The global environment faces a bleak future unless world leaders change the way energy and water are consumed, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.<\/p>\n
Greenhouse gas output will rise by 50 percent, annual deaths from particulate air pollution may double to 3.6 million people and 2.3 billion more people will live in water-stressed areas in fewer than 4 decades under the planet\u2019s current trajectory, the Paris-based OECD said today in its first environmental outlook report since 2008.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we fail to transform our policies and behavior, the picture is rather grim,\u201d OECD Secretary-General\u00a0Angel Gurria\u00a0said in the report. \u201cThe costs and consequences of inaction are colossal, both in economic and human terms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Global leaders must prepare for a planet that\u2019s projected to have more than 2 billion additional people by 2050 and a greater demand for water, energy and other resources. The prospects for\u00a0climate change, biodiversity, water, and the impacts on human health of pollution are all \u201cmore alarming\u201d than in 2008, according to the OECD.<\/p>\n
Energy demand is likely to be 80 percent higher in 2050 than now, putting greenhouse gas emissions on a trajectory that may lead to at least 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming by the end of the century, the OECD said. Primary forests, which are rich in wildlife and plants, are projected to shrink 13 percent by then, while farm runoff will worsen, damaging water ecosystems, it said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDelay in alleviating these environmental pressures will impose significant costs, undermine growth and development and run the risk of irreversible and potentially catastrophic changes further into the future,\u201d the report\u2019s authors wrote.<\/p>\n
Every dollar invested in alleviating air pollution in the fast-growing economies of\u00a0Brazil, Russia India,\u00a0Indonesia,\u00a0China\u00a0and\u00a0South Africa\u00a0may yield $10 of benefits in the future, according to the report. Investing in safe water and sanitation in\u00a0developing countries\u00a0may lead to savings worth seven times the expenditure, it said.<\/p>\n
The OECD prepared the study as a guide for world leaders who will gather in\u00a0Rio de Janeiro\u00a0in June to chart a development path that doesn\u2019t deplete resources and pollute unsustainably. That gathering, called the\u00a0Rio+20\u00a0United Nations Conference on\u00a0Sustainable Development, has been convened to mark 20 years since the first UN environmental summit in the Brazilian city that set up bodies to preserve the planet\u2019s species and climate.<\/p>\n
The OECD recommended that governments devise policies to halt and reverse the trends of environmental degradation. These policies would make pollution \u201can expensive business\u201d through environmental taxes, removing fossil fuel subsidies, putting a price on water and establishing regulations and standards for the energy efficiency of products, vehicles and buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cProgress on an incremental, piecemeal, business-as-usual basis in the coming decades will not be enough,\u201d the OECD said. \u201cEnvironmental policy reform work best when high-level political leaders are committed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without concerted action, \u201cthe erosion of our natural environmental capital will increase the risk of irreversible changes that could jeopardize two centuries of rising living standards,\u201d Gurria wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The global environment faces a bleak future unless world leaders change the way energy and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n