Faced with environmental crises, the UN calls for a "new economy"

This report, produced by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), synthesizes the most recent knowledge on the state of the climate, with the IPCC reports, on biodiversity with IPBES and on the emergence of new zoonoses such as Covid-19.

It is necessary "to face three planetary threats simultaneously" and to achieve "the restoration of ecosystems and the improvement of the health of the populations, as well as by the stability of the climate", indicates the UNEP in a statement.

Threatened "food security, water security and human health," adds Bob Watson, former leader of IPBES and IPCC in an interview with AFP.

The world is not on track to meet the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to well below 2 ° C, if possible to 1,5 ° C, and is heading for warming of at least 3 ° C, with its attendant natural disasters, recalls UNEP.

None of the 20 biodiversity protection goals for the 2010-2020 period has been fully achieved and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), intended in particular to fight poverty, inequalities and promote peace are threatened by the Covid-19 crisis, hunger and poverty in the world on the rise.

How did we get there? “Over the past 50 years, global wealth has almost quintupled, largely due to the tripling of natural resource and energy extractions that have fueled the growth in production and consumption. The world's population has multiplied by two, to 7,8 billion ", of which 1,3 billion remain poor and 700 million suffer from hunger, sums up the report.

Rethinking the economy

"Economic growth has brought unequal benefits in terms of prosperity," recalls UNEP. But "environmental degradation is hampering progress made in ending poverty and hunger, reducing inequalities and promoting sustainable economic growth," he warns.

"Our war against nature has shattered the planet", warns the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, quoted in the press release. "By transforming the way we see nature, we can recognize its true value" and translate it "into policies, plans and economic systems (to) channel investments into activities that restore nature and are rewarded for it."

Economic activity cannot be guided by the measure of gross domestic product (GDP) alone, the report stresses. "GDP is a very limited concept. It does not take into account the value of nature, nor the environmental cost of pollution," says Bob Watson.

The report also suggests "eliminating harmful subsidies" and reinvesting them in clean solutions.

These subsidies to fossil fuels, unsustainable agricultural practices or polluting transport "exceed 5.000 billion dollars annually", underlines the co-author of the report, Ivar Baste.

"By demonstrating how much human health and nature are linked, the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the need for a radical change in the way we see and value nature", notes Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, cited in press release.

"The green stimulus packages for the economies hit by the pandemic are an opportunity not to be missed to accelerate the transformation," she continues.

"We're not asking people to give up tons of things, we're saying we can be more viable and have a good life in a slightly different way," says Bob Watson.