Adult Forum on Planet Stewardship

SECTION 3

Creative Approaches to Current Problems[i]

• Partnership between government and NGOs

• Participation by local people in designing programs

• Dedication to financial and human resources

• Commitment to essential factors in population control:

√  Women’s education - Education of women is a key to overcoming poverty and encouraging family planning.  1 billion people aged 15-24 is a great potential asset if we can provide healthcare for them.

√  Women’s employment opportunities

√  Rise in women’s legal and social status

√  Decrease in infant mortality

√  Women’s reproductive health and family planning services

√  Education of men

• Economic development is linked to environmental stability.

• Sustainable development recognizes growing  global interdependence and promotes an integrated approach.

• Sustainable development is long-term.

• Sustainable development recognizes a general responsibility.

“As homeowners, we wouldn’t neglect or damage our houses until they were unfit to live in.  Why would we do that with our planet?                                                                                                           “  Kathryn Sullivan,

                                                                                        the first woman to walk in space

FOOD

The crops, animals and other biomatter that we use in 12 months takes 14.4 months to replenish.  Sustainable development adjusts use and resources so that we live off the “interest.”

“Put people first and the environment second, but also … remember that when you exhaust the environment, you destroy people.”

                                                                                                            Mark Malloch Brown

                                                               administrator of the UN Development Program

15 cash crops provide 90% of the world’s food, but we need crop rotation.

Navdanya (9 Seeds) in New Delhi, teaches farmers to grow hardy native varieties of crops, using organic methods.  Navdanya works in an area for three years, establishing local seed banks and self-supporting organization.  It’s spread to 80 districts in 12 states, and has collected more than 2000 seed varieties.

WATER

Only 2.5% of water is fresh.

1.1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water

2.4 million lack sanitation

Agriculture uses 2/3 of fresh water consumed

      We need more crop per drop - drought & salt tolerant crops

      Better monitoring of irrigation needs

      More efficient irrigation methods

WASH (Water, Sanitation And Hygiene for All) - a global effort that aims to provide water services and hygiene training to everyone who lack them by 2015. UN, 27 govts. & numerous NGOs have signed on.  The UN has declared 2003 as “The Year of Freshwater.”

ENERGY

About 2.5 billion people have no access to modern energy services

Power demands of developing nations are expected to grow 2.5% per year - how should that be met?

      Micro-hydroelectric plants (Kenya, Sri Lanka, Nepal) - generate 200 kw without complex dams or catchment areas.  Last 20 years.  Can be community-owned.

      The Global Village Energy Partnership (World Bank, UNDP and donors) -match solutions to need and geography (solar energy in remote areas, expansion of grid in Third World urban areas).

BIODIVERSITY

“[Wilderness is] where man himself is a visitor and does not remain.”

-U.S. Wilderness Act, 1964

Tropical rainforests cover 6% of Earth’s land and are home to 50% of all known species.  How to balance man’s development needs with nature’s development needs?

“…you have to build economies around protection,”

- Gustavo Fonseca

Sr. VP for science at Conservation Intl.

Wildlife corridors

Marine reserves

Ecotourism

Debt for nature swaps

      Nature Conservancy purchases land to hold as wilderness, e.g. the atoll of Palmyra (south of Hawaii) and the logging rights to 1.6 million acres in Bolivia - which doubled the size of a national park.

      Conservation International - protecting the Cardamoms from exploitation.  Once used as sanctuary by the Khmer Rouge; now being slashed and burned by Cambodian loggers, hunters and farmers.  CI pays for rangers to patrol against poaching and also provides health and agricultural projects to support local economy. (6 foreign lumber concessions have been cancelled.)

      Equator Initiative  (public/private group) -

sustainable development in equatorial belt (promoting beekeeping for supplemental income in Kenya, restoring marine fisheries in Fiji).

      Global Conservation Trust - conserve genetic materials from plants for use by local agricultural programs.

      Center for Environmental Leadership in Business (Washington state) -  working with auto & oil companies (Ford, Chevron, Texaco & Shell) to draft guidelines for biodiversity conservation in oil and gas exploration.

      Wildlife Conservation Society -  Myanmar locals were hunting red pandas and leaf deer in Hkakabo Razi National Park and trading the pelts for salt.  WCS provides salt for $5000/year. (How does that affect the Chinese traders who were supplying the salt?)

      Tropical Rainforest Conservation Act of 1998 - US authorized President to reduce some countries’ debt in exchange for forest protection (a concept begun in Bolivia in 1987 by Conservation Intl.)  In June 2002, US cancelled $5.5 million of peruvian debt in exchange for protection of 27.5 million acres of tropical rainforest, home of pink river dolphins and giant water lilies.  Covington & Burling provided pro bono legal advice.

Synopsis by Donna Judkins

of Planet Awakening

By Patricia Waak

Introduction

Planet Awakening summarizes some human population basics and the effects of human population on both human and non-human creatures.  It discusses the complexities of human population and various belief systems on the subject of stewardship and the environment.  Some issues that prevent consensus building are outlined. 

In the Beginning

• Each faith has a sacred story, or cosmology, about the creation of life and the various creatures.  This essay speaks of the importance given each creature in these cosmologies and the threat to life-forms in today’s world.  The author poses a challenge to look at our ethical systems and how we can improve our lives and honor the planet.  Discussion of the environment and sustainable development are of little value if population numbers and behavior are not included.  It is the author’s hope that spiritual leaders as well as lay persons will reframe the dialogue around population growth and consumption, and bring to bear ethical and spiritual principles, without pretending to have answers to these complex sets of problems.

Population:  How Do We Define the Problem - Much of the natural world has been disappearing at an alarming rate.  All species ultimately are dependent on the same resource base.  A healthy world for people is also a healthy world for wildlife.

• Population Theory:  Malthus Revisited

o       Malthus, in 1798, hypothesized that human population, if unchecked, would increase geometrically while food production could increase only arithmetically, resulting in overpopulation and a human population crash similar to those seen in animal populations.

o       A 1972 study (Meadows) attempted to use a computer model to determine the number of people the Earth could support under various scenarios of resource use.  They estimated that if many conservation and recycling practices were employed that the Earth could support a stable population of 4 billion [the population is now over 6 billion].

o       In 1980, The Global 2000 Report to the President summarized the affects of overpopulation.  Critics of the report countered that population growth creates a large pool of workers and provides additional geniuses to develop technological innovations to overcome resource shortages.

o       The preliminary predictions have not been realized exactly, such as massive worldwide mortality from starvation, but many countries have experienced cycles of famine, environmental decline and death.

o       A model developed by Ehrlich (author of The Population Bomb) and Holdren shows a generalized relationship among the number of people (P), resources used per person, or affluence (A), pollution produced per unit of resource used, or technology (T), and environmental impact (I):  I = P x A x T.  This model shows that conservation and pollution control measures alone do not account for environmental degradation, population must also be considered.

o       It is estimated that between 39% and 50% of the land on our planet has been transformed or degraded by humans.  Visions of overpopulation used consist mainly of images of crowded streets in Calcutta or starvation in Ethiopia, but now are including, more and more, visions of urban sprawl, crowded highways and disappearance of open space.

• The Numbers

o       Most creation stories begin with a couple living in harmony with the world.

o       Hunter-Gatherers:  The first humans lived 1-2 million years ago in Africa.  Their population stayed below 125,000 and was regulated mostly by food supplies, disease, accidents and wars.  They were hunter-gathers and impacted the natural environment very little.  Their fertility was low, probably because of the need to move with children.

o       Agricultural Societies:  The advent of agriculture allowed the human population to increase due to increased fool supplies, increased nutrition (and fertility), and the establishment of more stable communities.  The population still fluctuated due to disease, famine and war.

o       Modern Age:  By the beginning of the modern era, the world population was around 170 million and by the time of Columbus’ voyages, the population numbered 500 million.  Less then 300 years later, at American Independence, the number reached 1 billion.  It took more than a century, to 1930, to go from 1 to 2 billion.  Then, by 1960, just 30 years later, the planet had its third billion.  It took only half that time, 15 years to grow to 4 billion and then 12 years to go to 5 billion.  Adding the 6^th billion took 13 years, signifying the beginning of a decline in population growth rates.

o       Future:  Current projections are that the world population will be 8-10 billion by 2025, the less developed countries making up 7-9 billion because more than three quarters of the growth is occurring in those countries.  The world population should more than double, perhaps even triple, during one lifetime, a phenomenon unparalleled in history.

• Carrying Capacity

o       Definition:  The maximum number of organisms an environment – local, regional, or global – can support over a specified period of time.

o       Biological systems have limits.  Typically, for example, an animal population will increase until food and/or territory become scarce in an area, then the surplus will either migrate or die.  This is the way nature sustains healthy populations.

o       Healthy human populations, too, can only survive within the parameters of the ecological carrying capacity.  Humans have defied the traditional carrying capacity through technological advances and the substitution of one resource for another.

o       Humans are currently depleting non-renewable resources.

o       What is the ultimate carrying capacity of the Earth for humans?  This is under debate.  Some measures could increase the carrying capacity, such as, conversion to grain diets, redistribution of wealth and use of all arable land.  Dr. Carl Djerassi’s answer (1988) to the question captures a chief theme of this book.  He said:

That depends on what you think about the quality of life.  If you mean standing up and having one meal a day, the number is enormous.

If you’re talking about the way we live now – which means misery for half the people in the world, a so-so life for a few others, and an attractive life for a few hundred million – then I think we’ve already exceeded the maximum.”

o       Anasazi Indians of the Southwestern U.S., Maya civilization of Central America, and possibly, the Roman Empire are suspected of going into demise as a result of failure to live within the carrying capacity of their land base..

o       The dramatic change in the human population growth rate is largely attributed to medical technology and modern agriculture (including genetic alteration of plants).  These have allowed increases in life expectancy and food.

• Demographic Transition

o       Some evidence exists that as countries develop, a transition in demographics leads to a more stable population.

o       The industrial revolution in Europe is often given as the classic example of “demographic transition”. 

§         Before:  Birth rates and death rates were high

§         Early - better sanitation and higher standards of living:  Death rates dropped, birth rates initially remained high.

§         Mid – Lower infant mortality rates and better living conditions resulted in a desire for fewer children:  Birth rates also began to decline.

§         Post:  Birth rates and death rates equalized and resulted in stabilization, with some European countries actually having lower birth than death rates.

§         Note:  This economic and demographic transformation, however, was assisted by massive out-migrations from Europe.

o       The pattern has been different in less developed countries.  The fall in death rates has not brought about a drop in birth rates as quickly.  The result is continued population growth, often too rapid for the economies of those countries to adjust to the sheer number of people.

o       Despite falling growth rates, the world’s population continues to grow, even though, the average number of children born to women of reproductive age in developing countries (excluding China) has declined from 6.2 children per woman in the early 1960s to 3.7 today.  There are more women of childbearing age than before, resulting in “demographic momentum”.

o       The book gives examples of how this momentum is expected to cause continued population growth.

• Definition of Overpopulation

o       Definition:  Overpopulation exists when the numbers of people and/or their consumption patterns degrade or destroy the natural resources on which all life depends.  This definitions takes into account both numbers and consumption rates – a key point.

o       Some interesting facts:

- In 1999-2000 global population was 6 billion.

- 80% of the population lived in “less developed” countries, with a per capita GNP of US$1,260.

o       The U.S. population is growing faster than the natural rate of increase due to migration from other countries.  This is partly attributed to the economic disparity between less developed and more developed countries.

o       Imbalances occur when groups of people seek a standard of living that cannot be sustained without degrading the natural resource base (overconsumption) and when modes of production pose a physical threat to the environment and to people.

• Population Growth and Biological Diversity

o       In less developed countries, people need arable land to grow crops.  With growing populations, families are clearing parks, wildlife preserves and tropical forests.

o       In more developed countries, wetlands and other habitats are being sacrificed to build roads, apartment buildings, etc.

o       The significance is that there is a limit to the planet’s resources and that life-supporting ecosystems are essential to life on earth as we know it!

• The Global Nature of the Problem

o       Population vs. resources is a global problem.

§         Several current examples are given, including: U.S./Canada acid rain struggle; erosion by the major river system in India which starts in Nepal, Bhutan, and China; deforestation in Nepal causing flooding in Bangladesh; and human-induced global climate change.

o       There is a global trend toward urbanization.  In the next 20 years, the urban population is projected to increase to 4 billion globally, while the rural population will remain the same.

o       Some needs of the growing population are expected to be:

§         Increased energy usage – leading to greater atmospheric change.

§         Twice as much clean water will be needed in the next decade.

§         More deforestation will occur:

-          More cleared land, esp. in tropical countries where rapid deforestation has often taken the form of slash-and-burn agriculture which destroys some of the richest habitats on earth, leading to erosion and loss of moisture-retaining vegetation.

-          These types of activities harm the land and guarantee that there will be less food available for future generations.  This has been seen in Africa and the Middle East.

-          This loss of tropical species is also of concern they are important for medicine, agriculture and a diverse gene pool.

-          Deforestation plays an important role in global climate change.

§         Global climate change resulting from increased fossil fuel use and deforestation are expected to result in more green-house gases in our atmosphere.

-          The earth’s temperature is increasing.

-          Carbon dioxide is the chief culprit. 

-          The depleted ozone layer (not to be confused with the pollutant, ozone) adds to the changes.

• Who Benefits, Who Doesn’t

o       Today, more than one billion people live in abject poverty.  The question is posed whether the earth can support even a modest standard of living for these people, much less an increased standard for many others, without irreparable damage to critical life-supporting systems.

o       Women’s and children’s health tends to be better when family planning measures are taken.  Women bearing large numbers of children usually sacrifice their rights to good health, education and employment.

o       Surveys indicate that worldwide, women want the same things for their children:  good health, education, jobs, adequate food, and housing.

o       The author identifies success stories in family planning (e.g., Zimbabwe, Mexico and Indonesia) and urges that expenditures for family planning and reproductive health need to be doubled in the next decade to meet the demand for child spacing and fertility regulation.

o       In general, people in more developed countries have a higher standard of living than in less developed countries.

• Solutions

o       There is no easy solution.

o       Some advocacy groups for women have striven to increase family planning, but have feared admitting a link between population and environment for fear that environmental degradation will be blamed on poor women.

o       There is no one cause and effect – it is a cycle.  The poor countries are caught in a cycle of poverty, rapid population growth and environmental degradation.  The richer countries have their own problems with over-consumption, population density and environmental degradation.

o       The author advocates that we live as a global society.

§         Developing countries need a combination of population stabilization, equitable economic development, and conservation of natural resources to allow for short- and long-term survival.  They need encouragement, plus financial and technical assistance for policies and practices that reduce human impacts on ecological resources.

§         Developed countries need growth management of cities and communities, reassessment of economic values and systems and conservation for long-term sustainable use.

§         In general, long-range vision, changes in life-style, commitment to an Earth ethic, and organized action are needed.

§         The 1994 United Nations Conference on Population Development (ICPD) developed a sustainable development concept with four major points:

v     Economic development is linked to environmental stability.

v     Sustainable development recognizes a growing global interdependence and promotes an integrated approach.

v     Sustainable development is long-term.

v     Sustainable development recognizes a general responsibility.

§         Four factors were identified to help countries achieve the goal of stabilizing populations while providing for basic needs of their people:

v     Partnership between government and non-government organizations

v     Participation by local people in designing programs

v     Commitment to essential factors in fertility decline:

o       Women’s education

o       Women’s employment opportunities

o       Rise in women’s legal and social status

o       Decrease in infant mortality

o       Women’s reproductive health and family planning services

o       Education of men.

v     Dedication to financial and human resources by both the rich an poorer countries.

§         The author states that population is the single most important environmental issue facing us.

Ethics, Morality and Religion The religious community has long identified poverty as a fundamental issue for society, and some members have tackled consumption reduction, but there has been great reluctance to deal with population issues, with all their controversies.  The author points out that with too many children and not enough food people are too distracted with just staying alive – leaving little time for spiritual nourishment.  The attitudes of some major religious groups are summarized in Table 1.

The Principles of Justice - Traditionally, attitudes were biocentric (human health tied to health of nature) but have become anthropocentric (focused on humans).

• Social Justice – The social justice movement advocates that environmental policy has relevance only if it ensures gender and social justice.  There is a belief that fewer people will not lead to less poverty, nor that all social problems begin as population problems.  Others argue that there is an undeniable relationship between “numbers” and inequalities and that the level of poverty for over one billion rivals anything in history, if only because of the numbers.  For example:
  • one child under 5 dies from hunger and related causes every 2.7 seconds;
  • more than 800 million people do not have enough to eat;
  • 60% of infant mortality is linked to water-related infections and parasitism;
  • more than 1 million children loose their mother each year;
  • 1 woman dies every minute from pregnancy or childbirth; and
  • more than 40% of sub-Saharan Africans live below the poverty line.

In 1994, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held by the United Nations in Cairo outlined a program of action with goals for improving economic well-being, preserving environmental integrity, improving the status of women, providing health care, and lowering over-consumption.

• Ecological Justice – The ecological justice movement advocates that justice should not be limited to humans but to all life on the planet.  Advocates point out:
  • in the past 40 years we consumed 1/3 of the forests;
  • we clear 200 square miles per day of tropical forests;
  • with current trends, in 40 years only 25% of the coral reefs will remain;
  • every 20 minutes a species becomes extinct (27,000 species per year); and
  • 16% of U.S. bird species are in decline (esp. those migrating to Latin Am.).

Ecological problems can be caused by poverty (e.g., poaching) or by affluence (e.g., people wanting spacious property encroaching on critical bear habitat).

• Intergenerational Justice – Rather then “borrowing” from our children’s future, we are “closing down all savings accounts.”  Advocates urge that we plan for future needs of the earth and its peoples.  Some specific action items are:
  • reduce use of fossil fuels and find non-polluting alternatives;
  • reduce deforestation and promote reforestation;
  • stop water pollution, reduce freshwater demand, and improve irrigation;
  • increase the ability of farmers to grow subsistence crops, reduce use of chemicals and pesticides, and create better food distribution programs;
  • reduce infectious and parasitic diseases;
  • increase health care, esp. women and children, and promote voluntary child spacing and birth control;
  • reduce wasteful production and consumption;
  • make space for wild creatures and habitat; and
  • provide hope for children.

• Finding Consensus for Partnership – a good basis for the care of nature abounds in religious beliefs - development and religious communities should work together.
• Resource Distribution – Developing countries are hard-pressed to provide basic human needs and services to their citizens.  Modest gains in production and economic growth are often diluted or negated by high rates of population growth, discouraging any reasonable hopes for a better life.  Resource distribution is hotly debated.  Impoverished countries tend to feel that they cannot concern themselves with saving the Earth unless they save their own people.
• Resource Consumption – in 1994, the U.S. accounted for 25% of the oil consumption.  Industrialized countries need to reduce or eliminate unsustainable production and consumption.
• Population Control – Biological rules govern species in nature.  In a mature ecosystem, populations are controlled through natural factors.  Humans have stretched the rules by molding the environment.  How, then do we achieve “population control”?  This raises serious questions because it implies a “controller”.  The author urges that we trust empowered women and families to control their lives and space children according to resources and needs of their communities.
• Coercion – The author notes that coercion is a violation of human rights whether it promotes more or fewer children.  Almost no programs exist today (though some have been reported in past) that include forced sterilization, abortion or birth control.  Many countries have a system of incentives and disincentives regarding those practices.
• Respect for Culture and Tradition – Modernization in many countries has disrupted the traditional rules and practices of birth spacing.  The author urges involvement of local people in sustainable development programs.
• Freedom of Choice about Family Size – This freedom is advocated.
• The Value and Rights of Women – Opportunities available to women for education, employment and improved status serve to strengthen families and ensure a healthy generation of children.  The overall value of female children should be strengthened by this approach.
• Abortion – This is the most controversial topic in population control.  Debate revolves around the exact moment the embryo becomes an individual life with a soul.  The viability question changes as medical technology improves.  Some weigh the moral question of abortion against bringing an unwanted child into the world.  Some believe that abortion is a result of the failure to educate people about birth control.  Even where it is illegal, it exists, often without sterile practices, endangering the woman’s life.  The author urges birth control, rather than abortion.

Conclusion

·                  “Religious leaders, communities of conscience, environmental activists, and women’s health advocates all have the desire to promote a world that is healthy for individuals.  That desire must be transmitted into action for the benefit of all life on Earth.  Finding consensus on fundamental issues of conflict is the beginning of the process.  This guide should be used to provoke dialogue, raise questions, and design solutions.”