Guest guest Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 ***************************Advertisement*************************** TechCentral http://star-techcentral.com ***************************************************************** This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my) URL: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2004/2/16/features/7314605 & sec=f\ eatures ________________________ Monday February 16, 2004 Rich nations must reduce subsidies A GLOBAL network of protected areas could be funded if developed nations reduced public subsidies to environmentally destructive industries. Greenpeace claim G7 and OECD countries “only need to make a tiny shift in government spending” and they could produce the funding required to establish the nature reserves required to halt biodiversity loss by 2010. Greenpeace believe that the development of protected areas is key to the implementation of whole Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and essential to reach the 2010 Target and Millennium Development Goals. Dr Christoph Thies, Greenpeace Forest Campaign Policy and Strategy Coordinator, said a global network of protected areas is the only way to save the majority of Earth’s species in the short term. US$7bil (RM49.7bil) a year is spent on protected areas, but Greenpeace claim this is only one-fifth the amount needed for the programme to be effective. CBD has yet to make a clear commitment to address the funding gap. The financial shortfall comes from developing nations but Dr Thies insists we “cannot expect poor countries to shoulder costs while benefits are for everybody within the global community”. Greenpeace research shows that first-world governments spend billions of dollars a year subsidising industries that are environmentally harmful. This public funding creates an incentive for overexploitation and contributes to the destruction of biodiversity. Dr Thies identified the agricultural subsidies of the United States, European Union and Japan as particularly ecologically harmful because they promote monocultures, pesticide use and land degradation. Together, the subsidies from those nations are worth US$250bil (RM1.77tril). Similar subsidies are found in the forestry, fishing, energy and road building sectors, which all carry out environmentally harmful activities. If those governments are serious about preserving biodiversity they must remove or at least reduce these subsidies, said Dr Thies. He said if developed nations reduced such subsidies by 3%-5%, the combined amount would reduce the current funding gap. He added that saving 10 million species on Earth is cheaper than America’s Mars programme. Dr Thies said he was worried that “if richer nations don’t do more, developing countries will say ‘enough is enough’ and the whole CBD will collapse”. Greenpeace used the press conference yesterday to launch their 2004 Champion Assassin of Life on Earth Award. Nominees will be announced throughout COP-7, and on the final day a trophy will be presented to “the nation which does the most to bring an end to biodiversity on Earth”. – By Meredith Griffiths <p> ________________________ Your one-stop information portal: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my http://biz.thestar.com.my http://classifieds.thestar.com.my http://cards.thestar.com.my http://search.thestar.com.my http://star-motoring.com http://star-space.com http://star-jobs.com http://star-ecentral.com http://star-techcentral.com 1995-2003 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Star Publications is prohibited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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