 10 May 2007 @ 16:22, by Unknown
"Very late already, but still not too late"
“I believe that to meet the challenge of our times, human beings will have to develop a
greater sense of universal responsibility… It is the best foundation for world peace, the equitable use of natural resources and, through concern for future generations, the proper care of the environment.”
---14th Dalai Lama
During an interview with the German Press on Tuesday (05/08/07), the Dalai Lama criticized China and the USA for a myopic vision of the world, which, according to him, has been driving both nations to further narrow-minded nationalistic interests at the expense of environmental protection:
To the German newspaper, Bild, he declared:
"The USA and China often place their nationalistic interests ahead of the environment. It's a tunnel vision of things because they, too, are part of the World and they, too, will also eventually suffer from the consequences of Global Warming."
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its latest findings in the first part of its fourth assessment report (AR4), last month, indicating that it is likely climate change will cause greater impacts and that they will be of increasing severity. The findings detailed in "Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability" include: the mass extinction of species; billions of people facing water scarcity; increased drought; sea level rises; storm surges; river flooding and increasing hunger in the poorest parts of the world due to reduced food production capacity.
"To destroy the environment is to commit suicide," the Dalai Lama added, pointing out that "even though it is very late already, it is still not too late" to act.
Stressing the importance of "scientists", he commented that "more attention ought to be given to their previsions and estimations." And he called upon big industry companies "to consider carefully the consequences of the impact of their activities on the environment."
On May 4 2007 the third volume of the Fourth Assessment Report by the IPCC, containing recommendations dedicated to climate change mitigation, sustainable development and technology research, was eventually unanimously approved in Bangkok.
The Reagan administration wanted to forestall pronouncements by self-appointed committees of scientists, fearing they would be 'alarmist.' Conservatives promoted the IPCC’s clumsy structure, which consisted of representatives appointed by every government in the world and required to consult all the thousands of experts in repeated rounds of report-drafting in order to reach a consensus. Despite these impediments the IPCC has issued unequivocal statements on the urgent need to act. [HNN]
An outline of the report is available here and here (links go to pdf files). More reports can be downloaded from the IPCC website.
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