Planet under Pressure Conference
The international science conference will be the biggest gathering of global environmental change specialists in advance of the United Nations Rio+20 Summit: 3,000 scientists, policymakers, industry and media representatives will meet to hear the latest research findings on the state of the planet and discuss concepts for planetary stewardship and societal and economic transformation towards global sustainability.
More information on the web: www.planetunderpressure2012.net/
@ur momisugly observa says:
April 2, 2012 at 6:29 pm
mkelly asks- ‘What the hell is “gender and environment”????’
Neptune was male and controlled part of the environment (oceans, etc. ) Other Roman Gods and Goddesses controlled, to greater or lesser degree, other parts of the environment. See here for a rather lengthy list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_gods .
Obviously Kari is implying that the Romans had it right, and she would be happy to intercede as High Priestess on humanities behalf. 😉
“ImranCan says:
April 2, 2012 at 7:36 am
The International ‘community’ couldn’t agree anything in 2009 in Copenhagen when public opinion was on their side and there was only “50 days left to save the world” (at least according to Gordon Brown). I doubt very much that such nebulous aspirations as “We need to change course in some fundamental way this decade” are going to cut it much now.”
Yup. Very much like the Occupy Movement, they proclaim the neet to change course but offer no course to steer.
Gotta keep their hands off the tiller for sure.
mkelly says:
April 2, 2012 at 11:49 am
Associate Professor Kari Norgard on her University of Oregon blurb-
“What the hell is “gender and environment”????
“Women … play an essential role in the management of natural resources, including soil, water, forests and energy … and often have a profound traditional and contemporary knowledge of the natural world around them” – World Bank
http://www.gdrc.org/gender/gender-envi.html
Is it just me or is sustainability getting a real run these days
After global warming and then climate change we now have sustainability.
Is all this sustainable.:-)
Amanda Noorgard over Hari every day of the week. I do hope they are not related!!
Those mystified by my comment need google 😉
The question is: Are we willing to scale back our activities so we can effect change in our environment? Humans pursue different agenda and when local politics come into play it will be a different scenario. The Kyoto Protocol is an example of how close we could have changed the course of human civilization. Unfortunately, there were highly strong geo-politics that had to be considered by countries. In the end, major countries that are source of pollution of this planet did not sign the deal. What a waste! I hope we would not stop in educating the people.
More worrying than the various statements is the list of supporters …
http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/supporters.asp
(given that the Royal Society is in that list) Is this what Paul Nurse meant by …
We wouldn’t want the two getting mixed up – eh Paul?
(http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/paul-nurse-we-have-to-stop-mixing-science-and-politics-6261931.html)
australia directory says:
April 3, 2012 at 12:31 am
What a waste! I hope we would not stop in educating the people.
First bit of education — improve your English skills before you post spam again…
No, wrong way around. Consider sustainability as the mother swamp from which all else arises.
rukidding says:April 2, 2012 at 8:58 pm
Here ya go: the word sustainable is indeed unsustainable;
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/the_word_sustainable_is_unsust.html
See they did not have to waste all that time and jet fuel. I could have written the conclusion for them in one minute. The Club of Rome, made that clear in 1972 with its report The Limits to Growth and the message has never changed.
Going beyond GDP by taking into account the value of natural capital when measuring progress.
This is what they are talking about when they refer to “natural capital” Humans get to live in the green dots only.
Older version of US map: http://www.amerikanexpose.com/Graphics/wildlands_map.html
This is the newest version: http://www.godlikeproductions.com/sm/custom/fiqckcrb.jpeg
Ian W says:
April 2, 2012 at 3:45 am
I cannot help feeling that behind these people know the cycles of nature and have been using them to convince the uneducated that humans are to blame….
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Of Course they knew. It is not like the 88-year Giessenburg cycle was unknown in 1972 when the Club of Rome published their report or Maurice Strong chaired the first Earth Summit.
izen says:
April 2, 2012 at 5:04 am
While a lot of posters here may sneer at the topics and intentions, declaring that the concerns expressed are spurious or non-existant, the fact remains that there ARE environmental problems that require policy responses….
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izen, most of us here are very angry because of the huge amount of wealth squandered on climate change that could have been used for dealing with REAL problems in the environment and in third world nations. Our complaint is about a hoax that is designed to funnel a huge amount of the wealth of the entire world into the pockets of a few. It has nothin g to do with the environment, Mom or Apple pie and everything to do with GREED!
Just an example:
Climate Change
2011 US Federal Government Budget
NOAA 437 million
NSF 480 million
NASA 438.1 million
DOE 627 million
DOI 171 million
EPA 169 million
USDA 159 million
TOTAL = 2,312.1 million
From: http://climatequotes.com/2011/01/08/how-can-climate-scientists-spend-so-much-money/
Here is more from a 2009 article.
Every single penny of that money comes from the Average Joe. He is the one stuck with the bill and the one asked to make sacrifices in his life style and the life style of his children. All so these Egomaniacal Sociopaths can continue to collect large salaries and great perks while they engage in trying to take over the governments of the world.
Bruce Hall says:
April 2, 2012 at 5:33 am
There is a more insidious side of this conference. Marc Moreno pointed out the agenda of cramming people into cities to return the rest of the land back to its wilderness condition….
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This part of the agenda has been known for over a decade by the “Consiracy Theorists” Unfortunately because they often mix the Christioan Religion into it (a bad move IMHO) they get labeled Right Wingnut Extremists and sidelined.
List of laws and bills from Klamath Bucket Brigade
Green Global Dictatorship: Regional Governance, UN Agenda 21, Sustainable Development, and the Wildlands Project from Four Winds
Wildlands Project Revealed/
That is just a quick grab at the many sites.
And the other side:
Since “Wildlands Project” got a bad name they rebranded to Wildlands Network:Reconnecting Nature in North America™
The Rewilding Institute
“Time is the natural resource in shortest supply. We need to change course in some fundamental way this decade,” she added.
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Translation: The Marks are starting to wake up we have got to move fast and lock them into serfdom by 2020.
fredb says:
April 2, 2012 at 5:55 am
Izen’s comment above is an absolute breath of fresh air … I was about to open the window from the stifling sneering of this comment list. Where’s the WUWT famous “we debate the science”?
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What Science???
All I see is a gathering of a would be dictatorial world bureaucracy who is driving a stake through the heart of science.
The consensus (dialectic) process:
Sorry that is not Science.
QUESTION:
Since this conference was hosted by the world’s premier Science Society, the Royal Society, do we now mark 2012 as the year that Science officially died?
klem says:
April 2, 2012 at 6:29 am
Anthropocene, are these people for real?
When I was in college, the Anthropocene was a term which was thrown around as a joke, now I hear it used more and more like its a valid epoch.
Can someone answer this question for me: is the Anthropocene a valid geological epoch?
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NO
Discussed in the comments here: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/03/16/the-end-holocene-or-how-to-make-out-like-a-madoff-climate-change-insurer/
Blair says:
April 2, 2012 at 6:59 am
Any psychologists here?
Is there such a thing as a ‘Jor-El Complex’?
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Sure looks like it considering this bunch of bureaucRats are exhibiting all the symptons.
“Such interactions should be designed to bring societal relevance and trust to science-policy interfaces”
Well they already lost it on that one. August 03, 2011, 69% Say It’s Likely Scientists Have Falsified Global Warming Research
Unethical scientists undermine public trust
Even Scientific American is waking up In science we trust poll
Building public trust in science should be the scientific community’s top priority. That is the conclusion of an editorial in this week’s Nature Good luck with that. Once scientists had fallen off the pedestal and were found to be in bed with Politicians I am afraid the distrust rubbed off and you will not get it back any time soon.
Good grief that is even worse that I thought.
Steve C says:
April 2, 2012 at 7:43 am
Ultimately, I would probably agree that we are going to end up with a layer of international “government”…
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I think you are about 17 years too late.
How the World Trade Organization works: http://www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net/GMO/World_Trade_Order/world_trade_order.html
How the US government reacts: FDA on International Harmonization
Where Pascal Lamy, Director General of the WTO, wants to head:
http://theglobaljournal.net/article/view/56/
http://theglobaljournal.net/article/view/256/
http://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/articles/global-governance/global-governance-getting-us-where-we-all-want-go-and-getting-us-there-to
http://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/content/global-governance-whom-response-pascal-lamy-global-governance-getting-us-where-we-all-want-g
Those articles paint a pretty terrifying picture and those like the “Occupy Wall Street” crowd who are opposed to the international mega corporations are the SAME crowd helping push the WTO agenda. Amazing…
Forgot link to the FDA and International Harmonization of laws and regulations. http://www.fda.gov/Food/InternationalActivities/ucm103013.htm
mfo says:
April 2, 2012 at 9:09 am
……They are using new language to try to manipulate gullible people into accepting a world where people’s every action is regulated. In this context ‘global sustainability’ means a powerful elite and a compliant multitude.
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And in the old language we called ‘global sustainability,’ Feudalism, the powerful elite, Aristocrats and the compliant multitude, serfs.
markx says:
April 2, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Dennis Wingo (@wingod) says:April 2, 2012 at 8:40 am
“….humanity can be harnessed…”
Hmmm. NOW they are starting to worry me!
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Yeah, it has always been a seach for a method of putting the genie of freedom for the common man back into the bottle.
rukidding says:
April 2, 2012 at 8:58 pm
Is it just me or is sustainability getting a real run these days
After global warming and then climate change we now have sustainability.
Is all this sustainable.:-)
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Sustainablity has been around. It is the code word for UN Agenda 21 but it sounds all warm and fuzzy so the rubes do not understand they are having their country and land stolen right out from under them.