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As the world enters the 21st century, the health of the planet and the sustainability of the Earth''s population and its life-support systems come increasingly into question. Can we avoid further damage to our fragile ecosystems? Can human needs over the next two generations be met without depleting the environment?
William Clark, Director of the Belfer Center''s Global Environmental Assessment Project, argues that scientific research, private actions, and public policies must be linked to promote a transition to sustainability in which people can meet their needs while simultaneously nurturing and restoring the environment.
In two new reports chaired by Clark, he and his teams lay out a new research agenda for global sustainability science and provide a foundation for periodic reports on the state of the nation''s ecosystems.
Our Common Journey: A Transition to Sustainability, produced by the National Research Council of the National Academies, points out that population growth is projected to reach upwards of 9 billion by 2050. It outlines the greatest threats to global sustainability and points to five key priorities for action by the year 2050.
1. The world''s population needs to reduced by ten percent by 2050;
2. Four billion people are expected to live in urban areas by 2050. Cities need to find ways to provide water, sanitation, and clean air while preserving the environment;
3. Africa''s agricultural food production must be doubled or tripled by 2050. Better distribution and access in Africa will also be needed;
4. Household energy use must continue to be lowered, low-polluting and energy-efficient automobiles should be built, and industrial consumption and waste should be reduced through re-use and recycling;
5. Harmed ecosystems must be restored and maintained. How ecosystems can be managed on a local or regional scale should be examined.
To meet these goals, the report urges that the United States, as a leader in scientific and technological innovation as well as a major consumer of global resources, play a central role in charting a transition to sustainability.
A second publication, Designing a Report of the State of the Nation''s Ecosystems, produced by the Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment, is a prototype meant to provide a framework of indicators to describe the condition of the United States'' ecosystems and human uses of them.
"Periodic reports on leading economic indicators are fundamental tools for making investments and determining economic policy," Clark said. "Developing analogous indicators for the environment is long overdue and fundamental to the quest for sustainable environmental policies."
The project seeks to fill this gap by developing an accurate and reliable reporting system about the environment. Drawing data from a variety of sources, the report describes and evaluates the nation''s croplands, forests, coasts, and oceans.
Together, these two reports and the work of the GEA Project help set the stage for a thorough re-thinking of our steward-ship of this planet and its resources.
Our Common Journey is available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9690.html.
Designing a Report is available at http://www.us-ecosystems.org/.