Time to find a second Earth

Carbon pollution and over-use of Earth’s natural resources have become so critical that, on current trends, we will need a second planet to meet our needs by 2030, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said.

In 2007, Earth’s 6.8 billion humans were living 50 per cent beyond the planet’s threshold of sustainability, according to its report, issued ahead of a UN biodiversity conference.

“Even with modest UN projections for population growth, consumption and climate change, by 2030 humanity will need the capacity of two Earths to absorb CO₂ waste and keep up with natural resource consumption,” it warned.

If everyone used resources at the same rate per capita as the US or the United Arab Emirates, four and a half planets would be needed, it said, highlighting the gap in “ecological footprint” between rich and poor.

The “Living Planet” report, the eighth in the series, is based on figures for 2007, the latest year for which figures are available.

It pointed to 71 countries that were running down their sources of freshwater at a worrying, unsustainable rate.

Nearly two-thirds of these countries experience “moderate to severe” water stress.

“This has profound implications for ecosystem health, food production and human wellbeing, and is likely to be exacerbated by climate change,” WWF said.

Signatories to the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are to meet in Nagoya, Japan, from tomorrow to October 29 to discuss ways of addressing Earth’s dramatic loss of species.