On the 9th, the World Conservation Fund (WWF), the world's most authoritative independent environmental protection organization, published the most detailed report on the state of the earth's resources to date.

The report predicts that because humankind's current use of natural resources exceeds 20% of its renewal capacity, if governments do not intervene, the overall living standard of mankind will decline after 2030.

The 2002 "Living Earth" report is based on calculation and analysis of scientific data from around the world, of which the "Earth Vitality Index" and the "Global Ecological Impact Index" are the two most important data reference indexes.

The report believes that the current overdraft consumption of mankind cannot be sustained in the long term.

The report points out that due to excessive human consumption, human economic activities have reduced the number of biological species on the earth by 35% in the past 30 years, of which freshwater species have decreased by 54%; marine species have decreased by 35%; and forest species have decreased by 15%.

The report estimates that if calculated based on the current rate of consumption of natural resources and the growth rate of global population, the degree of human "overdraft" of natural resources will continue to increase at a rate of 20% per year in the future.

This means that by 2050, human beings will consume 1.8 to 2.2 times the biological potential of the earth. In other words, by then, it may take two earths to meet human needs for natural resources.

But do we have two Earths?

The report also pointed out that the current total area of ??land and oceans on the earth that can be used for biological growth is 11.4 billion hectares, that is, only 1.9 hectares of land or oceans are available for every 6 billion people in the world.

This report warns the world with unprecedented intensity that human beings, especially Western developed countries, are consuming limited earth resources at a rate that far exceeds the earth's load.

Among them, the United States is the largest consumer of earth's resources. The per capita resource consumption is twice that of the United Kingdom, a fellow developed industrial country, and more than 24 times the per capita consumption of some African countries!

The report pointed out that the United States has 5.27 hectares of land and sea area per capita, but they consume 9.7 hectares of resources. The balance of course comes from underdeveloped countries.

The average African person has 1.55 hectares of sea and land area, but the resources they can actually use are only 1.36 hectares.

To this end, the report seriously criticizes and points out that the wasteful lifestyle of wealthy developed countries is the main reason for the rapid consumption of the earth's natural resources.

If this trend does not change, by 2050, global marine fishery resources will be exhausted, virgin forests that can absorb carbon dioxide emitted by humans will be completely destroyed, a large amount of water sources will be polluted, and clean water sources will become extremely scarce, which humans rely on for survival.

The earth's resources and environment will be in danger.

Jonathan Low, the main drafter of the report, believes that in order to stop this trend and achieve sustainable development, four measures must be taken: reducing energy consumption through improved technology, adopting more economical consumption methods, controlling population growth and

Protect ecosystems.

It is reported that the "World Sustainable Development Summit" will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from August 26 to September 2 this year.

The World Conservation Fund released this report one month before the summit. It aims to call on governments to not only take into account immediate political interests, but to truly take a long-term view, effectively improve education and medical standards, and effectively curb population growth by controlling birth rates.

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Sustainable Development Since the middle of this century, social, economic and political issues such as resources, environment, and population have become increasingly acute and globalized, and the so-called "human dilemma" has attracted more and more researchers.

Among them, the research results of the Club of Rome are the most eye-catching.

The Club of Rome was founded in April 1968 as a small group of well-known scientists, economists and sociologists.

In March 1972, a 17-member team led by Midos submitted a research report titled "The Limits of Growth" to the Club of Rome.

They chose five parameters that are decisive for the fate of mankind: population, industrial development, food, non-renewable natural resources and pollution.

The report concludes: The earth is limited, and humans must consciously restrain growth, otherwise the collapse of human society will ensue.

This theory is also known as the "zero growth" theory.

After the birth of the "zero growth" theory, more and more people began to seriously think about long-term development issues on a global scale.

In 1987, the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development proposed a report entitled "Our Common Future", which designed a "sustainable development" model.

In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development adopted a "sustainable development strategy".

At present, the term "sustainable development" has become popular all over the world, becoming a hot topic of concern for governments and the public around the world and the focus of discussion by experts and scholars from all walks of life.