16 ~ Friday, November 1, 1991 — North Shore News ENVIRONMENT Perspectives: Act locally, think globaily SOMETIMES IT’S hard to resist the temptation to ‘‘act Iocally,’? but hastily tiptoe around “thinking globally.’’ After all, there’s a whole lot to think about. Peggy Trendell-Whittaker It’s an overwhelming task to put into perspective the en- vironmental challenges facing the planet as a whole. Thank goodness local blue box programs give us a starting point on which to focus our energies; otherwise, most of us would never know where to begin and would likely explode from frustrated eco-passion. Once one has begun to clean up one’s own backyard, however, the need to look beyond our own horizons becomes apparent. We need to learn that the ‘‘in- terconnected web of creation’’ doesn’t only refer to humans and other species and aspects of our eco-systems, it refers to the link between different human popula- tions living in diverse cir- cumstances all over the world. Compassion for the world’s underprivileged is one motivation for educating ourselves about life in developing nations. Twenty-six of the 27 children on earth who die each minute live in developing countries, yet the amount of additional funding necessary to provide basic health care for all ($50 billion) is equal to the amount the world spends on the military every 17 days. However, self-interest is also a good reason to become move - knowledgeable about the workings of the world. The environmental damage that is wrought in developing nations . for political or economic reasons _ doesn’t respect territorial bound- aries; we in Canada feel its effect _already, and will continue to do so an an escalating rate. ECOINFO The pesticide DDT, for exam- ple, was banned for use in Canada’ because it is a suspected car- cinogen whose toxic effect is well documented in the natural world. It still ends up in our country, however, having been blown from - lands across the globe where the substance has yet to be outlawed. In the year 2000, the’ world’s population is forecast to be 6 dillion — 4.8 billion of whom will live in poor countries. Not surprisingly, residents of these societies will want to mimic the luxuries that those of us in developed nations take for granted, but the planet can clearly not support the widespread adop- tion of our wasteful, energy-guzzl- ing habits. It is critical that we push our political leaders to work with the United Nations and developing countries to create systems that share the world’s resources in a more equitable way, and one that is environmentally and economi- cally sustainable. A major problem is the Third World nations’ crippling debt load, which, in 1989, stood at $1.2 trillion, or 44% of their col- lective Gross National Product (GNP). Since 1983, servicing such loans has meant that poor nations pay rich nations more than they receive in turn, to the tune of $50 billion annually. According to ‘‘Reshaping the Global Economy,’’ in the Worldwatch Institute’s Srate of the World: 1991: “Lack of capital has made it nearly impossible for developing countries to invest adequately in forest protection, soil conserva- tion, irrigation improvements, more energy-efficient technologies, or pollution control devices. Even worse, growing debts have com- pelled them to sell off natural resources, often their only source of foreign currency.’ Dr. Noel Brown, director of the United Nations Environment Pro- gramme (UNEP) for North America, told: me this summer that a prime example of this is happening in his native country of Jamaica, where they are logging the watersheds to provide space to Taise coffee beans, their prime cash crop. Aid from the World Bank typi- cally goes to capital-intensive pro- jects such as dam construction and road building, often precur- sors to widespread environmental damage. Similarly, aid from individual countries is not often directed towards sustainable initiatives. By 1995, the UN has called Burrard Iniet concerns discussed -. THE. BURRARD Inlet En- ‘vironmental Action Program ‘ (BIEAP), created by Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, B.C. Environment, Greater Vancouver Regional . District and the Vancouver Port Corporation hosted its first _Meeting with the stakeholders of Burrard Inlet on Oct. 11. Nearly 50 industries attended an : open forum held at Simon Fraser University, downtown campus, where they were introduced to the five-year program plan for Government and industry discussed their mutual efforts to improve the environmental condi- tions of the Inlet. ‘The industry members discussed their various concerns about in- creased governmen: regulation and Shared information about their environmental initiatives to date. It was emphasized by members from the ‘BIEAP panel of agencies that industry is not the sole polluter, nor the major con- tributor to the degradation of en- vironmental quality in the Inlet. The invitation was made to par- ticipate actively in the program through options such as working committees or special industry groups. “The Burrard Inlet environment must be improved through the concerted efforts of industry, municipalities, the regional, pro- vincial and federal environmental! agencies and the public. Joint management of the resources is increasingly being shared with in- dustry,’” said Brian Clark, chair- man of the BIEAP Implementa- tion Committee, and B.C. en- vironment coordinator. John Jordan, environmental manager for the Vancouver Port Corporation and a member of the BIEAP management committee, confirmed the role of industry. “There are numerous examples of industry and government work- ing on environmental: improve- ments in the Inlet in the last few years which we hope to expand on to meet the BIEAP objectives. We can have continued economic growth of the port while controll- ing impacts, and cleaning up ex- isting problems. ” This is the first of the public ONLY ONLY ONLY ONLY 32 $129 3390 $790 Meetings scheduled to increase awareness of the nature of the problems affecting Burrard Inlet and to detail BIEAP’s approach to tackle these problems, BIEAP has now opened its of- fice at 803 - 510 West Hastings St. for weekday visitation, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended evening hours on Thursday to 9 p.m. for scheduled appointments. For further 775-5197, information, PERSIAN aon APP. a ONLY “LOTS TO CHOO! LARGE setecrion oF. RUNNERS FROM FROM $140 $379 We guarantee the Best Selection and Lowest Price in B.C. 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Currently, Nor- way is providing an admirable ex- ample by already giving 1.04% of its GNP, much of which is directed to agriculture, fisheries and education, but Canada is lag- ging behind at .44% of our GNP, and the U.S. at .15%, Many debts will have to be written down, and many forgiven entirely, if the Third World is to restore environmentally sound de- velopment. This may mean debt reduction of 60% -—- from $1.2 trillion to $500 billion. There have been experiments with ‘‘debt for nature’? swaps, by which one country or conservation organization buys a portion of a debtor nation’s obligation in return for investment in en- vironmental programs in the deb- tor nation. There is also planning under way for international funds that would provide capital for poor nations to undertake needed in- vestments in global environmental problems, and this is one of the items that will be on the agenda at the international Earth Summit taking place in Brazil in June 1992. The Earth Summit, technically known as the United Nations Conference on Environment, and Development (UNCED), will bring together world leaders to work together on the issues that we have less than a decade to solve. And as you can read in Save rhe Earth, an excellent global over- view on the challenges facing us, ‘‘How much progress is made (at the Summit) will depend on how much pressure politicians feel they are under from voters back home.”” Now is the time educating ourselves. I would recommend the State of the World: 1991, the annua! publication of the Worldwatch In- stitute, and I’m about to tackle a new Oxford University Press release, Beyond Interdependence: The Meshing of the World’s Economy and the Earth's Ecology, which looks very infor- mative and is written by Jim MacNeill, special advisor. to. the Earth Summit. Don’t hesitate to send your thoughts on Earth Summit priorities to Prime Minister Briaa Mulroney, 24 Sussex Dr.; ; Ottawa. Also consider taking in the. '@Xe cellent HOPE exhibition at Science World, which is sponsored by the Aga Khan Foundation