Earth’s New Geological Age
By Dr Arvind Kumar
The recently concluded the 3rd Nobel Laureate Symposium, has adopted the verdict Stockholm Memorandum: Tipping the Scales towards Sustainability, popularly known as Stockholm Memorandum. In particular, the jury of Nobel Laureates concluded that humans are now the most significant driver of global change, and that our collective actions could have abrupt and irreversible consequences for human communities and ecological systems.
Professor Mario Molina, who acted as judge and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995 : “We are the first generation with the insight of the new global risks facing humanity, that people and societies are the biggest drivers of global change. The basic analysis is not in question: we cannot continue on our current path and need to take action quickly. Science can guide us in identifying the pathway to global sustainability provided that it also engages in an open dialogue with society.”
The Stockholm Memorandum concludes that the planet has entered a new geological age, the Anthropocene, and it recommends a suite of urgent and far-reaching actions for decision makers and societies to become active stewards of the planet for future generations.
Some of the other key messages of the Stockholm Memorandum are:
> Environmental sustainability is a precondition for poverty eradication, economic development, and social justice.
> With almost a third of the world living on less than $2 per day, we must, as a priority, achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
> Develop new welfare indicators that address the shortcomings of GDP.
> Keep global warming below 2oC, implying a peak in global CO2 emissions no later than 2015 and carrying with it a very high risk of serious impacts and the need for major adaptation efforts.
> Foster a new agricultural revolution where more food is produced in a sustainable way on current agricultural land.
> Inspire and encourage scientific literacy especially among the young.
