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Saving the environment is saving ourselves

By Judy Cannon - posted Monday, 24 July 2006


Gorbachev: “Saving the environment is saving ourselves.”

Mikhail Gorbachev, as International Green Cross chairman, arrived in Australia with a warning and he didn’t mince words over the message.

He told the weekend Green Cross conference in Brisbane that the world was facing a crisis and a threat to the foundations of its existence, or rather, our existence. Moreover, he said politics was lagging behind the pace of change of developments in the world and international politics had stalled when it needed to be active in the world’s problems. Some politicians were confused and did not know what to do and there was a lack of political will to act.

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He called on politicians to fulfil their promises and to recognise that international government went beyond national boundaries. He said despite recommendations and declarations, things were often left “in the air and not much done”.

“Political leaders need to find a way to act or leave,” he said.

It was a sober note on which to begin the conference. He was supported by three other Nobel Peace Laureates - Ireland’s Betty Williams, Iran’s Dr Shirin Ebadi and Argentina’s Aldolfo Perze Esquivel - many leading environmentalists, business and political leaders, scientists and academics from 11 countries. Organised by Green Cross, the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council as part of Brisbane Festival, the three-day forum discussed climate change and energy, human development and economic growth and cities and spaces.

Mr Gorbachev, who now devotes his life to Green Cross which he founded after he left the Kremlin, told the conference that 60 per cent of the world’s ecological system had been damaged and it would be difficult, or impossible, to restore some of it. “Saving the environment is saving ourselves and (the future) for succeeding generations,” he said. Focusing particularly on a shortage of energy and a shortage of water, he said it is estimated that by 2050, 100 million people could be facing death because of lack of arable land.

He said the facts on climate change have been established using very sound science: on which, in turn, the Kyoto Protocol is based. All attempts to refute this scientific assessment have been unsuccessful and the need to reduce emissions has been demonstrated.

The global crisis was occurring when half the world’s population already live in poverty and only one third live in conditions worthy of human beings.

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The UN General Secretary Kofi Annan has recently warned of “water wars”. For example, waters that started in India were shared by India and Pakistan. Green Cross has proposed a rights-based approach to water resources and launched a global campaign to recognise every person’s right to have access to safe drinking water - 80 per cent of infectious diseases come from unclean water.

When people wonder why the Israeli military action in South Lebanon is on such a scale on behalf of two captured soldiers, it is useful to know that a reservoir supplying Israel is in Southern Lebanon.

In support of international organisations, he said, “If we don’t have such organisations, the result will be that some nations will act without any international control or oversight”. The United Nations, sometimes described as obsolete and unnecessary, but where reforms are under consideration, needs to adjust to deal with urgent problems backed by new political will. The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) is necessary to make the industry safe (despite alleged recriminations).

The US’s unilateral position on going to war in Iraq had ignored the Security Council, and this had relegated the UN’s position to one of less importance. The world is in danger of being split again and there are signs suggesting a new arms race.

We have to ask ourselves what enemy does the US want to fight?

Trillions of dollars are spent on weapons of war when less than half that money would address many third world problems in a few years.

Poverty, hunger, a lack of fresh water supplies and sanitation are creating a time bomb in many countries, “Where there is despair, there is fertile ground for terrorism and many people still live in a humiliating position.

“You cannot expect things will be nice and quiet when people are being humiliated.”

Fundamentalism is a “great danger and menace”, but it is erroneous to believe fundamentalism in religions, including Islam, causes terrorism. Religions, after all, are based on the idea of peace “and we should distinguish between terrorism and peaceful fundamentalism”. Mr Gorbachev thought discussions should include all religious leaders and for them to contribute to international co-operation and he believed that was already happening.

“Nuclear power (for domestic energy supply) is not really economic, considering not only production but also disposal of waste.” Even thought the US, China, Russia and other countries are planning to build nuclear power stations because they need the energy, he believes nuclear power plants should be a last resort. Alternative sources have not been developed precisely because not enough research has been carried out.

Green Cross has put forward a solar proposal to establish a US$50 billion global solar fund to develop solar photovoltaic systems and work to drive down the costs of such systems: to promote energy security and stability for a peaceful future and to reduce existing and future greenhouse gas and air emissions.

The sotto message of the weekend - having the facts and figures of the dangers the world faced presented so clearly - was to stress how little time the world has left to try to reverse the conditions that mankind has unwittingly brought upon itself and that only an international coming together, as opposed to separate answers by nation states, could meet the global warming challenge. Peace was necessary to save the environment and as Mikhail Gorbachev said passionately, “Saving the environment is saving ourselves”.

The most moving moment of the weekend came when hundreds stood to applaud Iran’s Dr Shirin Ebadi, one of the Nobel Peace Laureates, a lawyer, former judge, writer and political dissident, a leading human rights activist and devout Muslim, who has faced imprisonment, threat of assassination and family humiliation. Her message was to wish others “a share in the fate we wish for ourselves” and “wish each other kindness, the only commodity that will not be depleted by its expenditure”.

It was a remarkable conference. Several overseas speakers travelled many kilometres to contribute and people here turned up in their hundreds - to talk about humanity. How often does that happen?

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About the Author

Judy Cannon is a journalist and writer, and occasional contributor to On Line Opinion. Her family biography, The Tytherleigh Tribe 1150-2014 and Its Remarkable In-Laws, was published in 2014 by Ryelands Publishing, Somerset, UK. Recently her first e-book, Time Traveller Woldy’s Diary 1200-2000, went up on Amazon Books website. Woldy, a time traveller, returns to the West Country in England from the 12th century to catch up with Tytherleigh descendants over the centuries, and searches for relatives in Australia, Canada, America and Africa.

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