Prins Charles advarer om udslettelse af menneskeheden

I sin første tale som generalsekretær for WWF England, advarede prins Charles mod masseudslettelse af menneskeheden, hvis der ikke tages dramatiske skridt til at reducere verdens forbrug af naturresourcer og hvis vi ikke ændrer adfærd. Prins Charles sagde om konsekvenserne af forbrugssamfundet for de kommende generationer:

"We are consuming what is rightfully theirs by sacrificing long-term progress on the altar of immediate satisfaction. That is hardly responsible behaviour. There is an urgent need for all of us to concentrate our efforts on sustaining, nurturing and protecting the Earth's natural capital and, moreover, reshaping our economic system so that Nature sits at the very heart of our thinking."

Da dronningen under en grønlandsrejse i juni kom med sin udtalelse om at "Man kan jo ikke lave om på klimaet, når det laver sig selv om. Det må man se i øjnene", skabte det betydelig undren hos miljøfolk her i landet, fordi klimaforandringerne netop er menneskeskabte.

Men måske siger dronning Margrethe det som mange mennesker inderst inde går rundt og tænker og håber på og holder os fast i, så vi uden de større omvæltninger eller forandringer kan beholde vores tilsyneladende trygge og behagelige forbrugersamfund...i al evighed?   

Læs mere af prins Charles' første tale som øverste chef for WWF England:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/09/prince-charles-warns-of-human-extinction.php

Her er en anden prominent herre - EU's miljøkommissær Janez Potočnik - der forstår at formulere en brændende platform:

"In the 20th Century we increased our fossil fuel use by 16 times, our fishing catches by 35 times, and our water use by 9 times, whereas the population only increased by 4 times.

With a world population of 1.5 billion 100 years ago, this growth path was still fine. It gave us health, wellbeing and wealth. BUT with a population of 7 or 9 billion it is not fine. Around 200 000 more people every day are sharing a planet which will remain the same size. Unless we DO change the way we operate, we know that these trends will continue. They will be driven by further population growth and the aim to improve our living standards.

At this point in time, we still have a choice: do we open our eyes and anticipate these global conditions? Or do we choose the ostrich policy and we'll see what they bring?"

Læs hele hans tale til "ICLEI European Convention - Cities in Europe 2020" den 12. september 2011: 

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH%2F11%2F570&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en