The focus of the 2002 edition is the need for a global war on poverty and environmental degradation that is as aggressive and well funded as the war on terrorism. The authors state:"Ten years after the Rio Earth Summit, we are still far from ending the economic and environmental marginalization that afflict billions of people. Despite the prosperity of the 1990s, the divide between rich and poor is widening in many countries, undermining social and economic stability. And pressures on the world's natural systems, from global warming to the depletion and degradation of resources such as fisheries and fresh water, have further destabilized societies."Secretary-General Kofi Annan notes that "all of us should understand not only that we face common threats, but also that there are common opportunities to be seized if we respond to this challenge as a single human community."
The report highlights a number of social and environmental advances since Rio, including declining deaths from pneumonia, diarrhea, and tuberculosis and the phasing out of production of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in industrial countries. But many other important trends continue to worsen. Deaths from AIDS increased more than six-fold over the 1990s; global emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide climbed more than nine percent; and twenty-seven percent of the world's coral reefs are now severely damaged, up from 10 percent at the time of the Rio Earth Summit.
State of the World 2002 points to several significant impediments that have slowed progress towards building a sustainable world over the last decade:
* Environmental policies remain a low priority.
* Foreign aid spending is stagnating.
* Third world indebtedness is getting worse despite pledges at Rio to reduce indebtedness.
Increased financial and political support for international social and environmental programs is a necessary but not sufficient condition for success in the transition to a sustainable world. Active involvement of other powerful international actors, such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the business community, will also be essential.
The authors of State of the World 2002 lay out the technical and political changes needed to forge a sustainable economy. "Getting the world onto a more environmentally and socially durable course is a daunting task," says State of the World 2002 Project Director Hilary French. "But history shows that cooperation can overcome even seemingly intractable obstacles."
