Let us recall that in Stockholm the world declared: "Man is both creature and moulder of his environment, which gives him physical sustenance and affords him the opportunity for intellectual, moral, social and spiritual growth. In the long and tortuous evolution of the human race on this planet a stage has been reached when, through the rapid acceleration of science and technology, man has acquired the power to transform his environment in countless ways and on an unprecedented scale. Both aspects of man's environment, the natural and the man-made, are essential to his well-being and to the enjoyment of basic human rights the right to life itself."
Today, thirty years later, we have fewer fish in the seas, more carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere, more desertification, more soil erosion and more species extinction.
Our very development model is questioned daily by the earth's ecosystem on which all life and all economic activity is dependent. Our patterns of consumption and production cannot be left unchecked.
If the Chinese citizen is to consume the same quantity of crude oil as his or her US counterpart, China would need over 80 million barrels of oil a day - slightly more than the 74 million barrels a day the world now produces. If annual paper use in China of 35 kilograms per person were to climb to the US level of 342 kilograms, China would need more paper than the world currently produces. (Lester R. Brown, Eco- Economy).
Today, thirty years later, we have fewer fish in the seas, more carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere, more desertification, more soil erosion and more species extinction.
Our very development model is questioned daily by the earth's ecosystem on which all life and all economic activity is dependent. Our patterns of consumption and production cannot be left unchecked.
If the Chinese citizen is to consume the same quantity of crude oil as his or her US counterpart, China would need over 80 million barrels of oil a day - slightly more than the 74 million barrels a day the world now produces. If annual paper use in China of 35 kilograms per person were to climb to the US level of 342 kilograms, China would need more paper than the world currently produces. (Lester R. Brown, Eco- Economy).