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PERVERSE SUBSIDIES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONAL ROADBLOCKS ON THE WAY TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Professor Norman Myers, Ox

PERVERSE SUBSIDIES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONAL ROADBLOCKS ON THE WAY TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Professor Norman Myers, Oxford University. Our Earth is one, our world is not. FROM RIO TO JOHANNESBURG, 1992 TO 2002 People lacking safe drinking water: 1.1 billion and 1.2 billion

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PERVERSE SUBSIDIES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONAL ROADBLOCKS ON THE WAY TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Professor Norman Myers, Ox

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  1. PERVERSE SUBSIDIES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONAL ROADBLOCKS ON THE WAY TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Professor Norman Myers, Oxford University

  2. Our Earth is one, our world is not

  3. FROM RIO TO JOHANNESBURG, 1992 TO 2002 People lacking safe drinking water:1.1 billionand1.2 billion Tropical forest remaining, hectares:1.9 billionand1.7 billion Carbon emitted into the atmosphere, tonnes: 5.9 billionand6.6 billion Coral reefs severely damaged:10%and27% People with less than $1 per day:1.1 billionand1.4 billion Development aid:$73 billionand$57 billion But: increase in human numbers:90 millionand77 million

  4. POPULATION: THE BETTER NEWS China’s population growth has declined from 1.4% per year in the late 1980s to 0.9% per year in the late 1990s (cf. United States 1.1%) India’s population growth rate has declined from 2.1% to 1.7% Iran’s from 3.6% to 1.2%

  5. NUTRITION WORLDWIDE To counter under-nutrition in developing countries through upgraded agriculture would cost$40 billion per year. To counter over-nutrition in developed countries through slimming aids, citizens spend$40 billion per year. The Manhattan/Atom Bomb project(in 2000$s) $23 billion The Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II $92 billion Putting a man on the Moon $100 billion Missile Defence System/Star Wars $120-240 billion Iraq war $90 billion Basic human needs worldwide $64 billion

  6. PERVERSE SUBSIDIES IN THE UNITED STATES A typical American taxpayer funds perverse subsidies by at least $2000 a year and then paysanother $1000 for environmental restoration, or through increased prices for goods and services.

  7. ROCKY MOUNTAIN INSTITUTEThe Institute's house and office at over 2000 meters/6500 feetare heated and lighted only by solar power and energy conservation,even though winter temperatures often reach -40 degrees C. Inside is warm enough to grow bananas, and RMI even sells surplus electricity to the national grid. The building saves 99% in space/water heating and 90% in electricity. The 1983 heat-trapping measures cost less than the boilers and stoves eliminated, with savings repaid within 10 months.

  8. BETTER NEWS 1. The 1987 Ozone Layer Treaty. 2. Biodiversity: ‘hotspots’ strategy, generating $750 million. 3. Rise and rise of NGOs at Rio and Johannesburg 4. Identification of ‘perverse’ subsidies. 5. 55 million Americans give up smoking.

  9. TECHNO-ADVANCES ALREADY HERE *Cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, with plug-in electric generators *Buildings that make solar power, oxygen and drinking water *Weeds supplying powerful pharmaceuticals *Cellulose-based plastics that are strong, completely recyclable, even compostable *Roofs, windows and roads that can double up as solar-electric collectors

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