President János Áder warned that man’s “irresponsible attitudes” have now led to a sixth wave of extinction of life on Earth, and called for changing the general economic approach.
The president spoke at the annual conference of the Association of Investors for the Public Benefit, and said that in the next 30 years the Earth’s population would grow as much as it had grown from the appearance of man to the beginning of the 20th century. He also warned that water consumption could increase twice, and that of energy three times faster.
In the past 60 years the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached unprecedented levels, and “we cut down a forest the size of Italy each year”, President Áder said. American authorities have recently reported the extinction of a further 23 species, while “short-sighted social and economic policies now endanger human civilization”, he added. The goal is to increase welfare and social stability, while reducing man’s footprint, which calls for changes in attitude, new technologies and new financing models, the president said.
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