Les poissons pourraient avoir disparu des océans d'ici 40 ans (rapport ONU)
NEW YORK (Nations unies), 17 mai 2010 (AFP) - Le cauchemar d'océans d'où
tous les poissons auraient disparu pourrait se concrétiser d'ici 2050 en
l'absence d'une restructuration profonde de l'industrie de la pêche, ont mis
en garde lundi des experts de l'ONU.
"Si les différentes estimations que nous avons reçues (...) se réalisent,
alors nous sommes dans une situation où effectivement, dans 40 ans, nous
n'aurons plus de poisson", a déclaré à des journalistes à New York Pavan
Sukhdev, directeur de l'Initiative pour une économie verte du Programme des
Nations unies pour l'environnement (Pnue).
Mais, selon le rapport sur l'économie verte que le Pnue et divers experts
doivent rendre public dans le courant de l'année et qui a été présenté en
avant-première lundi, cette catastrophe peut être évitée si l'on taille dans
les subventions aux flottes de pêche et si des zones protégées sont mises en
place pour les poissons, ce qui à terme pourrait aboutir à une industrie de la
pêche florissante.
Le monde "épuise le capital" dont il a besoin, a souligné le directeur du
Pnue, Achim Steiner. Cependant, "nos institutions, nos gouvernements sont
parfaitement capables de changer de voie", a-t-il ajouté, précisant qu'une
trentaine de pays collaboraient avec le Pnue et que d'autres étaient en train
de réviser leur politique en matière d'environnement.
La chute des réserves de poissons de la planète est un problème écologique
mais aussi une question de subsistance pour un milliards de personnes, souvent
originaires de pays en développement et dont le poisson constitue la seule
source de protéines, selon l'ONU.
Le rapport sur l'économie verte estime que 35 millions de personnes vivent
de la pêche dans le monde, que 170 millions d'emplois en dépendent de manière
directe ou indirecte et qu'en tout 520 millions de personnes y sont
financièrement liées.
The preview report can be accessed at www.unep.org/greeneconomy
Embargo: 9.30 AM EST, Monday, 17 May 2010
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, along with UNEP Green Economy Team Leader
Pavan Sukhdev, will preview the Green Economy report at an informal briefing
accessible via teleconference at 8:30 am EST on Monday, 17 May. To join the
call, please dial +1-212-963-9806 or 963-0052. Media in New York are welcome to
join Mr. Steiner in his office in 2 UN Plaza on East 44th Street for a light
breakfast at that time.
Turning the Tide on Falling Fish Stocks—UNEP-Led Green Economy Charts
Sustainable Investment Path
Preview Report Also Spotlights Opportunities for Transforming Water and
Transport Sectors as Governments Meet for Rio+20 Preparatory Committee
New York, 17 May 2010—Investing around $8 billion a year in rebuilding and
greening the world‟s fisheries could raise catches to 112 million tonnes
annually while triggering benefits to industry, consumers and the global economy
totalling $1.7 trillion over the next 40 years.
These are among findings of a new, landmark report being compiled by the UN
Environment Programme (UNEP) and economists entitled the Green Economy-- part of
which was previewed today in New York.
The investment, some of which can be covered by phasing down or phasing out some
of the $27 billion-worth of fishing subsides currently in place, is needed to
dramatically reduce the excess capacity of the world‟s fishing fleets while
supporting workers in alternative livelihoods.
Funding is also required to reform and re-focus fisheries management, including
through policies such as tradable quotas and the establishment of Marine
Protected Areas, in order to allow depleted stocks to recover and grow.
Such measures, backed up by bold and forward-looking investments, would not only
generate important economic and environmental returns. They would also assist in
fighting poverty by securing the primary protein source of close to one billion
people.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, said
today: “Fisheries across the world are being plundered, or exploited at
unsustainable rates. It is a failure of management of what will prove to be
monumental proportions unless addressed.”
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“The lives and livelihoods of over half a billion people, linked with the health
of this industry, will depend on the tough but also transformational choices
Governments make now and over the years to come,” he added.
“The Green Economy preview report presented today offers a way of maximizing the
economic, social and environmental returns from rebuilding, reforming and
sustaining fisheries for current and future generations. The scenarios recognize
that millions of fishers will need support in retraining and that fishing fleets
must shrink. But this needs to be set against a rise in catches, an overall
climb in incomes for coastal communities and companies, improvements in the
health of the marine environment and ultimately hundreds of millions of people
whose incomes and livelihoods are linked to fishing,” he added.
The final Green Economy report, which will cover 11 sectors from agriculture and
waste to cities and tourism, will be published in late 2010. Today‟s preview,
launched during the meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Rio+20 meeting
in Brazil in 2012, covers marine fisheries, water and transport.
Fisheries—Facts and Figures
It is estimated that there are currently 35 million fishers and more than 20
million boats actively engaged in fishing.
Fisheries directly and indirectly support 170 million jobs and $35 billion in
incomes to fishing households annually.
If post-fishing activities are factored in, along with an assumption that one
fisher has three dependents, then about 520 million people or eight per cent of
the global population are supported by fisheries.
Mismanagement, lack of enforcement and subsidies totalling over $27 billion
annually have left close to 30 per cent of fish stocks classed as “collapsed”—in
other words yielding less than 10 per cent of their former potential.
Only around 25 per cent of commercial stocks—mostly of low-priced species—are
considered to be in a healthy or reasonably healthy state.
On current trends, some researchers estimate that virtually all commercial
fisheries will have collapsed by 2050 unless urgent action is taken to bring far
more intelligent management to fisheries north and south.
The report estimates that of the $27 billion-worth of subsidies, only around $8
billion can be classed as „good‟ with the rest classed as „bad‟ and „ugly‟ as
they contribute to over-exploitation of stocks.
Fisheries—A Green Economy Strategy
Under a Green Economy response, aimed at reducing the global fishing effort to a
„maximum sustainable yield‟, an estimated reduction of excess capacity is
required, because current capacity is 1.8 to 2.8 times what is needed.
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These reductions could be achieved through careful targeting of the most
ecologically damaging surplus capacity, so that of the estimated 20 million
vessels and 35 million fishers deployed in this sector, the livelihoods of those
that are artisanal and poor are treated equitably.
The report estimates that an investment of between $220 to $320 billion
world-wide is required equal to around $8 billion a year but that this
investment would:-
Raise total income of fishing households, including those engaged in artisanal
fishing, from $35 billion to around $44 billion a year
Increase annual profits for fishing enterprises from $8 billion to $11 billion
annually
Increase the marine fisheries catch from about 80 million tonnes to 112
million tonnes a year worth $119 billion annually versus the current $85 billion
“Discounting this flow of benefit over time at 3 per cent and 5 per cent real
discount rates, gives a present value of benefit from greening the fishing
sector of $1.05 trillion and $1.76 trillion, which is three to five times the
high-end estimate of $320 billion as the cost of greening global fisheries,”
says the preview report.
Water—Facts and Figures
„Global water stocks are in decline and demands on them are growing. Water
scarcity is becoming a global phenomenon that will challenge the security of
nations. Addressing this gap provides an opportunity for investments and for
water to become a major economic sector in a Green Economy,” says the preview
report.
Water supply is expected to be 40 per cent less than what will be needed in
terms of demand by 2030 if there are no improvements in the efficiency of water
use.
It argues that attaining the Millennium Development Goals as they relate to
water and sanitation would lead to global economic gains of nearly $750 million
a year as a result of less working days lost to illness among adults.
Improved access to water and sanitation would also lead to global gains of $64
billion linked to less time spent accessing such services.
Investments are needed in not only increasing supply through low cost measures
such as rainwater harvesting but also through reforms of the sector and
investments in ecological infrastructure including forests and wetlands that
perform important hydrological functions.
The report cites an innovative policy and „micro-infrastructure‟ development
in Western Jakarta, Indonesia.
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Here, a private utility called Palyja is providing water to informal homes via
community-based organizations with water connection support from the NGO
MercyCorps and USAID‟s Environmental Service Programme.
The community signs a supply contract with the water company which in turn
supplies water to multiple households via a single community metre at discount
prices.
“The community gets reliable access to an affordable water supply, while Palyja
supplies a large number of houses with water at much lower overhead and
administrative costs,” says the Green Economy preview report.
Green Economy—Transport
The environmental, social and economic impacts of transport can amount to around
10 per cent of a country‟s GDP, according to the preview report.
Transport currently consumes more than half of global liquid fossil fuels
Transport emits nearly a quarter of the world‟s energy related CO2 and
generates more than 80 per cent of developing country cities‟ local air
pollutants
More than 127 million fatal traffic accidents, mainly in developing countries,
are linked with transport
Chronic congestion is resulting time and productivity losses
Unless urgent action is taken to seize a different development and investment
path, these costs will grow as the global vehicle fleet climbs from around 800
million to between two and three billion by 2050.
The preview report cites multiple choices countries and cities can make,
including investment in public and non-motorized transport; alternative fuels
and a substitution of physical transportation with telecommunications
technology.
The Green Economy preview report says the stimulus packages, triggered by the
financial crisis of 2008-2009, have begun a shift towards green transport.
Transport is one of the major recipients of this extra spending amounting to
roughly 12 per cent of the just under $3.2 trillion spent by all surveyed
Governments.
Of this, rail and public transport represent 45 per cent; low carbon vehicles,
five per cent; roads 33 per cent and airports, 14 per cent—in other words 50 per
cent of the global transport stimulus spending could be termed „green‟.
“Funding for non-motorized transport such as sidewalks and bicycles is
explicitly mentioned in the stimulus packages of the Republic of Korea and
Norway,” says the preview report.
Notes to Editors
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The Green Economy preview report, including draft conclusions from the full
report to be published later in the year, builds on the Global Green New
Deal/Green Economy Initiative launched in 2008.
The preview report is a contribution to the Rio+20 Preparatory Committee meeting
taking place at the UN Headquarters in New York 17-19 May 2010.
The preview report can be accessed at www.unep.org/greeneconomy
For More Information Please Contact Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson/Head of
Media, on Tel: +41 79 596 5737, +254 733 632755, E-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org
Jim Sniffen, UNEP Information Officer in New York, on Tel: +1-212-963-8094 or
+1-917-742-2218, sniffenj@un.org.