The Rio Earth Summit — A Litany Of Failure

The Rio+20 Earth Summit will be held June 20-22 in Brazil. I will be posting occasionally on preparations for the meeting between now and then. It is natural to ask on the eve of the summit how the humans are doing so far in the race to preserve a habitable Earth. The Washingon Post reported on the meeting preparations in Rio Earth summit nears as scientists warn planet faces grave threats—

As thousands of people prepare to convene in Brazil this month for the Rio+20 Earth Summit, scientists and environmentalists alike are sending a sharp message: The planet is in dire straits.

On Wednesday, the United Nations Environment Program issued a report showing that the world has made significant progress on only four of the 90 most important environmental objectives agreed on through the U.N. process.

Gains have come in eliminating ozone-depleting substances, phasing out lead in gasoline, increasing access to water supplies and encouraging research into marine pollutants. In most other categories — including protecting plant and animal species, curbing marine pollution and conserving water supplies — humanity is falling short.

“If current trends continue, if current patterns of production and consumption of natural resources prevail and cannot be reversed and ‘decoupled,’ then governments will preside over unprecedented levels of damage and degradation,” UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said in a statement.

That doesn't sound good! Having been on the planet for almost six decades now, I have seen these save-the-Earth meetings come and I have seen them go.  The routine goes something like this:

• At the meeting's conclusion, participants pledge to try harder to achieve the noble goals which have been laid on the table but not agreed upon in any binding sense.
• Nothing much happens for a prolonged period of time.
• In the immediate run-up to the next meeting, dire warnings are issued—if we don't act now, humankind is toast.
• Representatives of the Earth's nations large and small meet to set new goals.
• At the meeting's conclusion, participants pledge to try harder to achieve the noble goals which have been laid on the table but not agreed upon in any binding sense...

And so on. The goals are laudable, but in so far as they are impossible for humans to achieve, as I have often made clear on this blog, they will never be acted upon and hence no large nation (e.g. China) or otherwise important nation (e.g. Saudi Arabia) is serious about meeting them. Here's one such goal.

On Tuesday, the World Bank issued a report outlining how it will work to foster economic development that conserves natural resources and limits pollution even as it provides transportation, energy and food to a growing population. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has unveiled an initiative called Sustainable Energy for All, which is likely to become a focus of discussions at Rio along with a push to eliminate fossil-fuel subsidies.

Ban’s proposal aims to double energy efficiency and double renewable sources in the global energy mix by 2030 while providing reliable lighting and heating to the more than 1.3 billion who still lack it.

As noted, and for reasons too numerous to list here, we are forced to conclude that the Ban-Ki-moon-man's goals—doubling energy efficiency (???) and doubling energy from renewable sources while providing lighting and heat to the more than 1.3 billion people who still lack it—will happen when pigs can fly. Environmentalists are bitter.

“As things currently stand, we are facing two likely scenarios — an agreement so weak it is meaningless, or complete collapse,” Jim Leape, director general of the World Wildlife Fund, said in a statement Tuesday. “Neither of these options would give the world what it needs.”

“When they gather in Rio, governments must restrain the flow of weasel words that is threatening to emasculate any agreement,” Leape added.

Welcome to Planet Earth, Mr. Leape. Try to remember that the Earth and solar system are 4.55 billion years old. At the very last moment in that very, very long history, in less than the blink of an eye some 200,000 years ago, Homo sapiens arose in Africa, spread out from there, and conquered the entire world. Subsequently, they have used and abused this remarkable planet in any way they saw fit in accordance with their Nature and capabilities.

And in much less than the blink of an eye, they will be gone.

Bonus Video — "I want to swim in clean oceans!"

 

Comments

[Ben]

The Rio+20 Earth Summit is a cosmetic-change-to-the-business-as-usual propaganda conference that gives global financial institutions--the same ones which perpetuate poverty and exacerbate inequality--a nice little face lift.

If tomorrow China and the US took massive unilateral action pursuing "the 90 most important environmental objectives agreed on through the U.N. process" I wouldn't be angry and cynical.

[Andrew Kirk]

But...but..what about our immortal souls?

[chris in chicago]

Why would our elected representatives care if the people they are suppose to represent dont care?

If people cant physically see the problem right in front of them most wont care.

Hence the low response to this topic today.

[BS]

Since the Red Sox suck, I have expanded my allotted TV time to other subjects. I watched a program on a 'science' channel about asteroids or comets striking the earth. The premise was we need to devise systems to destroy or divert these large hard things if they are destined to hit the earth to 'save our species'. We must do this within 30 million years since the probability of such an event becomes likely by then. In other words, the human race will still be around in 30 million years or even 2.X billion years when the sun becomes a red giant and consumes us ALL.

So fret not. These climate change and resource limitation hypotheses are crazy. We will be around in 30 million years to defend ourselves from calamitous events from beyond out planet.

How can we expect serious discussion of issues when this 'science' is broadcast to the masses?

[irongamer]

@BS

Yeah, it is difficult to even get the attention of our over entertained minds these days, let alone inform them. Many of the "science" and "history" channels have changed to entertaining programming, most likely to increase rating. Everything is about money and growth, they finally got the memo. We'll continue our parasitic behavior until we've sucked our host dry. If we still haven't figured it out by then...well there will be nothing nothing left to turn on but ourselves. That will be very ugly.

[Mike Roberts]

'Twas ever thus. Humans just don't have the capability to learn from their mistakes. Mistakes that stretch back hundreds of thousands of years.

Future civilisations (of whatever species) will have it easy, finding rich veins of resources where our cities used to be.

[Paul]

"Gains have come in eliminating ozone-depleting substances, phasing out lead in gasoline, increasing access to water supplies and encouraging research into marine pollutants." - so, no gains at all then, really. In fact, one of those gains, namely increasing access to water, simply exacerbates the problem. Why is that even considered a gain? Clueless!

Irregardless (I love that word), when has a parasite ever altered it's genetically encoded behaviour patterns just because the host is feeling poorly?

Enjoy the ride kids.

[Alexander Ač]

Anthony Barnosky, Berkeley paleoecologist, still thinks we are rational problem solvers... so we can avoid tipping points, as he identified them based on scientific literature review, see the video in the link:

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/06/06/scientists-uncover-evidence-of-impending-tipping-point-for-earth/

Alexander

[Azucki]

For a different, irreverent, darkly comic, take on the Earth Summit, take a look at MAKING A KILLING, recently republished to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, then billed as the… err… 'meeting to end all meetings'. The whole cast of characters is there, from elephant-hunting royalty to corporate chieftains on the green make; governments pandering to big business; conservation bigwigs preaching the cause of protecting wildlife by hunting, skinning and trading it. You can read more about it here: http://www.iridescent-publishing.com