British, U.S. Scientists Take Joint Stand

washington, feb 26 1992 (ips) -- the top officers of the u.s. national academy of sciences and the royal society of london warned wednesday that ''science and technology alone are not enough'' to cope with pressures placed on the environment by population growth and wasteful resource consumption.

in an unprecedented joint statement, the scientistst noted that ''global policies are urgently needed to promote more rapid economic development throughout the world, more environmentally benign patterns of human activity, and a more rapid stabilisation of world population.''

they called on the upcoming 'earth summit' -- the u.n. conference of environment and development (unced) -- to ''consider human activities and population growth, in both the developing and developed worlds, as crucial components affecting the sustainability of human society.''

and they said developed countries have a special responsibility to helping third world nations address environmental problems.

''if (developing countries) are forced to deal with their environmental and resource problems alone, the ldcs face overwhelming challenges,'' the four-page statement said.

''they generate only 15 percent of the world's gnp, and have a net cash outflow of tens of billions of dollars per year. over one billion people live in absolute poverty, and 500 million on the margin of starvation.

''and the ldcs have only six to seven percent of the world's active scientists and engineers, a situation that makes it very difficult for them to participate fully in global or regional schemes to manage their own environment,'' the statement said.

in their accompanying comments, the presidents of the two associations, sir michael atiyah of the royal society and dr. frank press of the u.s. academy, proposed a scientific conference in early 1993 to assess the relationships between population growth, resource consumption and the environment.

according to the u.s. academy, the royal swedish academy of sciences has agreed to host the conference.

the british and u.s. bodies noted that science and technological innovations, such as those in agriculture, have in the past, been able to overcome many pessimistic predictions about the ability of nature to support human welfare.

but ''if current predictions of population growth prove accurate and patterns of human activity on the planet remain unchanged, science and technology may not be able to prevent either irreversible degradation of the environment or continued poverty for much of the world,'' said their statement.

''unrestrained resource consumption for energy production and other uses, especially if the developing world strives to achieve living standards based on the same levels of consumption as the developed world, could lead to catastrophic outcomes for the global environment,'' the statement said.

''some of the environmental changes may produce irreversible damage to the earth's capacity to sustain life,'' it added. ''many species have already disappeared, and many more are destined to do so.''

according to the statement, ''there is an urgent need to address economic activity, population growth, and environmental protection as interrelated issues.''

it said that two-pronged efforts should be made by both developing and developed countries, noting that ''effective family planning, combined with continued economic and social development in the lesser developed countries, will help stabilise fertility rates at lower levels and reduce stresses to the environment.

''at the same time, greater attention in the developed countries to conservation, recycling, substitution and efficient use of energy, and a concerted programme to start mitigating further buildup of greenhouse gases will help to ease the threat to the global environment,'' it said.

the academies said science and technology have an especially important role to play in developing countries. but capabilities in these areas ''must be strengthened in the ldcs as a matter of urgency through joining initiatives from the developed and developing worlds.''

''the next 30 years are crucial,'' said the statement. ''the future of our planet is in the balance. sustainable development can be achieved, but only if irreversible degradation of the environment can be halted in time.''

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