Unsustainable food and fossil fuel production is causing $5bn (£3.8bn) of environmental damage per hour, according to a major UN report.
Stopping this harm was a key part of the global transformation of governance, economics and finance needed “before collapse becomes inevitable”, experts said.
Global Environment Outlook (GEO) reportThe report, prepared by 200 UN Environment Program researchers, says the climate crisis, destruction of nature and pollution can no longer be seen as simply environmental crises.
“They all undermine our economy, food security, water security, human health, and [national] security challenges leading to conflict in many parts of the world,” said Professor Robert Watson, co-chair of the assessment.
All environmental crises have gotten worse as the world's population has grown and demanded more food and energy, much of it produced in ways that pollute the planet and destroy the natural world, experts say. Sustainable peace is possible, they say, but it requires political courage.
“This is an urgent call to transform our human systems now, before collapse becomes inevitable,” said Professor Edgar Gutiérrez-Ezpeleta, another co-chair and former Costa Rican environment minister.
“The science is good. The solutions are known. What is required is the courage to act at the scale and speed that history demands,” he said, adding that the window for action is “narrowing rapidly.”
Experts have acknowledged that the geopolitical situation today is complex, with the US under Donald Trump, several other countries and corporate interests working to block or reverse environmental action. Watson, a former chairman of leading international scientific groups on climate and biodiversity, said: “The public must demand that they want a sustainable future for their children and grandchildren. Most governments are really trying to respond.”
The GEO report is comprehensive – 1,100 pages this year – and is usually accompanied by a summary for policymakers that is agreed upon by all countries around the world. However, strong objections from countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, Turkey and Argentina to references to fossil fuels, plastics, meat reduction and other issues meant no agreement was reached this time.
A statement issued by the UK on behalf of 28 countries said: “We have witnessed attempts to divert attention from the scientific nature of this process. Our delegations fully respect the right of each state to protect the national interests and rights of its country, but science is not negotiable.”
The GEO report highlights that the long-term costs of action are much less than the costs of inaction, and estimates that the benefits of climate action alone will be $20 trillion per year by 2070 and $100 trillion by 2100. “We need forward-thinking countries and the private sector. [companies] recognize that they will benefit more by solving these problems rather than ignoring them,” Watson said.
According to Gutiérrez-Espeleta, the report contains several “critical truths”: environmental crises are political and security emergencies that threaten the social bonds that hold societies together. Today's governments and economic systems are failing humanity, and financial reform is the cornerstone of change, he said: “Environmental policy must be the foundation of national security, social justice and economic strategy.”
One of the biggest problems is the $45 trillion-a-year environmental damage caused by the burning of coal, oil and gas, as well as the pollution and destruction of nature caused by industrial agriculture, the report says. The food system incurred the largest costs at $20 trillion, transportation at $13 trillion, and fossil fuel power at $12 trillion.
These costs, called externalities by economists, need to be built into the price of energy and food to reflect their true price and encourage consumers to make greener choices, Watson said: “That's why we need social safety nets. We need to make sure that rising costs don't harm the poorest people in society.”
The report suggests measures such as universal basic incomemeat taxes and subsidies for healthy plant-based foods.
It also allocated about $1.5 trillion for environmentally harmful subsidies. fossil fuel, food and mining, the report said. They needed to be removed or repurposed, he added. Watson noted that wind and solar power are cheaper in many places, but are held back by fossil fuel vested interests.
The climate crisis could be even worse than expected, he said: “We are probably underestimating the extent of climate change,” with global warming likely at the high end of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projections.
The report says eliminating fossil fuel subsidies could cut emissions by a third.
