THERE IS NO REASON TO CELEBRATE TODAY THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF MOTHER EARTH

Fernando Alcoforado*

International Mother Earth Day is celebrated today, April 22, all over the world. The date represents the struggle in defense of the environment to promote reflection on the importance of planet Earth and the development of an environmental awareness. The date began in 1970 in the United States at an event promoted by US Senator Gaylord Nelson (1916-2005), with an environmental forum that brought together 20 million people to protest against pollution, and was instrumental in the approval of pioneering environmental laws on emission of harmful gases and protection of endangered species. This date was implemented by the UN almost 4 decades after the movement, that is, in the year 2009. In addition, it was named as International Mother Earth Day.

During 1992, in Rio de Janeiro, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as Rio 92 or ECO-92, was held, where the first version of the Earth Charter was prepared. At the same time, 179 countries signed Agenda 21 at the same event, a planning instrument with the aim of raising awareness of a sustainable society. Even though it was presented at this event, the Earth Charter was only ratified and accepted by UNESCO in 2000 at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, with the adherence of more than 4,500 organizations from around the world, including Brazil.

Earth Charter Principles

The Earth Charter has 16 basic principles, which are grouped into four major topics:

I. Respect and care for the community of life

1. Respect the Earth and life in all its diversity

2. Caring for the community of life with understanding, compassion, and love.

3. Build democratic societies that are just, participatory, sustainable and peaceful.

4. Secure Earth's bounty and beauty for current and future generations.

II. Ecological integrity

5. Protect and restore the integrity of Earth's ecological systems, with special concern for biological diversity and the natural processes that sustain life.

6. Prevent damage to the environment as the best method of environmental protection and, when knowledge is limited, take a precautionary stance.

7. Adopt patterns of production, consumption and reproduction that protect Earth's regenerative capacities, human rights and community well-being.

8. Advance the study of ecological sustainability and promote the open exchange and wide application of acquired knowledge.

III. Social and economic justice

9. Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social and environmental imperative.

10. Ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in an equitable and sustainable way.

11. Affirm gender equality and equity as prerequisites for sustainable development and ensure universal access to education, health care and economic opportunity.

12. Defend, without discrimination, the rights of all people to a natural and social environment capable of ensuring human dignity, bodily health and spiritual well-being, paying special attention to the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities.

IV. Democracy, non-violence and peace

13. Strengthen democratic institutions at all levels and provide them with transparency and accountability in the exercise of government, inclusive participation in decision-making, and access to justice.

14. Integrate, in formal education and lifelong learning, the knowledge, values and skills necessary for a sustainable way of life.

15. Treat all living beings with respect and consideration.

16. Promote a culture of tolerance, non-violence and peace.

It can be said that of the 16 basic principles of the Earth Charter there has only been relative progress in Principle 8 (Advance the study of ecological sustainability and promote the open exchange and wide application of acquired knowledge). In the other Principles of the Earth Charter, there has been backsliding. One fact is evident: humanity is losing the battle against the forces of evil that promote the devastation of the environment of planet Earth with the exhaustion of its natural resources, the pollution of the air, seas, rivers and lakes, the emergence of new pandemics and global warming resulting from the emission of greenhouse gases to the highest layers of the earth's atmosphere that tends to produce catastrophic climate change on our planet.

The depletion of the planet's natural resources is verified based on the analysis of available data that point to the fact that planet Earth is already reaching its limits in the use of its natural resources. Available data on reserves of mineral resources point to the fact that planet Earth is already reaching its limits based on information from the US Geological Survey, the US government agency responsible for geological research. The depletion of mineral resources such as oil is currently the greatest potential source of world conflict. The dispute over water between several countries is becoming a source of wars over water resources. The planet's food production capacity is also reaching its limits.

Currently, more than 80% of the world's population lives in countries that use more resources than their own ecosystems can renew. The central capitalist countries (European Union, United States and Japan), ecological debtors, have already exhausted their own resources and have to import them. In the Global Footprint Network survey, the Japanese consume 7.1 times more than they have and it would take four Italys to supply the Italians. An indisputable fact is that humanity already consumes more natural resources than the planet is capable of replenishing. Available data on reserves of mineral resources point to the fact that planet Earth is already reaching its limits. Humanity currently uses 50% of the planet's fresh water. In 40 years it will use 80%. The use of water that is unfit for consumption is responsible for 60% of the sick people on the planet.

Half of the world's rivers are contaminated by sewage, pesticides and industrial waste. 748 million people on the planet do not have access to clean water sources. Only 12% of the planet's land is arable. In the last 30 years, the total arable land affected by severe droughts due to global warming has doubled. Of the 200 fish species of greatest commercial interest, 120 are exploited beyond sustainable levels. At this rate, the volume of available fish will have decreased by more than 90% by 2050. It is estimated that 40% of the area of the oceans is seriously degraded by human action. In the last 50 years the number of dead zones has grown 10 times. As of 2050, the world's population could exceed 10 billion people. With a population of over 10 billion people, planet Earth may not be able to withstand such a demand for natural resources.

The current pace of consumption is a threat to humanity's future prosperity. In the last 45 years, the demand for the planet's natural resources has doubled, due to the rise in the standard of living in rich and emerging countries and the increase in the world's population. An indisputable fact is that humanity already consumes more natural resources than planet Earth is capable of replenishing. Today, due to the current pace of consumption, the demand for natural resources exceeds the Earth's replacement capacity by 41%. If the escalation of this demand continues at the current pace, in 2030, with an estimated planetary population of 10 billion people, it will take two Earths to satisfy it. These facts show the depletion of natural resources on planet Earth.

Environmental damage is also characterized by the risk of the emergence of new pandemics thanks to the destruction of nature. There is the prospect that a possible next pandemic could be as contagious and much more lethal than Covid-19, which has already claimed the lives of more than 15 million people on the planet. The emergence of a new disease is called by scientists "disease X" which is a concept of the World Health Organization (WHO) for something unexpected or unknown that may still appear. We are now in a world where new pathogens will emerge. This is what constitutes a gigantic threat to humanity. A new pathogen will follow the same pattern of transmission as others already found, passing from a wild animal to humans. If the destruction of nature does not end, it is likely that even more deadly and destructive diseases will hit humanity more quickly and more frequently in the future. The alert comes from the world's leading biodiversity experts.

The environmental damage produced by today's unsustainable society in all corners of the Earth is not only manifested in the depletion of natural resources on planet Earth and the emergence of new pandemics, but also stems from the fact that they are responsible for the rapid increase in global temperatures thanks to global warming that can contribute to the catastrophic global climate change that will occur if the Earth's average temperature rise exceeds 2 oC when humanity would face droughts in some areas of the planet and intense rains in others compromising food production, the submergence of islands and coastal cities due to the rise in sea levels resulting from the melting of the poles, Greenland and mountain ranges and the multitude of typhoons and hurricanes with devastating floods, among other problems that are already occurring.

The Paris Agreement seeks to contain the rise in global average temperature well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and make efforts to limit the rise in temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels to reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. An issue not addressed in the Paris Agreement (COP 21) concerns the wars that are proliferating around the world and is largely responsible for the environmental degradation of the planet due to its devastating effects on the environment.

UN climate report released recently informs that we are heading for disaster. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produced this report with input from thousands of people around the world. For the assessment reports, experts volunteer their time as IPCC authors to assess the thousands of scientific papers published each year to provide a comprehensive summary of what is known about the drivers of climate change, its future impacts and risks, and how adaptation and mitigation can reduce these risks.

The new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates that harmful carbon emissions from 2010-2019 were the highest in human history, with increases in emissions recorded "in all major sectors of the world". According to the authors of the report, a growing share of emissions can be attributed to towns and cities. Equally worryingly, the report signals that emissions reductions over the past decade have been smaller than emissions increases, due to increased levels of global activity in industry, energy supply, transport, agriculture and buildings.

For the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, this is proof that the world is on a fast track to disaster, which can make the planet uninhabitable and this is not fiction or exaggeration because science tells us that it will result from our current energy policies and that we are on track for global warming of more than double the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold that was agreed in Paris in 2015. Unless action is taken soon, some major cities will be under water, he said. Guterres in a video message, which also predicts "unprecedented heat waves, terrifying storms, widespread water shortages and the extinction of a million species of plants and animals". Guterres added: This is not fiction or exaggeration. It is what science tells us will result from our current energy policies. We are on track for global warming to more than double the 1.5 degree Celsius limit that was agreed in Paris in 2015.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN body for assessing science related to climate change, stresses that it is still possible to halve emissions by 2030 and avoid worst-case scenarios. The new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) informs that methane would need to be reduced by about a third. Still, even if this were achieved, it is almost inevitable that we would temporarily exceed the temperature threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial period. However, it would still be possible to return to a value below this limit by the end of the century. The report details measures and policies that seek to lead to a more just and sustainable world.

To limit global warming to around 1.5°C (2.7°F), the IPCC report insists that global greenhouse gas emissions would have to peak before 2025 at the latest and be reduced by 43% by 2030. Among the sustainable and emission reduction solutions available to governments, the IPCC report emphasized that rethinking how cities and other urban areas will function in the future can significantly help mitigate the worst effects of climate change. It is now or never if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Without immediate and deep reductions in emissions across all sectors, it will be impossible, said Jim Skea, co-chair of IPCC Working Group III, which produced the latest report.

Its comments reflect the IPCC's insistence that all countries must substantially reduce their use of fossil fuels, expand access to electricity, improve energy efficiency and increase the use of alternative fuels such as hydrogen. According to IPCC President Hoesung Lee, the current moment represents a “crossroads”. “The decisions we make now can secure a livable future on planet Earth. According to the report, which brings together the best scientific evidence available, global temperatures will stabilize once carbon dioxide emissions reach net zero. At 1.5°C, this means achieving net zero carbon dioxide emissions globally by the early 2050s; to 2°C, it is in the early 2070s. This assessment shows that limiting warming to around 2°C still requires that global greenhouse gas emissions peak before 2025 at the latest and be reduced by a quarter by 2030, Skea points out. These reductions can be achieved through lower energy consumption (such as the creation of compact and walkable cities), electrification of transport in combination with low-emission energy sources, and greater absorption and storage of carbon using nature, the report suggested IPCC, which presents options for established, fast-growing and new cities.

Another major concern concerns the pace of global sea level rise, which has doubled, according to the UN climate report. The global sea level is rising more than twice the pace recorded in the first decade of measurements, between 1993 and 2002, and reached a new record in 2022, said the WMO (World Meteorological Organization), warning that the trend will continue for millennia. Extreme melting of glaciers and record levels of heat in the oceans - which cause water to expand - contributed to an average sea level rise of 4.62mm per year between 2013 and 2022, the UN agency said in a keynote address report detailing the ravages of climate change. That's almost twice the rate of the first recorded decade, 1993-2002, leading to a total increase of more than 10 cm since the early 1990s. We've already lost this game of melting glaciers and rising sea levels, so this is bad news, WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told a news conference. That is because such high levels of greenhouse gases have already been emitted that the waters would continue to rise for "thousands of years". Rising sea levels threaten some coastal cities and the very existence of low-lying states such as the island of Tuvalu.

The annual report, released the day before Earth International Day, also showed that sea ice in Antarctica had retreated to record lows in June and July. The oceans were the warmest on record, with around 58% of their surfaces experiencing a marine heat wave. Overall, the WMO reported that 2022 ranked as the fifth or sixth warmest year on record, with the global average temperature 1.15 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. About 15,000 people died during Europe's heat waves in 2022. These extreme weather patterns will continue into the 2060s, regardless of the measures we take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The ongoing environmental devastation on planet Earth tends to produce a true crisis of humanity that makes it imperative to build a new society that acts in a sustainable, interdependent and rational way with common goals in each country and on a planetary scale without which could put the survival of human beings and life on the planet in check. The new society to be built would have to be sustainable from an economic, social and environmental point of view. The concept of sustainability has become a key element in the global movement, crucial to finding viable solutions to the world's biggest problems. Global sustainability requires that the world population does not exceed 10 billion inhabitants, sustainable economies are not driven by fossil fuels, but by solar energy and its many direct and indirect forms (sunlight for heating and photovoltaic electricity, wind energy, water and so on) and hydrogen, nuclear energy is only used as a last resort to meet energy demand due to its long list of economic, social and environmental disadvantages and risks, energy production is more decentralized and therefore even less vulnerable to cuts or blackouts and a much more efficient sustainable energy system is used.

In a sustainable society, the transport system will have to be much less wasteful and polluting than it is today. People need to live much closer to their places of work and move around the neighborhoods through highly developed bus and rail transport systems, there needs to be fewer private cars circulating, bicycles need to become an important vehicle in the sustainable transport system, the recycling is the primary source of raw materials in sustainable industries, and product design focuses on durability and repeated use rather than the short, disposable life of products. What is desirable is that there be a mentality based on the ethics of recycling when recycling companies will take the place of the current urban cleaning and final disposal companies, reducing the amount of waste by at least two thirds.

In a sustainable society there is a need for a restored and stabilized biological base, land use following the basic principles of biological stability (nutrient retention, carbon balance, soil protection, water conservation and conservation of nature diversity of species), rural areas have greater diversity than they currently have with balanced land management, in which there is rotation of plantations and cultivation of species, there is no waste of crops, tropical forests are conserved, there is no deforestation for obtaining wood and other products, millions of hectares of new trees are planted, efforts are made to stop desertification and transform degraded areas into productive land, the exhaustive use of pastures is eliminated, as well as changes in the food chain of affluent societies, to include less meat and more grains and vegetables.

The value systems of today's society that emphasize quantity, expansion, competition and domination must give way to quality, conservation, cooperation and solidarity among human beings. The decisive characteristic of a sustainable economy is the rejection of the blind pursuit of economic growth, the gross domestic product is recognized as a failed indicator, economic and social changes, as well as technological ones, are measured by their contribution to sustainability, budgets militaries are zeroed or reduced to a small fraction of what they are today, governments restructure the bankrupt UN (United Nations Organization) for peacekeeping instead of maintaining expensive and polluting armed forces, nations decentralize power and decision-making within their own borders while at the same time establishing an unprecedented degree of cooperation and coordination at the international level to solve global problems.

The annual report, released the day before Earth International Day, also showed that sea ice in Antarctica had retreated to record lows in June and July. The oceans were the warmest on record, with around 58% of their surfaces experiencing a marine heat wave. Overall, the WMO reported that 2022 ranked as the fifth or sixth warmest year on record, with the global average temperature 1.15 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. About 15,000 people died during Europe's heat waves in 2022. These extreme weather patterns will continue into the 2060s, regardless of the measures we take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The ongoing environmental devastation on planet Earth tends to produce a true crisis of humanity that makes it imperative to build a new society that acts in a sustainable, interdependent and rational way with common goals in each country and on a planetary scale without which could put the survival of human beings and life on the planet in check. The new society to be built would have to be sustainable from an economic, social and environmental point of view. The concept of sustainability has become a key element in the global movement, crucial to finding viable solutions to the world's biggest problems. Global sustainability requires that the world population does not exceed 10 billion inhabitants, sustainable economies are not driven by fossil fuels, but by solar energy and its many direct and indirect forms (sunlight for heating and photovoltaic electricity, wind energy, water and so on) and hydrogen, nuclear energy is only used as a last resort to meet energy demand due to its long list of economic, social and environmental disadvantages and risks, energy production is more decentralized and therefore even less vulnerable to cuts or blackouts and a much more efficient sustainable energy system is used.

In a sustainable society, the transport system will have to be much less wasteful and polluting than it is today. People need to live much closer to their places of work and move around the neighborhoods through highly developed bus and rail transport systems, there needs to be fewer private cars circulating, bicycles need to become an important vehicle in the sustainable transport system, the recycling is the primary source of raw materials in sustainable industries, and product design focuses on durability and repeated use rather than the short, disposable life of products. What is desirable is that there be a mentality based on the ethics of recycling when recycling companies will take the place of the current urban cleaning and final disposal companies, reducing the amount of waste by at least two thirds.

In a sustainable society there is a need for a restored and stabilized biological base, land use following the basic principles of biological stability (nutrient retention, carbon balance, soil protection, water conservation and conservation of nature diversity of species), rural areas have greater diversity than they currently have with balanced land management, in which there is rotation of plantations and cultivation of species, there is no waste of crops, tropical forests are conserved, there is no deforestation for obtaining wood and other products, millions of hectares of new trees are planted, efforts are made to stop desertification and transform degraded areas into productive land, the exhaustive use of pastures is eliminated, as well as changes in the food chain of affluent societies, to include less meat and more grains and vegetables.

The value systems of today's society that emphasize quantity, expansion, competition and domination must give way to quality, conservation, cooperation and solidarity among human beings. The decisive characteristic of a sustainable economy is the rejection of the blind pursuit of economic growth, the gross domestic product is recognized as a failed indicator, economic and social changes, as well as technological ones, are measured by their contribution to sustainability, budgets militaries are zeroed or reduced to a small fraction of what they are today, governments restructure the bankrupt UN (United Nations Organization) for peacekeeping instead of maintaining expensive and polluting armed forces, nations decentralize power and decision-making within their own borders while at the same time establishing an unprecedented degree of cooperation and coordination at the international level to solve global problems.

It is in defense of life on planet Earth that it becomes imperative to implement a sustainable society in each country and in the world to prevent the existence of living beings and humanity itself from being put in check. The new sustainable society at the global level must be able to regulate international relations based on a Planetary Social Contract aimed at promoting sustainable development for the benefit of all human beings. This Planetary Social Contract should result from the will of the restructured UN General Assembly that would constitute the new World Parliament that would elect a World Government representative of the will of all the peoples of the world. With a World Government, it will be possible not only to order the global economy, to end the wars and bloodbath that have characterized the history of humanity, but also to avoid the depletion of the planet's natural resources and the catastrophic climate change that threatens life on Earth.

On International Mother Earth Day, the world's population must become aware of the need to build a sustainable society in defense of life on our planet.

* Fernando Alcoforado, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, of the SBPC- Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science and of IPB- Polytechnic Institute of Bahia, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, college professor (Engineering, Economy and Administration) and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning, urban planning and energy systems, was Advisor to the Vice President of Engineering and Technology at LIGHT S.A. Electric power distribution company from Rio de Janeiro, Strategic Planning Coordinator of CEPED- Bahia Research and Development Center, Undersecretary of Energy of the State of Bahia, Secretary of Planning of Salvador, is the author of the books Globaliza??o (Editora Nobel, S?o Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, S?o Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, S?o Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,https://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944 , 2003), Globaliza??o e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, S?o Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporanea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, S?o Paulo, 2010), Amaz?nia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, S?o Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econ?mico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudan?a Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revolu??es Científicas, Econ?micas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Inven??o de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017),?Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associa??o Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018), Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019), A humanidade amea?ada e as estratégias para sua sobrevivência (Editora Dialética, S?o Paulo, 2021), A escalada da ciência e da tecnologia e sua contribui??o ao progresso e à sobrevivência da humanidade (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2022), a chapter in the book Flood Handbook (CRC Press,?Boca Raton, Florida United States, 2022) and How to protect human beings from threats to their existence and avoid the extinction of humanity (Generis Publishing, Europe, Republic of Moldova, Chi?in?u, 2023).??