Development may damage most of Earth's surface

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Unless urgent action is taken, the continuing development of poorly planned infrastructures will affect 70 percent of the Earth's surface over the next three decades, a UN report said on Thursday.

The report by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) warned that continuing damage to the Earth's surface would cause difficulties for people trying to access water.

It warned that if market forces continued to fuel the global agenda, more than half the world's population would live in water-stressed areas by 2032.

According to the report, the Earth is currently at a "crucial crossroads with the choices made today critical for the forests, oceans, rivers, mountains, wildlife and other life support systems upon which current and future generations depend."

"We can never know for certain what lies before us," UNEP executive director Klaus Toepfer said in the report, launched in London, adding that political courage was needed to stop the destruction.

The report was based on the examination of policies and impacts made on the environment over the past 30 years.

The report was issued in line with the coming preparatory meeting on sustainable development in Bali next week, ahead of the world summit in Johannesburg in August and September.

The Johannesburg Summit is the follow-up to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It aims to ensure the sustainability of the Earth and stop the massive destruction of nature.

World Bank statistics indicate that deforestation over the past 10 years has reached between 1.7 million and 2 million hectares annually.

The past 10 years have not yet proven the effectiveness of Agenda 21, which was agreed upon by world leaders in Rio, due to a lack of political commitment.

"The summit is about sustainable development, but it is also a summit for the environment.

"Without the environment there can never be the kind of development needed to secure a fair deal for future generations," Toepfer said.

The report also mentioned some positive forecasts, saying that by 2032, only 2.5 percent of the world's population would be living in poverty.

Another positive projection is that the world will manage to make deep cuts in the emission of the gases linked to global warming.