大象传媒

In his recent book Ten Billion, the computer scientist Stephen Emmot argues that the accelerated rate of population, estimated at 10 billion by the end of this century means we鈥檙e facing an unprecedented planetary catastrophe. Professor Emmot also states that we humans are the drivers of almost every global problem we face.
The various discussions around population growth which include both pessimistic and optimistic scenarios, are conveyed to us through the context of human demands, that our demands for food, water and energy will all double, treble even quadruple and that it is this level of consumption that is simply not sustainable. Add to this the changing demographics, issues of fertility, the need for more female education and autonomy, the growth and speed of air travel and we soon realise how complex but interconnected the ecological issues are. And yet I suspect that many of us are lost in these staggering statistics and feel that end of this century predictions, the focus on us nurturing an environmental conscience are really too far away to bother us or affect our immediate sense of well being.
If it is mainly about consumption and curbing our aspirational living as it鈥檚 called, then I am guilty of doing very little to resist. Even though I am well aware that our individual well being ultimately doesn鈥檛 depend on how much we have but rather how much we give, I remain someone who will probably never stop being a consumer, simply wanting nice things and often oblivious to the fact that the real price of everything is not what it costs to buy but what it costs to make.
There is a haunting passage in the Qur鈥檃n about the earth telling her stories on the day of judgement., `When the earth shakes with a violence and throws up her burden from within, and man cries distressed, what is wrong with her? On that day the earth will tell her stories. Nature is neither silent nor neutral but witnesses all that we do to ourselves and everything around us...