Over the next three to four decades, humankind must bring about a fundamental
technological overhaul of production processes worldwide to end poverty and avert the likely
catastrophic impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, the United Nations says in a new report.
Major investments will be needed worldwide in the development and scaling up of clean energy
technologies, sustainable farming and forestry techniques, climate-proofing of infrastructure, and in
technologies reducing non-biodegradable waste production, according to The World Economic and
Social Survey 2011: The Great Green Technological Transformation, published by the UN Department of
Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA).
The report says the technological overhaul will need to be on the scale of the first industrial revolution.
Over the next 40 years, $1.9 trillion per year will be needed for incremental investments in green
technologies. At least one-half, or $1.1 trillion per year, of the required investments will need to be made in
developing countries to meet their rapidly increasing food and energy demands through the application
of green technologies.
Since the first industrial revolution, world income and population have grown exponentially, but so
have energy demand and the production of waste and pollutants. As a result, the global
environment?s capacity to cope with human activity has reached its limits, according to the report.
About half of the earth?s forests are gone, groundwater resources are being depleted and contaminated,
enormous losses in biodiversity have already occurred, and climate change threatens the stability of all
ecosystems.
At the same time, about 40% of humanity, or 2.7 billion people, rely on traditional biomass, such
as wood, dung and charcoal, for their energy needs. And 20% have no access to electricity,
mainly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
To achieve a decent living standard for people in developing countries, especially the 1.4 billion still
living in extreme poverty, and the additional 2 billion people expected worldwide by 2050, much greater
economic progress is needed, the report says.
?This report shows how important technological progress will be for ensuring a future that benefits
everyone while protecting our planet,? said Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General of UN-DESA and
Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, often referred to as Rio+20, to
take place in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ?The report is required reading as we gear up for Rio+20,
which is an opportunity to define pathways to a safer, cleaner and more prosperous world for all.?
For the required technological revolution to be successful, the report finds that it must occur within a
limited timeframe ? sooner rather than later ? because of growing ecological pressures. To induce the
necessary technological progress and adaptation, the report says, governments both nationally and
through intensified international cooperation must play a central role.
?Business as usual is not an option,? said Rob Vos, lead author of the report. ?Even if we stop the global
engines of growth now, resource depletion and pollution of our natural environment would continue
because of existing production methods and consumption habits. Without drastic improvements in and
diffusion of green technologies, we will not reverse the ongoing ecological destruction and secure a
decent livelihood for all of humankind, now and in the future.?
The green energy transformation
A comprehensive global energy transition is urgently needed to avert a major planetary catastrophe, the
report finds. The scaling up of existing green technologies and creation of new technologies are needed
to improve energy efficiency. They also require fewer resources and minimize pollution. At present, 90% of energy is generated through brown technologies that use fossil fuels, which are responsible
for about 60% of carbon dioxide emissions.
Reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions,
the report says, will require drastic changes in consumption patterns, transportation systems, residential
and building infrastructure, and water and sanitation systems.
To accelerate technological transformation to meet emissions and energy-use targets, the report
recommends that policies be guided by four key goals:
- improving energy efficiency without expanding
consumption where energy-use levels are high
- supporting a broad global energy technology development
portfolio while scaling up the use of known green technologies in specific places
- supporting greater
experimentation and longer discovery times
- applying superior governance and accountability
strategies in energy-related technological development than at present.
A truly ?green? revolution in agriculture
Modern agriculture contributes about 14% of greenhouse gas emissions, and the management of
land-use and water is not sustainable, the report says. These have been the outcomes of the so-called
green revolution in agriculture of the 1960s and 1970s, which boosted food production worldwide, but
also accelerated land degradation and water pollution.
Global food production must increase by 70% to
100% by 2050 to feed a growing population. To meet this challenge, the report calls for a ?truly
green agricultural revolution?, using farming techniques that require less water wastage and less use of
chemicals and pesticides that cause land degradation.
The report says these farming technologies exist, but their deployment needs to be scaled up and made
affordable to farmers worldwide, but especially to smallholders in developing countries.
Economies of
scale in sustainable food production will have to be promoted through adequate support services, not
only in the form of access to sustainable farming techniques, but also through upgraded distribution
networks and transportation, sustainable irrigation and water management systems, and access to
credits and land. This will have vast implications for land use and agriculture.
Innovation for disaster risk reduction
The incidence of natural disasters has increased fivefold since the 1970s, the report finds. Drought and
floods have become more frequent and intense, and often affected the poorest countries the most.
Climate change induced by human activity is to blame in part. Deforestation, degradation of natural
coastal protection and poor infrastructure increase the likelihood that weather shocks will turn into
human disasters.
Reducing disaster risk, the report says, will require significant technological and social
change.
Reducing disaster risk will involve changes in the design of settlements and infrastructure.
The report
says that affordable technological innovation, drawing on local knowledge, is needed to adapt disaster-
resilient infrastructure, housing and natural coastal protection to ground conditions. Because natural
events do not respect political boundaries, national efforts must be supported by regional and global
cooperation.
Policy changes needed at all levels
Most efforts for a technological transformation must occur at the national level and build upon local
conditions and resources, the report recognizes.
Besides reshaping national development efforts, the
report calls for international commitment in the areas of technological development and cooperation,
external assistance, investment finance and trade rules.
Businesses and governments tend to see inadequate financing as the greatest obstacle to the more
rapid adaptation of clean technologies.
Given the limited capacity to mobilize long-term financing
domestically in many developing countries, the report says, an important share of additional investment
needs must be financed by international resource transfers.
The report finds the commitment set out
in the Copenhagen Accord to mobilize $30 billion between 2010 and 2012 and $100 billion per year by
2020 in transfers to developing countries as a step in the right direction. But, it adds, delivery on these
commitments will need to be accelerated and resources scaled up to ensure developing countries meet
the challenge.
The report further proposes to build a global public technology-sharing regime and networks of
international technology research and application centres. To rapidly spread green technology, the report
says, more multilateral intellectual property rights modalities must be used than presently allowed under
the World Trade Organization.
?The need for a technological revolution is both a development and existential imperative for civilization,?
Vos said. ?This is why sustainable development is so important now, because it is not only about making
improvements for life today, but also for future generations.?
View the full text of the report and more information:
Source: http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/22639
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