Fisheries, Global Warming Deserving Of World Summit Attention
An important message emerged from Tuesday's agreement on fisheries at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg: the damage human actions cause to biodiversity are often a consequence of costly economic choices and bad policies, according to a Duke University professor of conservation ecology.
Fisheries illustrate the economic benefit that would result from sound ecological policies, said Stuart L. Pimm, Doris Duke Chair of Conservation Ecology in the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke.
On a related matter, global warming is predicted to damage the livelihood of 20 percent of the poorest people on Earth, providing an imperative for the world's leaders to come to meaningful agreement at the summit, said a biogeochemistry professor at Duke.
"The world's citizens expect a lot from Johannesburg," said William H. Schlesinger, dean of the Nicholas School and a nationally recognized expert on global warming. "Satisfying our needs today while leaving a devastated Earth is not acceptable. Humans must live in a way that is sustainable with the persistence of nature, which is essential to the persistence of all life on Earth."
Pimm, author of "The World According to Pimm: a Scientist Audits the Earth" (McGraw Hill, 2001), which assesses the state of the planet's natural resources, said fishing subsidies are an example of a bad ecological policy that also makes little economic sense.
"Most people might expect that the cost of catching fish ought to be less than its price at market. How else does one make a profit? The reality is that fish cost almost twice as much to catch as they are worth. The difference is made up by governmental subsidies that cost the taxpayer money and harm the environment."
"Subsidies lead to waste, over-fishing and the loss of biodiversity," said Pimm, whose research documents the decline of biological diversity and seeks better solutions to its management. "Of course, this isn't just a matter of fishing. Much of the destruction of tropical forests is made possible by governments that believe it is better to cut them (at whatever cost) than to recognize their value as forests.
"While the agreement on fisheries is a step in the right direction, we have a long way to go to educate policy makers on the extremely valuable services that nature provides us, and which we are not utilizing in a sustainable fashion."
More than 100 presidents and prime ministers are attending the summit, intended to promote global development while protecting natural resources. "Unfortunately, Johannesburg must proceed without real leadership from the United States," Schlesinger said. "The current administration has chosen to forsake interest in tomorrow's environment in favor of a rich existence today."
Schlesinger said one of the most alarming predictions of global climate change is the expansion of dry lands and deserts. "This will directly affect the livelihood of 20 percent of the world's human population -- largely the poorest sector of humanity that lives on land with little productive potential," he said.
Schlesinger's specialty is chemical changes in the environment -- especially soils -- that relate to changes in global climate and desertification. Schlesinger's most recent research, published in the journal Nature, suggests that soils will not play as big a role in mitigating global warming as some had hoped.
Pimm can be reached for additional comment at (919) 613-8184; (646) 489-5481or StuartPimm@aol.com; Schlesinger can be reached at (919) 613-8004 or schlesin@duke.edu.
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