More on that vital report which describes a very narrow path to a potentially survivable future...
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All of humanity could share a prosperous equitable future, but the space for development is rapidly shrinking under pressure from a wealthy minority of ultra-consumers, a groundbreaking study has shown.

The new paper is a 62-page “thought experiment” by an international team of scientists that seeks to map out how the world’s 7.9 billion people could remain within safe planetary boundaries while accessing necessary levels of food, water, energy, shelter and transport. It then projects how this may change by 2050, when the population is likely to be 9.7 billion people.

Growing environmental degradation and climate instability have pushed the Earth beyond a series of safe planetary boundaries, say the authors, but it still remains possible to carve out a “safe and just space” that would enable everyone to thrive.

That utopian outcome would depend on a radical transformation of global politics, economics, and society to ensure a fairer distribution of resources, a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, and the widespread adoption of low-carbon, sustainable technologies and lifestyles, it said.

The scale of the required change will alarm many governments, acknowledged one of the lead authors. “It won’t be immediately welcomed. To some extent, it is frightening, but it shows that there is still a space for people and other species,” said Joyeeta Gupta, a professor of environment and development at the University of Amsterdam.

Under our current highly unequal, fossil-fuel intensive social and environmental conditions, it is now impossible for all humans to live healthy lives within a “safe and just corridor.” That finding is underscored by previous studies that show that seven of the eight planetary boundaries have already been breached.

The authors said the current global situation of worsening inequality and rising nationalist politics may not seem conducive to achieving the just and safe plan laid out, but governments can change and so can public opinion – particularly at a time of intensifying climate stress.
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FULL STORY -- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/12/consumerism-and-the-climate-crisis-threaten-equitable-future-for-humanity-report-says

#Economics #Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #Degrowth