“…Our very development model is questioned daily by the earth's ecosystem on which all life and all economic activity is dependent. Our patterns of consumption and production cannot be left unchecked. ”If the Chinese citizen is to consume the same quantity of crude oil as his or her US counterpart, China would need over 80 million barrels of oil a day - slightly more than the 74 million barrels a day the world now produces. If annual paper use in China of 35 kilograms per person were to climb to the US level of 342 kilograms, China would need more paper than the world currently produces. (Lester R. Brown, Eco- Economy).
“The period since the Rio Earth Summit has been one of unprecedented global economic growth.
“The period since the Rio Earth Summit has been one of unprecedented global economic growth.
"Growth in the world economy in the year 2000 alone exceeded that during the entire nineteenth century.
”Yet people continue to die of hunger; babies get born, grow up, and die without being able to read or write; many fellow humans do not have clean water to drink; and, people die of curable diseases. The gulf between rich and poor members of the human race widens as we speak….”
Please continue for the full text of President Mbeki’s speech.
”Yet people continue to die of hunger; babies get born, grow up, and die without being able to read or write; many fellow humans do not have clean water to drink; and, people die of curable diseases. The gulf between rich and poor members of the human race widens as we speak….”
Please continue for the full text of President Mbeki’s speech.