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Bigfoot trikes again
Sustainable development goes right to the heart
of tackling the planet’s problems, as Andrew Burnet discovers.
y l‘eet are huge. I discovered this. not while shopping l‘or lilip— lilops bill by l‘illing out the questionnaire at the excellent www.myl‘ootprint.org site. It turned ottt that my carbon l'ootprint is 4.6 global hectares. 'l'hat‘s l3 per cent below the l'K average. htit it al’l'orded me no
grounds l'or complacency. ‘ll‘
everyone lived like you.‘ the website scolded. ‘we wottld need 2.6 planets.’ At the last count. we only had the one. and even that was looking a hit shaky.
A month ago. on World linvironment Day. the Scottish lixecutive renewed its commitment to addressing the problem. linvironment minister Ross l"innie acknowledged that. ‘(iovernment and big business have a responsibility to reduce our contribution to climate change.‘
httt added. 'liach and every one of
tts also has a responsibility.~ He invited individuals around Scotland to contribute by undertaking ten promises.
This realistic and practical checklist won't save the planet overnight. htit with proper support from governments it will begin to reverse some ol‘ the problems. It
can be seen within the context of
sustainable development — a broad school of thought which embraces environmental. economic. political and social factors in addressing the planet‘s problems.
‘Stistainable development has come out of the environment agenda.‘ explains Dr Richard Dixon. director ol‘ the environmental group WWI“ Scotland. 'But it‘s about joining that tip with the decisions we make about the economy and 102 THE LIST 6—3." Jul :36
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making sure that people are living decent. sensible lives with the resources they need.‘
This involves many more lactors than were considered relevant by environmentalists 20 or 30 years ago. "l‘here's a very important link between global problems and what we do in western countries.‘ says Dixon. ‘In any developed country we‘re consuming at a rate that is creating problems overseas.‘
As an organisation operating in nearly lllt) countries. WWF is well placed to monitor the el‘l'ects ol our global consumption. Take mobile phones for example. whose raw materials are sourced from the Democratic Republic ol‘(‘ongo. in a mining process that destroys gorilla habitats: or our garden l'urniture. made from wood harvested in the dwindling l'orests of Borneo. leaving orangutans homeless.
The problems are complex; the solutions no less so. But it turns out that one well-worn slogan is still as valid as ever. 'Think global. act local' was coined back in I915 by the Scottish biologist and town-planner Patrick (ieddes.
‘()ne way to quantify it is the ecological l'ootprint.‘ Dixon
explains. ‘That‘s a way ol‘ looking at how our consumption of energy and goods and water is creating problems elsewhere. It looks at the amount of resources that the planet can provide and the amount of waste it can absorb before things go disastrously wrong is and then compares that to what we're actually doing.‘
As you might expect. we‘re treading pretty heavily on the
‘SCOTLAND IS USING ABOUT THREE TIMES AS MUCH RESOURCES AT IT OUGHT TO BE'
liarth. ‘Scotland is using about three times as much resources as it really ought to be.‘ conl‘irms Dixon. ‘We need to change the way that we consume resources - but that doesn‘t mean a worse quality of life; it means doing it in clever ways.‘
Alongside practical steps like the ten promises. Dixon urges WWF supporters to be politically active.
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which can be crucial in inlluencing policy.
A year on l'rom the (i8 summit at (ileneagles. significant progress has been achieved. bttt some experts are already disappointed. ()xl‘am released a statement last month. expressing concern that. ‘the growth in aid in key (ix nations is not enough to meet the promises made at the (ileneagles (in
Last week. Tony Blair announced the establishment ol the Al‘rica Progress Panel. which aims to ensure that the pledges made at (ileneagles are not allowed to slip. Meanwhile. campaigners are working to keep sttstainable development on the agenda. Later this month. the Prime Minister will be in St Petersburg. attending what may well be his last (i8 summit. You might like to drop him a line.
www.5ustainable.scotland.gov. uk www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/E nvironment/Climate-Change www.wwf.org.uklcorelaboutls cotland.asp www.environment- agency.gov.uk