Call for environment bailout

Abu Dhabi: "Unlike the global financial crisis, no bailout can help if we run out of environmental resources simply because we cannot create another planet," said Dr Mathis Wackernagel, executive director of the Global Footprint Initiative, in an interview with Gulf News.

The message comes shortly after the Living Planet Report 2008 revealed that the UAE is in grave ecological debt, along with several other nations, for living far beyond the means of available resources.

The UAE tops the list of countries which have the highest ecological footprint per person, says the report, which was released last month.

Asked whether environmental issues will take a back seat at least for a while amid the global recession, Dr Wackernagel, who is also the co-creator of the ecological footprint concept, said: "It is hard to say and could go either way, which is why we need to position ourselves strongly now to make sure we can get a double dividend.

"Otherwise, the crisis will become a much more persistent one", he warns.

Changing the people's mindset is difficult, he said. "Unfortunately, many people still live in the 20th century in their minds. They feel that the environment is an extra, bottomless, non-constraining factor. Such misconceptions could be dangerous."

Understanding the ecological footprint will help us navigate better in a resource-constrained world, he said. "We hear of food prices going up, energy issues, issues related to biodiversity, water scarcity and climate change… These are all symptoms of the same phenomenon of humanity using more than what earth can regenerate."

Pointing out a definite connection between the financial and the ecological crisis, Dr Wackernagel said governments and businesses will have to deal with the ecological crisis for the same reasons as the financial one.

"Why should companies deal with economic problems? Because it eventually hits them and they go bankrupt. The same holds true for the ecological crisis. It is not any longer about whether you believe in sustainability. Trends show us that we are running into severe constraints which have a clear link to the bottom line so if you have to be economically successful you need to look at the increasing resource constraints," he said.

With the financial crisis, governments will be tempted to plough in their resources into infrastructure building. However, they need to exercise caution not to undertake "bad investments", he said.

Investments like building new highways, new roads etc that focus on resources cannot help, he says, urging to focus on sustainable technologies, zero carbon projects, and building natural infrastructure.