2.1. Introduction

The values stated in the preceding section are relevant to the ecumenical understanding of sustainability as centered on preserving life in its fullness: social, cultural, ecological, economic and spiritual. Here a first analysis is made of the different ways in which today, in various regions of the world, life in this broad sense is damaged, under attack or severely threatened either ecologically (2.2), economically (2.3) or socially and culturally (2.4). Some specific regional dimensions of the lack of sustainability illustrate the analysis, such as the post-socialist countries (2.5) and developing countries (2.6).

2.2. Sustainability and the ecosystem

Planet Earth is, as far as we know, the only planet in the universe where life exists. It emerged on Earth in a hesitant and fragile way over 3.5 billion years ago. Over the succeeding millions of years, life developed, diversified and flourished in particular niches in almost every part of the globe from the arctic to the tropics, on land, sea and in the air. As life forms became more diverse and complex the ever expanding web of life became ever more interdependent. Life learned to fed on itself and recycle itself, fueled only by the energies of the sun.

Humankind arrived relatively recently into this web of interdependency. Like all, human beings depend on other creatures to meet needs for food, clothing and shelter. And for millennia, the human family met these needs without damaging in a serious way the fabric of life on the planet.

In recent centuries, however, and, especially, in the past few decades, human activity on the planet has caused major damage to almost every ecosystem on Earth and the biosphere as a whole. This is due to a number of factors, including: the increased power of modern technology to impact and interrupt the processes of the planet; the rise in human population levels worldwide allied to marked increases in consumption patterns, especially the largest part of the population in the North and the elite in the South.

The Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, the First Visser 't Hooft Memorial Consultation in 1993 and other global and local environmental conferences and studies have recognized that the present global economy is causing extensive destruction to the natural world simultaneously on two fronts.

First, it is breaching the ability of many ecosystems, including some with global functions, to regenerate themselves. To mention just a few: rainforests are being destroyed worldwide at a rate far beyond their capacity to regenerate, leading to massive levels of species extinction. Professor Wilson in his book The Diversity of Life estimates that each year 27,000 species are being lost to extinction, a number likely to rise as more and more species-rich habitats are destroyed. Poor land management and inappropriate agriculture has caused soil erosion, and desertification on an unprecedented scale. Professor David Pimentel of Cornell University reckons that globally, 70 billion tons of topsoil are lost every year [Tim Radford, "Wearing the World Away", The Guardian, March 9, 1995.]. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that since World War II, about 35 per cent of the world's fertile land has been lost to agriculture. Recent controversies over fishing areas signal that there is a serious depletion of fish stocks. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) claimed in 1993 that nine out of the world's 17 major fisheries are in serious decline, and many stocks are already devastated.

The difficulties are not merely on what is called the resource side of the equation. Human activity and population levels are also breaching what is called the "sink" side of the biosphere. Global warming is probably the best known item in this category. It is estimated that the level of carbon dioxide in the air has risen 30 per cent since the beginning of the industrial revolution, mainly the result of burning fossil fuel to drive the modern industrial economy. Many scientists believe that a rise in the level of carbon and other greenhouse gases will cause an average temperature increase of 2 to 3 degrees Centigrade. The consequences of this on a planetary scale and particularly for fragile coastal communities are potentially disastrous. According to the Second World Climate Conference "in many cases the impact will be felt most severely in regions already under stress, mainly in developing countries."  [quoted in the WCC report on accelerated climate change, Sign of Peril, Test of Faith]

Not everyone bears equal responsibility for damaging the environment. Examining the notion of ecospace helps to understand what a huge proportion of the world’s ecosystems have been appropriated and permanently damaged by the demands of Northern countries. For example, take global warming. Signs of Peril reproduces a diagram on C0₂ pollution of the atmosphere between 1800 and 1988 which shows that 83.7 per cent of all emissions have come from the "most developed" countries. The "least developed countries", despite having the largest populations, have only contributed 16.3 per cent of C0₂. Yet these poorer countries are not compensated for restrained carbon pollution.

Environmental degradation is extensive today, affecting every ecosystem on the planet. Some of the damage, like the extinction of species, is causing irreversible damage to the fabric of life on earth.

Instead of living off the ecological interest of the planet human beings, especially Northerners, have been digging deeply into the world's ecological capital. More and more people realize that this disruptive behavior must be stopped. Yet unless the economic and political processes which have caused most of the harm are reversed and redesigned in the near future, the damage may even escalate as a result of the projected rise in population expected over the next 50 years. Some estimate that between 10 and 12 billion people will be living on the planet in the year 2040.

And to the dangers associated with global warming, one can add the damage which acid rain causes to forests and water sources, and how humans and the rest of creation are adversely affected by the persistent toxins in the air, water and food.

The present industrial society is also unsustainable. Even a small percentage increase in the size of the industrial economy is incompatible with the continued well-being of the planet. A mere 3 per cent increase would mean doubling the size of industrial production in 28 years, a sixteen fold increase in a century, 250 fold increase in 200 years and 4,000 fold increase in 300 years. -- an impossibility given the constraints of the biosphere.

That present industrial and consumer lifestyles are unsustainable is already true in terms of the present state of knowledge. As new understanding is developed, new limits may present themselves and demand even more far-reaching and immediate changes. A truly sustainable society would mimic the symbiotic relationships in nature and create a mutually enhancing relationship between human beings and the rest of creation.

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