We are the last generation with a real opportunity to save the world.
-Laurence Overmire-
Anyone who believes in indefinite growth of anything physical on a physically finite planet is either a madman or an economist.
Vast disparities exist in consumption and impact between the rich world and the Global South, and within countries themselves. A more just global system, in which resources are distributed more equitably, is essential. Whatever form that takes, in order to ensure that there is enough to meet everyone's right to a decent standard of living, the richest must consume more sustainably - in other words, consume less. When nations leave poverty, their fertility rates rates reduce - but hand-in-hand with that increasing prosperity comes increased consumption. People should not have to compete for the Earth's resoures.
That's why population and family size is an issue in both developed and developing countries. Where affluence and consumption is high, reducing the number of new consumers is an effective, permanent way of reducing the drain they place on resources, as well as their environmental impact. It does not mean that people should not do other things to reduce their consumption, or that wider isues of global injustice do not need to be urgently addressed. Nevertheless, reducing, through effective, ethical means, the number of affluent people consuming is an essential, effective method to relieve the pressure. More than 800 million people currently do not get enough food to meet their nutritional needs every day. Meanwhile, 650 million are obese. People go hungry not because there is insufficient food but because our global economic system distributes it unfairly.
However, every extra mouth to feed puts more pressure on our food supply. That is already under threat from multiple factors, including shortage of fresh water, soil depletion, decimated populations of insect pollinators and climate change. The UN currently projects that we will need 70% more food by 2050. Increasing agricultural production comes at a cost to nature, however. Habitat loss and exploitation are the two most significant threats to biodiversity - currently 80% of extinction threats to mammals and birds are due to agriculture.
What is particularly troubling about overconsumption is the inequality in who is overconsuming. Unsustainable levels of consumption are generally found in affluent societies such as the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia (countries where population growth is generally not perceived to be a problem).
The environmental association Zero warned of the excessive use of natural resources in Portugal. Portugal has been deficient for many years "in its capacity to provide the natural resources necessary for the activities carried out", which is why the "Portuguese environmental debt has been increasing", says Zero.
It's obvious we need to stop ravaging the planet. Unfortunately, our 'I am what I buy' culture is an obstacle. It leads to farcical advertising slogans like "Be yourself" – as if wearing mass-produced fragrance can give you a true sense of who you really are. There are more meaningful ways of defining identity, like belonging to something you love – a sports club, community choir, animal rescue sanctuary etc. We need public authorities to create more of these social opportunities to give people a sense of purpose beyond being a consumer.
Marketing can help. It's a powerful tool for changing behaviour. Once used to encourage smoking, it's now doing completely the opposite. If it can change our relationship with tobacco, it can change how we consume too. This means promoting activities and stuff that are good for people and planet. And we need stronger laws. Companies should be made to report on every single aspect of their supply chains – from excavation right through to the shop window – including water and land use, and climate-changing emissions.
We need circular economies that prioritise re-using, recycling and repairing. Societies designing stuff to last longer – using our precious and limited natural resources far more cleverly.
What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.
Forests cover 31% of the land area on our planet. They help people thrive and survive by, for example, purifying water and air and providing people with jobs; some 13.2 million people across the world have a job in the forest sector and another 41 million have a job that is related to the sector. Many animals also rely on forests. Eighty percent of the world's land-based species, such as elephants and rhinos, live in forests. Forests also play a critical role in mitigating climate change because they act as a carbon sink—soaking up carbon dioxide that would otherwise be free in the atmosphere and contribute to ongoing changes in climate patterns.
Farming, grazing of livestock, mining, and drilling combined account for more than half of all deforestation. Forestry practices, wildfires and, in small part, urbanization account for the rest. In Malaysia and Indonesia, forests are cut down to make way for producing palm oil, which can be found in everything from shampoo to saltines. In the Amazon, cattle ranching and farms—particularly soy plantations—are key culprits. Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also fell countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also build roads to access more and more remote forests—which leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban sprawl as land is developed for homes. Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees.
Many regions of the world are affected by deforestation: namely in South America (Brazil), Central Africa (Congo), Southeast Asia (Indonesia) and Eastern Europe.
According to data from the Ministry, Portugal has lost about 150,000 hectares in the last 15 years, however, there are other international organizations that report a higher value. Portugal is the 4º country in the world with the biggest deforestation area. This change in forest land use is mainly associated with conversions to urban, tourist and industrial areas, new infrastructures such as highways and dams and, of course, the recurrent forest fires that have consumed several hundred thousand hectares of forest in every recent decade.
No water, no life. No blue, no green.
The seas provide half of our oxygen, and food for a billion people. Let’s give them the protection they deserve. Under the restless surface of our seas, hundreds of miles from land, there’s a world of giants and hunters; ancient lifeforms and lost cities.
These waters beyond national borders are home to creatures even more varied than in the tropical rainforests. They contain the highest and longest mountain range anywhere on our planet, and trenches deep enough to hold Mount Everest. They’re the highways for whales, turtles, albatross and tuna on their cross-planet migrations. Protecting these natural wonders is simply the right thing to do. But this isn’t just about conscience. It’s about survival. The oceans produce half of our oxygen and food for a billion people. And because they soak up huge amounts of carbon dioxide, they’re also one of our best defences against climate change. Our fate is bound to the fate of our oceans. If they don’t make it, we don’t either.
HUMAN ACTIVITIES ARE threatening the health of the world's oceans. More than 80 percent of marine pollution comes from land-based activities. From coral bleaching to sea level rise, entire marine ecosystems are rapidly changing. Global warming is causing alterations in ocean chemistry and many oceanic processes, and it is threatening many species of marine animals that cannot cope with higher temperatures. Overfishing is a serious problem in many parts of the world. Conservationists advocate creating expansive marine reserves to protect the biodiversity of the oceans.
The ocean with the largest amount of plastic is the North Pacific, followed by the Indian Ocean, the North Atlantic, the South Pacific, the South Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea.
Plastic makes up 72 percent of waste on Portuguese beaches. Rocks On Portuguese Coast Discovered To Be Encrusted With Plastic. Researchers first noticed the phenomenon in 2016. They thought it was a one-off until they found that 10 percent of the rocks on the Portuguese island of Madeira were fused with bits of plastic.
We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.
Earth’s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization, primarily as a result of human activities. Global climate change has already resulted in a wide range of impacts across every region of the country and many sectors of the economy that are expected to grow in the coming decades.
The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is extremely likely (greater than 95 percent probability) to be the result of human activity since the mid-20th century and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over decades to millennia. Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers show that the Earth’s climate responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels. Ancient evidence can also be found in tree rings, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks. This ancient, or paleoclimate, evidence reveals that current warming is occurring roughly ten times faster than the average rate of ice-age-recovery warming.
The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.4 Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with the six warmest years on record taking place since 2014. Not only was 2016 the warmest year on record, but eight of the 12 months that make up the year — from January through September, with the exception of June — were the warmest on record for those respective months.
Based on the impacts of extreme weather events and the socio-economic losses they cause, Japan, the Philippines and Germany are the most affected places by climate change today. We have seen a country like Australia burning and losing 8.4 million hectares, more than 1,300 homes, 27 human lives and, according to University of Sydney estimates, about 1 billion animals in only four months due to some of the worst fires in its history.
In Portugal the number of heat waves, their duration and intensity will increase in the course of this century. At the same time, less cold spells will occur, and they will become less intense. Precipitation in Portugal is projected to decrease throughout this century, and more clustered into extreme events, accentuating the vulnerability of Portuguese water cycle to global warming. These changes may have dramatic impacts on a very wide spectrum and vital sectors of Portuguese economy, like agriculture, forestry, water supply and energy production.
Responding to climate change involves two possible approaches: reducing and stabilizing the levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (“mitigation”) and/or adapting to the climate change already in the pipeline (“adaptation”). We need to step up efforts to switch from using fossil fuels – the biggest cause of climate change – to clean, renewable energy. And we need to help people and nature adapt to the inevitable changes ahead. To avoid the worst consequences of climate change, we’ll need to reach “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner. Net zero means that, on balance, no more carbon is dumped into the atmosphere than is taken out. To achieve net zero emissions, we need a massive transformation in how we produce and consume electricity. We need a newer, better transportation system. We need to stop deforestation. We need a climate-friendly agricultural system.
If we can conquer space, we can conquer childhood hunger.
It uses most of our natural resources, with 69% of all our water and 34% of our land. It has caused 75% of deforestation, 30% of topsoil erosion and contributes at least 24% of greenhouse gas emissions. It is not creating healthy people or a healthy planet. 821 million people are hungry while 1.9 billion are overweight or obese. The food system has caused 70% of biodiversity loss and has led to 93% of all our fish stocks being fished to their limits or beyond. And yet, we don't even eat all the food we produce - around one third of it is lost in the supply chain or thrown away. The problems are clear. We all need to eat, but the way we produce and consume food is putting an impossible strain on the planet. And with the world’s population set to grow from 7 billion today to more than 9 billion by 2050 it's clear the food system needs to change – urgently.
There are a number of social factors causing food shortages. The rate of population increase is higher than increase in food production. The world is consuming more than it is producing, leading to decline in food stock and storage level and increased food prices due to soaring demand a midst low supply.
Based on the impacts of extreme weather events and the socio-economic losses they cause, Japan, the Philippines and Germany are the most affected places by climate change today. We have seen a country like Australia burning and losing 8.4 million hectares, more than 1,300 homes, 27 human lives and, according to University of Sydney estimates, about 1 billion animals in only four months due to some of the worst fires in its history.
In Portugal the number of heat waves, their duration and intensity will increase in the course of this century. At the same time, less cold spells will occur, and they will become less intense. Precipitation in Portugal is projected to decrease throughout this century, and more clustered into extreme events, accentuating the vulnerability of Portuguese water cycle to global warming. These changes may have dramatic impacts on a very wide spectrum and vital sectors of Portuguese economy, like agriculture, forestry, water supply and energy production.
Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhumane.
At least half of the world’s population cannot obtain essential health services, according to a new report from the World Bank and WHO. And each year, large numbers of households are being pushed into poverty because they must pay for health care out of their own pockets.
Currently, 800 million people spend at least 10 percent of their household budgets on health expenses for themselves, a sick child or other family member. For almost 100 million people these expenses are high enough to push them into extreme poverty, forcing them to survive on just $1.90 or less a day.
In some areas basic health care services such as family planning and infant immunization are becoming more available, but lack of financial protection means increasing financial distress for families as they pay for these services out of their own pockets.
Inequalities in health services are seen not just between, but also within countries: national averages can mask low levels of health service coverage in disadvantaged population groups. For example, only 17 percent of mothers and children in the poorest fifth of households in low- and lower-middle income countries received at least six of seven basic maternal and child health interventions, compared to 74 percent for the wealthiest fifth of households.
Third-party providers are commonly used because they are an available alternative at a significantly reduced cost compared to treatment at urban centers. Despite reducing costs, these facilities are poorly regulated. Often, rural shopkeepers sell incomplete or expired doses of drugs of off-patent, generic or unknown origins, sometimes even repackaged as branded medicine.
There are wide gaps in the availability of services in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. This is even a challenge in more affluent regions such as Eastern Asia, Latin America and Europe, where a growing number of people are spending at least 10 percent of their household budgets on out-of-pocket health expenses.
The health status of Portuguese people has improved considerably over the last decade. People live longer but health-related quality of life has not always improved, particularly after age 65, and there are significant differences between men and women.
Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man made and can be removed by the actions of human beings.
Poverty entails more than the lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion, as well as the lack of participation in decision-making. In 2015, more than 736 million people lived below the international poverty line. Around 10 per cent of the world population is living in extreme poverty and struggling to fulfil the most basic needs like health, education, and access to water and sanitation, to name a few. There are 122 women aged 25 to 34 living in poverty for every 100 men of the same age group, and more than 160 million children are at risk of continuing to live in extreme poverty by 2030.
736 million people lived below the international poverty line of US$ 1.90 a day in 2015.
In 2018, almost 8 per cent of the world’s workers and their families lived on less than US$1.90 per person per day.
As of 2018, 55 per cent of the world’s population have no access to at least one social protection cash benefit.
The majority of the global poor live in rural areas and are poorly educated, employed in the agricultural sector, and under 18 years of age. The work to end extreme poverty is far from over, and many challenges remain. In most parts of the world, growth rates are too slow, and investment is too subdued to increase median incomes.
Data deprivation makes it harder to accurately gauge the extent of the problem. 500 million people live in FCS economies with no or outdated poverty data. To overcome critical data shortages and generate timely international poverty estimates, the Bank’s recent research used statistical assumptions and imputations that result in 33 million additional people estimated to live in extreme poverty.
The 43 countries in the world with the highest poverty rates are fragile or conflict-affected situations (FCS) and/or in Sub-Saharan Africa. Economies facing chronic fragility and conflict have had poverty rates stuck at over 40 percent in the past decade, while countries that have escaped FCS have cut their poverty rates by more than half.
There are almost 2.6 million people living below the poverty line in Portugal, according to the National Statistics Institute. 487,000 of the citizens living in poverty in the country are under the age of 18. Portugal is one of the most unequal countries in Europe. The wealthy citizens earn an income that is five times higher than other people who are living in poverty.
Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being’s entitlement by virtue of his humanity.
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination.
Women continue to be denied their rights in many parts of the world, particularly in Islamic countries where they frequently are treated as property rather than as humans. Even in Global North states such as Ireland and the US, women’s rights to health and to life are violated through legal or practical restrictions on abortions and reproductive health.
But it is not just discrimination against certain groups that ought to concern us. Many countries indiscriminately abuse the rights of any or all persons within their territory. Most rights may be limited in exceptional circumstances, such as to protect the public or during times of warfare. A few rights, like torture and slavery, are absolute rights whose violation can never be justified. Yet even those rights are routinely disregarded and abused.
Failure to identify and protect victims of human trafficking, who are forced into the sex industry or as unpaid workers to repay their traffickers, has created a modern day slavery to which so many countries turn a blind eye.
Then we turn to other fundamental rights that are not being upheld for billions of individuals. The right to life may be respected by countries that protect people from arbitrary or extrajudicial killing. But the right to life goes hand-in-hand with subsistence rights. There is no point having the right to life if a person is not able to subsist. Those fundamental rights include to water, to food and to housing.
We can see all over the world some countries where the human rights are violated.
From the U.S.A., China, Tibet, North Corea, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Central African Republic, and so many others.
Portugal has a good track record on human rights, but violations persist. Portugal still has major challenges in terms of human rights, namely in terms of access to housing and issues of discrimination, according to Amnesty International (AI).
Countries that champion human rights need to put their money where their mouths are. Political and economic pressures can be placed on states to encourage them to focus on human rights. International sports organisations can refuse to hold the Olympics or the football World Cup in countries where human rights are routinely abused. Consumers can make ethical choices about where they shop, and people can stop financially propping up abusive regimes by refusing to holiday in those countries. Until human rights are elevated to a serious consideration for all decision-making, the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration will remain an unattained goal.