WWF Report Highlights Urgent Need to Shift Toward a Sustainable Way of Life
Over the past 60 years, people living in the developed world have gained access to unprecedented levels of material consumption, which unfortunately was achieved in an unsustainable way. This consumption boom has left in its wake a path of environmental damage and, ironically, has not made humans happier, as a parallel boom in psychological diseases was registered in the same period.
A new report by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) highlights this unsustainable situation and warns that ever-growing demand by a growing population is threatening our future. Called Living PlanetReport, the report is a biennial survey of the planet's health and the diagnosis, it says, is a very sick planet.
It was produced in collaboration with the zoological Society of London and Global Footprint Network. The report was launched from the International Space Station by ESA astronaut André Kuipers. "We only have one Earth. From up here I can see humanity's footprint, including forest fires, air pollution and erosion - challenges which are reflected in this edition of the Living Planet Report," said Kuipers in launching the report during his second mission into space. "While there are unsustainable pressures on the planet, we have the ability to save our home, not only for our benefit, but, above all, for generations to come," he said.
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Antonio Pasolini is a Corporate Social Responsibility writer for Justmeans, Antonio Pasolini is a journalist based in Brazil who writes about alternative energy, green living and sustainability. He also edits Energyrefuge.com, a top web destination for news and comment on renewable energy and Elpis.org, a recycled paper bag/magazine distributed from health food stores in London, formerly his hometown for over a decade. He is also a happy herbivore.
