Investing in planetary health would deliver higher GDP, less poverty: UN

Nairobi, Dec 9 The most comprehensive assessment of the global environment ever undertaken has found that investing in a stable climate, healthy nature and land, and a pollution-free planet can deliver trillions in additional global GDP, avoid millions of deaths and lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and hunger.

The Global Environment Outlook, Seventh Edition: A Future We Choose (GEO-7), released during the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, is the product of 287 multi-disciplinary scientists from 82 countries.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report finds climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, desertification, and pollution and waste have taken a heavy toll on the planet, people and economies -- already costing trillions of dollars each year.

Following current development pathways will only intensify this toll. However, whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches to transform the systems of economy and finance, materials and waste, energy, food and the environment would deliver global macroeconomic benefits that could reach $20 trillion per year by 2070 and continue growing.

A key enabling factor of this approach is moving away from GDP to indicators that also track human and natural capital -- incentivising economies to move towards circularity, decarbonization of the energy system, sustainable agriculture, ecosystem restoration and more.

“The Global Environment Outlook lays out a simple choice for humanity: continue down the road to a future devastated by climate change, dwindling nature, degraded land and polluted air, or change direction to secure a healthy planet, healthy people and healthy economies. This is no choice at all,” said Inger Andersen, UNEP Executive Director.

“And let us not forget the world has already made so much progress: from global deals covering climate change, nature, land and biodiversity, and pollution and waste, to real-world change in the booming renewables industry, global coverage of protected areas, and the phasing out of toxic chemicals,” she added.

“I call on all nations to build on this progress, invest in planetary health and drive their economies towards a thriving, sustainable future.”

The report presents two transformation pathways, looking at behavioural changes to place less emphasis on material consumption, and changes in which the world relies primarily on technological development and efficiency gains.

The transformation pathways predict that the global macroeconomic benefits will start to appear in 2050, grow to $20 trillion per year by 2070 and boom thereafter to $100 trillion per year.

The pathways project reduced exposure to climate risks, reduced biodiversity loss by 2030 and increased in natural lands.

Nine million premature deaths can be avoided by 2050 through measures such as cutting air pollution.

To achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and ensure adequate funding for conserving and restoring biodiversity, an annual investment of about $8 trillion is needed until 2050. However, the cost of inaction is far higher.

--IANS

vg/dan

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