Brussels, 02/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, was pleased to announce that if there were still lingering doubts about the urgent need to make a fundamental shift towards the green economy, a significant marker of sustainable development, the most recent OECD report, “Environmental Outlook to 2050”, presented at the ministerial OECD meeting (Paris, 29-30 March), will make a convincing argument that there is no other choice and that this is the most profitable option. With less than three months to go until the UN RIO +20 (June) conference, this report advocates a green growth strategy in order to tackle the crisis and support the EU 2020 strategy, as well as the action plan to increase resource efficiency as part of the same objective.
“The OECD's excellent research is a sobering confirmation of the immense challenge posed to our livelihoods by climate change, resource scarcity and health impacts of pollution. Fortunately we already have the tools we need to meet this challenge - we just need to use them. This is the key message I want to send to the world - an inclusive green economy will deliver on the promise of sustainable development (…). This is also the message we need to take to the Rio+20 conference”, stated the commissioner in Paris. Since 1970, the world population has increased by over 3 billion, and the world economy has more than tripled in size. However, growth has been unevenly distributed, and has come at a significant cost to the environment. By failing to take action, the situation will get worse and there will be a permanent erosion of nature's environmental capital over the period leading up to 2050. The OECD warns that the key risk involves the irreversible changes that could threaten two centuries of rising living standards. The OECD also identifies many cases where the benefits of action (such as the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 70%, with a 5.5% of global GDP target by 2050), far outweigh the costs. The European Institute for Environmental Policy has welcomed the OECD report as a powerful warning that comes at an opportune moment for Europe, at the very time that the Commission's recent proposals were introduced to strengthen the EU's agenda on energy efficiency and efficient use of resources, but which have been encountering increased resistance from certain member states. (AN/transl.fl)