Disturbing trends: ‘Living Planet Index declined by 52%’

Report stresses the importance of adopting sustainable practices

LAHORE:

A recent report by the Worldwide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) has revealed that the global Living Planet Index has declined by 52 per cent in 40 years.

The findings are based on 10,380 populations of 3,038 mammal, bird, reptile, fish and amphibian varieties.  According to the report, the population of freshwater species has declined by 76 per cent. The population of terrestrial and marine species has showed a 39 per cent decrease over the surveyed period.  The report has highlighted the importance of sustainable development as the demands placed by humanity on nature exceeded its capacity by 150 per cent. These include unsustainable resource consumption.  It was revealed that humanity’s demands have exceeded the planet’s bio-capacity in the time period surveyed. Bio-capacity refers to the amount of land and sea needed to regenerate resources.  This has made it difficult to satisfy the needs of the growing population of the world. Moreover, this has resulted in less space for other species across the planet.  The report also noted that worldwide demand was not distributed equally as developed countries had been consuming resources at a much greater rate than developing countries.  It has revealed that 30 per cent of the world’s population lived in river basins that were prone to water scarcity for at least one month yearly.

According to the report, the carbon footprint had contributed 50 per cent of the ecological footprint.  92 percent of the global water footprint was attributed to agriculture.  Rising demand for water and climate change have aggravated water scarcity.

The combined impact of increasing population growth and rising per capita consumption was forecast to increase stress on ecological resources.   The ecological footprint of developed countries exceeded that of developing countries by five times. It suggested that these countries could be outsourcing biodiversity losses by importing resources.  According to the report, biodiversity in developed countries had increased by 10 percent and decreased by 18 and 58 in middle-income and developing countries respectively. The report noted a positive relationship between higher levels of development and greater ecological footprints.  The challenge confronting these countries was premised on promoting sustainable human development.

The decline recorded in biodiversity was unprecedented.  The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide had significantly altered the climate and ecosystems while nitrogen pollution had emerged as a new environmental threat.

The report has emphasised the importance of understanding the relationship between environmental change and socioeconomic development. It has also provided several solutions to overcome the challenges.

According to the report, people across the world have adopted sustainable practices in resource consumption with significant environmental, social and economic benefits.

It has stated that the fund’s One Planet Perspective was crucial in this regard. The perspective has stressed the importance of understanding the limited supply of natural capital to promote sustainable development.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2014.