World Bank working on ‘natural wealth’ as part of a countries financial accounts

India is wanting to become the first country in the world to commit to publishing a new set of accounts. These accounts will track the nation’s plants, animals, water and other "natural wealth" on top of the current financial measurements such as GDP, etc.

Work on how these will be measured will be coordinated by the World Bank. Next step will be agreement on these measures.

Lets send a positive message to the community at large to encourage our own countries to follow this important direction.

I think it’s a great initiative. What do you think?

UN Deforestation takes center-stage

Delegates at the global U.N. meeting to preserve natural resources were trying to agree on ways to deploy about $4 billion in cash to help developing nations save tropical forests.

The talks are aimed at setting new 2020 targets to protect plant and animal species, a protocol to share genetic resources between countries and companies and more funding to protect nature, especially forests.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates global deforestation fell from 16 million hectares (40 million acres) per year in the 1990s to 13 million hectares per year in the past decade, with the bulk of the losses in tropical countries.

About 12 percent of the world’s forests are designated primarily to conserve biological diversity, the FAO said in report earlier this month.

Forests soak up large amounts of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, and help curb the pace of climate change. They are also key water catchments, help clean the air and are home to countless species.

"Our forests need immediate action," said Brazil’s Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira told the meeting.

Ministers are focusing on a voluntary partnership covering nearly 70 nations aimed at boosting a U.N.-backed scheme that seeks to reward developing countries that preserve and restore forests.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69P0L820101026

Photo: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/carboncycle/images/deforestation.jpg

Tropics in decline – WWF 2010 Living Planet report

New analysis shows populations of tropical species are plummeting and humanity’s demands on natural resources are sky-rocketing to 50 per cent more than the earth can sustain, reveals the 2010 edition of WWF’s Living Planet Report — the leading survey of the planet’s health.

The biennial report, produced in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network, uses the global Living Planet Index as a measure of the health of almost 8,000 populations of more than 2,500 species. The global Index shows a decrease by 30 per cent since 1970, with the tropics hardest hit showing a 60 per cent decline in less than 40 years.

"There is an alarming rate of biodiversity loss in low-income, often tropical countries while the developed world is living in a false paradise, fuelled by excessive consumption and high carbon emissions," said Jim Leape, Director General of WWF International.

While the report shows some promising recovery by species’ populations in temperate areas, thanks in part to greater conservation efforts and improvements in pollution

and waste control, tracked populations of freshwater tropical species have fallen by nearly 70 per cent — greater than any species’ decline measured on land or in our oceans.

"Species are the foundation of ecosystems," said Jonathan Baillie, Conservation Programme Director with the Zoological Society of London. "Healthy ecosystems form the basis of all we have — lose them and we destroy our life support system."

The Ecological Footprint, one of the indicators used in the report, shows that our demand on natural resources has doubled since 1966 and we’re using the equivalent of 1.5 planets to support our activities. If we continue living beyond the Earth’s limits, by 2030 we’ll need the equivalent of two planets’ productive capacity to meet our annual demands.

"The report shows that continuing of the current consumption trends would lead us to the point of no return," added Leape. "4.5 Earths would be required to support a global population living like an average resident of the of the US."

For more information: http://wwf.panda.org/?uNewsID=195695

Source: http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/41880