WITH the population of Southeast Asian nations expected to reach 750 million by 2025, former president Fidel Ramos suggested shifting to better consumption and production patterns.
“We all know that unless we alter our strategies for achieving economic growth by cutting down pollution, stopping the wanton destruction of our natural resources and reversing environmental degradation, we can never ensure our home-region’s prospects for sustainable development over the long-term, say, two generations,” said
Ramos.
The expected boom in population by 2025 calls for the creation of an additional 420 million new jobs by 2030, he added.
“The choices that individual businesses make in their production techniques area are as important as the consumption choices of individuals and of households. But beyond just patterns, techniques and processes, our people and future generations must learn to adopt a more selfless culture of consumption and production,” he said.
A “Marrakech Process,” agreed upon with the United Nations’ sponsorship, is currently promoting policies and initiatives that will move the global community towards sustainable consumption and production, said Ramos.
The agenda under the “Marrakech Process” is for the reduction of greenhouse gases by putting energy- and material-efficient products on the market, and by promoting green building designs, sustainable lifestyles, green tourism, green procurement and other new approaches.
“Our unsustainable production and consumption patterns are changing our climate, because they place too great a burden on our planet. The problems they cause are affecting quality of life in many parts of the world,” said Prince Willem-Alexander, crown prince of Netherlands in a separate interview.
Willem-Alexander said that with development and population growth, the world is now slowly suffering by “taking the brunt of it all.”
“The world can no longer deny the influence of mankind, both through behavior and demographic development. At the same time, we have an ongoing food crisis to deal with. Its consequences are enormous, particularly for the world’s poorest,” he added. (EPB)
