Greed threatens world wildlife: UN

Carbon dioxide emissions could clog the skies unless a 'sustainability' policy is adopted

LONDON, Britain -- A United Nations environmental group has warned a choice has to be made between greed and humanity if Earth's wildlife is to survive.

The United Nations Environment Programme, a warm up to the Earth summit in Johannesburg in late August, painted four possible scenarios ranging from a greed-driven "markets first" future to the caring and sharing "sustainability first" outlook.

The third Global Environment Outlook report, GEO-3, warned of a worst case scenario in 30 years' time with three percent of the Earth's surface disappearing under concrete and more than half the population living with drought.

"The planet is at a crucial crossroads with the choices made today critical for the forests, oceans, rivers, mountains, wildlife and other life support systems upon which current and future generations depend," the UNEP's report said.

Already one quarter of the world's mammals and 12 percent of birds are under threat of extinction. The animals at risk range from rhinos to tigers and eagles, it added.

Life-giving forests are being ripped apart, fertile land is disappearing under concrete or into the sea and waterways are drying up or dying of pollution.

Dire poverty, hunger and sickness are rampant across the planet and the globalisation of trade is carrying with it oil spills, litter, persistent organic pollutants and discharges of heavy metals, the report said.

The world's seas, already under attack from pollution, are also being plundered by man to the extent that nearly one-third of the world's stock of fish is now ranked as depleted, overexploited or recovering, it added.

But if a sustainability approach is adopted, fewer roads and buildings will be built on agricultural and grazing land and carbon dioxide emissions stabilize at just half the "greed policy" route.

Klaus Toepfer, UNEP Executive Director and former German environment minister, said at the meeting in London: "Fundamental changes are possible and required.

"It would be a disaster to sit back and ignore the picture painted."

He added: "This is an eye opener. The figures are not a nightmare prognosis for the sake of making a nightmare prognosis."

He said the motto for Johannesburg should be "planet, people, prosperity."

"We now have hundreds of declarations, agreements, guidelines and legally-binding treaties. Let us now find the political courage and the innovative financing needed to implement these deals."