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How e-books and
the Net can help save the earth
The trick is to
mobilise new technology and dramatically improve other technology that we use
Author : Jeffrey D
Sachs
Sustainable development means achieving economic growth
that is widely shared and that protects the earth vital resources.
Our current
global economy, however, is not
sustainable , with more than one billion people left behind by economic
progress and the earth environment suffering terrible damage from human
activity.
Sustainable
development requires mobilising new technologies that are guided by shared
social values.
United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has rightly declared sustain able development to
be at the top of the global agenda.
We have entered a dangerous
period in which a huge and growing population, combined with rapid economic
growth, now threatens to have catastrophic impact on the earths Climate,
biodiversity and fresh-water supplies.
Scientist call this new period
the Anthropocene- in which human beings
have become the main causes of the earths physical and biological changes.
The Secretary – Generals Global
Sustainability issued a new report that outlines a framework for sustainable
development.
The GSP rightly notes that
sustainable development has three pillars: Ending extreme poverty: ensuing that
prosperity is shared by all, including women, youth, and minorities: and
protecting the natural environment, these can be termed the economic, social
and environmental pillars of sustainable development, or more simply, the
‘’triple bottom line’’ of sustainable development.
The GSP has called for world
leaders to adopt a new set of Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) that will
help to shape global policies and actions after the 2015 target data for achieving
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Whereas the MDGs Focus o
reducing extreme poverty, the MDGs focus on reducing extreme poverty, the SDGS will focus on all three pillars of
sustainable development: Ending Extreme poverty, sharing the benefits of economic development
for all of society , and protecting the earth.
THE GREAT CO2 DILEMMA
It is, of course, one thing to set SDGs and quite another
to achieve them. The problem can be seen by looking at one key challenge:
Climate change.
Today, there are seven billion
people on the planet , and each one, on average, is responsible for the release
each year of a bit more than four thons of carbon dioxide
Mobile broadband
is already connecting even the most distant villages in rural African an India,
cutting down significantly on the need for travel, Electronic books are beamed
directly to handheld devices, without the need for bookshops, travel and the
pulp and paper of physical books.
(CO2) into the atmosphere , this CO2 is emitted when we
burn coal, oil and gas to produce electricity , drive our cars or het our home.
All told, humans
emit roughly 30 billions tons of CO2 per year into the atmosphere , enough to
charge the climate sharply within a few decades.
By 2050,there
will most likely be more than nine billion people, if these people are riche
than people today (and there for using more energy per person) total emissions
worldwide could double or even triple, This is the great dilemma : We need to
emit less CO2, but we are on a global path to emit much more.
We should care
about that scenario, because remaining on a path of rising global emission is
almost certain to causes havoc and suffering for billions of people as they are
hit by torrent of droughts , heat waves, hurricanes and more.
We have already experienced the
onset of this misery in recent years with a spate of devastating famines,
floods and others climate-related disasters.
So, how can the worlds people-
especially its poor people-benefit for more electricity and more access to modern
transportation, but in a way that saves the planet rather than destroys it?
The truth is that we
can’t-unless we improve dramatically on the technologies that we use.
ECONOMICALLY REALISTIC
We need to use energy far more wisely while shifting from
fossil fuels to low – car- bon energy sources, Such decisive improvements are
certainly possible and economically realistic.
Consider the energy
inefficiency of an automobile, for example. We currently move around 1,000 to
2,00 kg machinery to transport only one or just a few people , each weighing
perhaps 75 kg, and we do so using an internal combustion engine that utilises
only a small part of the energy released by burning the petrol, most of the energy is lost as waste heat.
We could, therefore, achieve
huge reductions in CO2 emissions by converting to small, lightweight,
batter-powered vehicles running on highly efficient electric motors and charged
by allow – carbon energy source such as dollar power.
Even better, by shifting to
electric vehicles, we would be able to use cutting edge information technology
to make them smart-even smart enough to drive them selves using advanced data –
processing and positioning system.
FARMING BY GPS
The benefits of information and communications
technologies can be found in every area of human activity : better farming
using GPS and micro – dosing of fertilisers; precision manufacturing: building
that know how to economise on energy use; and, of course, the transformative,
distance-erasing power of the internet.
Mobile broadband
is already connecting even the most distance villages in rural Africa and
India, thereby cutting down significantly on the need for travel.
Banking is now
done by phone, and so, too, is a growing range of medical diagnostics.
Electronic books are beamed directly to handheld devices,
without the need for bookshops , travel, and the pulp and paper of physical
books.
Education is
increasingly online as well, and will soon enable students every where to
receive first – rate instruction at almost a zero ‘’marginal’’ cost for
enrolling another student.
Yet, getting from here to sustainable development will
not just be a matter of technology, it will also be a matter of market
incentives , government regulations and public support for research and
development.
Even more
fundamental than policies and governance will be challenge of values.
We must understand our shared fate, and embrace
sustainable development as a common commitment to decency for all human beings,
today and in the future.
Source : Project Syndicate
Jeffrey D Sachs is
the Professor of Economics and Director
of Earth Institute at Columbia
University
