Greenpeace response to Global Sustainability Panel report

Today, the UN Global Sustainability Panel launched it´s report "Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing". You can read it here and a reaction by Oxfam here. My quote was as follows: Daniel Mittler, Political Director of Greenpeace International said: “It´s time to end the perversity of taxpayers paying for fossil fuels which destroy our future and to admit that 'tinkering at the edges will not do the job' of achieving a sustainable future for all (1). Greenpeace welcomes that the Global Sustainability Panel recognizes this truth. But tinkering is exactly what is being recommended for the oceans, as the Panel has failed to address the fact that there are simply too many big boats chasing too few fish, and that without a new UN agreement to conserve and manage biodiversity in the high seas it will be impossible to implement the necessary reforms to ensure a sustainable marine future. Governments must listen and deliver real transformation at the Rio Earth Summit this June: An energy revolution, zero deforestation and healthy oceans – that´s a future worth choosing. We welcome that the Panel recognizes the need to measure real well-being, not just Gross Domestic Product. In a truly Green Economy, the economy will be a mechanism to deliver societal goals, and economic growth as an end goal in and of itself will be abandoned. Greenpeace supports Sustainable Development goals to achieve food security and oceans protection, but we need these now, not for 2030 – a date way past the sell-by-date of today´s corporate leaders and politicians."

(1) The report states in paragraph 139: “To achieve sustainability, a transformation of the global economy is required. Tinkering at the edges will not do the job.”