European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 2, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Last in Western Europe seeks role of eco Leader a series Earth Summit 92 by Willuam  United press International at the United nations environment and development m to de Janeiro. Brazil. Europe will be represented by two sets of players would be leaders and supplicants the european Community and affluent democracies a a i re Germany Are looking to Lead the Way to a cleaner world but without jeopardizing their own wealth and Industrial bases on the other hand the struggling former communist countries Are desperately seeking foreign investment to prop up their poor economies and spearhead pollution control. Underlying the posturing m Advance of the Summit is the Groweg realization that pollution especially the emission of Carbon dioxide is a shared problem that does not respect National Borders. Germany sees the meeting As a Chance to take an Active leadership Rote in International affairs. Chancellor Helmut Kohl claims that preparations for Rio showed other countries were not As environmentally aware As Germany and even hinted they were 15 years behind. At a preparatory meeting in new York the United states rejected a German demand that a deadline be set Lor drastic reductions of Carbon dioxide emissions. Kohl plans to press for its eventual adoption. Germany where the Green political movement started m 1980. Has some of Europe a most stringent environmental legislation including a new Law requiring All packaging to be recyclable Germany has its own program to Cut Carbon dioxide emissions by Between 25 percent and 30 percent by 2005 Bonn recently announced that it hoped to ban Ozone destroying chlorofluorocarbons by the end of 1993. Banging Forward by two years its original timetable Bui the country s powerful Industrial lobbies have questioned the plan and other ambitious programs to protect the Ozone layer on the other hand the greens charge that Kohls self assigned leadership role is a smokescreen to hide Domestic issues such As to ution damage to German forests. France plans to announce a major ram Forest Protection initiative in French Guiana. Environment minister Segolena Royal said Quot Clear and precise commitments must be decided Quot at the u n gathering Royal said she will Call for development to have a Quot Strong ecological  she said she hoped the conference would demobilize developed countries to help the Southern hemisphere foreseeing France As a driving Force in the North South dialogue. But the european Community s Hopes to deliver a package of Concrete measures in Rio foundered when it failed to work out a environmental program. Environment commissioner Carlo Ripa i Meana declared he would Boycott the meeting. My decked not to go to a conference where virtually everything has been  he said. �?�1 always believed in environment policies based on facts on binding obligations and on precise undertakings but not on  Ripa acknowledged that his decision was due to the eco a failure to agree on a five Point program which he Felt should have set an example for Europe s partners. The european commission the dec s executive panel did approve a Carbon dioxide tax. Or Quot eco tax Quot which would impose a Levy on Fossil fuels that produce such emr masons. But several members disputed making the tax conditional on its adoption by the United states. Japan and other industrialized countries the tax highlights the dilemma industrialized nations face in enacting tougher environmental Laws while supporting the businesses that provide their wealth and Power. The Union of european industries has attacked the eco tax As undermining competitiveness while the dec itself tears the tax would increase production costs and make european products less attractive. Other dec proposals such As a european environment Agency Are Stih being debated or Are in the planning stage. The one Concrete proposal the dec will present at the Summit is an ambitious plan to Cut the use of chlorofluorocarbons. This year the dec decided to reduce Steps toward saving the Earth a saving the planet is not a Spectator  notes Lester r. Brown president of wort watch Institute. Here Are some actions you can take today to help our fragile planet a substitute fluorescent lights for Trad Oconal Butos or use Bubs with lower wattage to save Energy. A weatherstrip doors and windows. A use cold water instead of hot water m the Kitchen. A insula Al a Low flow Shower head and Lake showers of live mutes or less instead of taking Baths a use backs or other devices m your Loriel Reservoir to take up space and save two Gallons of water per flush a encourage your company to buy office Supples made from recycled material. A drive less frequently. Avoid driving Short stances that could be walked or multiply chores done on any Given trip. A properly inflate your car s tires under inflated Lues Wear out faster and red ice fuel efficiency a raise the setting on by six degrees. A conditioners a participate in rec Ycong programs or encourage your company to Start one. A Stop junk mail from being sent to you by writing to mail preference service. Direct marketing Assn. 11 West 42nd St. . Box 3861. New York. By 10163 3861. A Recycle your newspapers. A eat less meal. Cutting Back 10% could save enough Gram and soybeans now used for animal feed to nourish 60 million people. A use your own cloth or string shopping bag or groceries a use Ceramic Coffee mugs instead of disposable cups a use rat Cal tires they last longer and can improve fuel efficiency a Recycle your motor Oil a greatly reduce or eliminate the use of your car air conditioner a source of rfcs m the atmosphere sources 50 simple trunks you can do 10  ice eur to Green life site handbook 1oo1 wars you a can head the Eann Eastern Europe a environmental ills of pm its use by 86 percent As of Jan. 1, 1994, and to ban them completely by 1996. For the former communist nations of Europe which Are struggling to shift to free Market economies the task of cleaning up the environment is daunting. A total of 109 russian cities have air pollution Levels five times higher than acceptable norms the russian ecology ministry said. Besides Industrial pollution there is the dangerous legacy of the soviet unions nuclear programs which have contaminated thousands of acres. Russian environmentalists say foreign investment is the Best Way Forward since Only the West can afford to rehabilitate Russia s aging Industrial plants. The former of must countries of Central and Eastern Europe plan a to seek extensive technological Aid in Rio to restructure a Neir inefficient smokestack industries. An example of the Western investment being sought to a plan by the finnish firm of Tokumo to rebuild two Nickel processing factories on the Kola Peninsula near the Russo norwegian Border the plants have been polluting Norway Finland and Sweden with sulphurous Gas for years the plan costs $640 million of which Norway and Finland Are prepared to pay $100 million. The others said hey will provide credit which will be paid off with products from the plants. Poland Hopes to divert some of the $42 billion it owes he West into an environmental fund to tackle pollution so far Only the United states has signed on pledging some $300 million Over 18 years. Although foreign investment is needed to combat pollution environmental devastation itself is contributing to a growing reluctance to invest. A Survey of major North american and european corporations by the world Bank and the organization for economic cooperation and development found at least 60 percent that listed environmental concerns at least As important As non environmental impediments. Tough Laws do not always prevent pollution sometimes they just Force Industry to move elsewhere. Ciba Geigey said earlier this year pressure by environmentalists had forced it to cancel plans for a waste disposal Plant in Switzerland. Instead it would build it across the Border in France. The former soviet satellites also Are worried about becoming a dumping ground for Western Europe. Dozens of trucks Cross the German polish Border each Day to deliver toxic Industrial wastes to unlicensed dumping Sites in Poland which still lacks the Laws to prevent the practice. The emerging environmental lobbies in Eastern Europe Point out another problem increased Prosperity on a Par with Western Europe will Lead to greater consumption of natural resources Chain saw Progress Page 14 ails Andros Hamberg hese Afati Kevin Fox a a a Tom Loltgen the stars and stripes los argues t Nesva a by Willuam k. Stevens the new York times of All the differences humans have made in the face of the Earth perhaps none is so striking As the disappearance of forests. People have Long been cutting Down Trees but Only in recent decades have they become alarmed at the scope and rate of deforestation. Trees play a vital role in the maintenance of the biosphere. They hold soil in place preventing erosion and the silting of Rivers. They absorb water and give off moisture helping to Recycle water. They absorb vast amounts of heat trapping Carbon dioxide and lock it up in their cells. And they contain a disproportionate share of the worlds living species estimating the extent of Forest cover and of deforestation is Chancy since Many forests regenerate and Are in constant flux. In fact deforestation of temperate zone forests in the industrialized countries has reversed in this Century As marginal farm land is taken out of production and Trees reclaim it. There were an estimated 7 7 million Square Miles of Forest in the developed nations in 1900, and about 8 million in 1985. But the population explosion in the developing countries has intensified the pressure on forests there which Are one of the last sources of fuel and of new pasture and arable land however marginal. The Advent of the Chain saw truck and tractor have made it immeasurably easier to Clear Trees As a result according to United nations estimates an area of tropical Forest larger than the state of Florida is disappearing each year scientists estimate that about half the Forest cover of the developing world has vanished in this Century and the rate of tropical deforestation is believed to have increased by 50 percent in the 1980s. Worldwide scientists say there has been a net loss of More than 3 million Square Miles of Forest an area roughly equal to the 48 contiguous states of the United states about half the loss has come since 1850. Figures on deforestation vary somewhat but experts agree that Trees Are being destroyed on a Large scale and Many believe the rate in the tropics is accelerating assuming that about 3 million Square Miles of Forest have been lost that would be 12 percent to 13 percent of the pre agricultural worldwide total. Forests May therefore cover an area 85 percent to 90 percent of what they did 10,000 years ago scientists nevertheless raise two main alarms. First some 25 percent of the heat trapping Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere As a result of human activity has come from deforestation while the turning of Fossil fuels will continue to be the Mam source of Carbon dioxide buildup accelerating deforestation adds substantially to the atmospheric total. Second the tropical forests a which happen to be m the very developing countries where population pressures Aie greatest a Harbor far More living species per acre than forests elsewhere. Their density complexity and futility allow Many habitats to coexist m a Small area  r e loss of even a tiny Patch can doom numerous spec is despite disasters world population shh will grow by 250,000 today in the time it takes to read this sentence the Earth s population will grow by approximately nine before today is Over the total population of the planet will increase by about 250.000. Enough to populate a City the size of Anaheim. More than 90% of the Rise will occur in developing countries of those already More than 1 billion people or 20% of the world s population live in absolute poverty two billion people have no sanitation services and 1 8 billion Lack Basic health care or Access to Safe drinking water b 140,000 will be added in Asia a a 75,000 we be added in Africa a a 22,000 we be added in latin America a a 13,000 we be added in the reel of the world a North America Europe the former soviet Union and Oceania 1348-1666 the Black death a the Black  bubonic plague ravages most of the known work. Kimngan estimated 25 million people. 1846-1847 famine a More than 1 million die in Ireland during the great potato famine. Plagues and famines also claim 30 minion lives m China and India starting in 1800 1651-1866 floods a a series of floods Are believed to have taken 40 Mihm to 50 million lives in the be Keg Shanghai Hankow Triangle in China 1914-1919 world War i a the estimated death ton in the War to end att wars Quot ranges Between 8 5 million and 12 million including noncombatants. 1917-1919 influenza a a global epidemic Kilts More than 25 million. 1914-1920 a famine and influenza spread across Russia killing 20 million. 1939-1945 world War ii a the worlds bloodiest conflict leaves an estimated 53 million dead including noncombatants Arlisle Anders Ramberg. Research Kevin Fox and Tom Lutgen / los Angeles times via a facing a world of 10 billion people by Willuam k. Stevens the new York times throughout most of history humans have been a quite minor presence on the planet Only 200 million people were alive Al the time of the birth of Christ. By the time europeans first settled in America 1,600 years later the world population had grown to 500 million. But the human population spurted to 1 billion in 1850, More than doubled by 1950 and then More than doubled again to 5 3 billion in just the next 40 years this Post Industrial revolution expansion a and especially the last 50 years a is generally held responsible for most of the stress humans have put on the biosphere. Demographers say that though women have been having fewer children since 1950, improved health and control of disease have caused death rates to plummet so that global population increased. At the same Lime population growth feeds on itself More people Means More women of childbearing age the United nations now projects that if Fertility ultimately stabilizes at a replacement rate of about 2 06 births per woman the global population will reach 10 billion in the year 2050 before leveling off and stabilizing at around 115 billion soon after 2200 but those numbers could vary greatly if Fertility rules turn out to be higher or lower. At a rate of 2 5 births per Oman. The u n. Calculates world popu Lati would reach 28 billion in 2150 at a rate Oil 7. Which a few industrialized countries have achieved it would reach 7 8 billion in 2050 but then fall to 4 3 billion a Century inter according to conventional Wisdom a country s population will stabilize As its Economy develops and living standards Rise. This Quot demographic shift a As it is called has already taken place in industrialized countries where the Fertility rate is generally at or below replacement level. But the shift is Only starting in developing countries of the Southern hemisphere where Fertility rates while dropping in Many instances Are still double and even Tuple those in the affluent countries of the North As a result the developing countries in 1990 accounted for 77 percent of the global population by 2025, they Are expected to account for about 85 percent the u n. Projects that More than 60 percent of those will be Urban dwellers As compared with 37 percent m 1990 because the Rural dwellers of developing countries rely for their direct sustenance largely on ready at hand renewable resources like Trees soil and water growing population Puls increasing pressure on the local biosphere forests Are Cut for Wood soil is depleted water is withdrawn Al Ever rising rates in an anxious quest for income Many of these countries Are also cutting some of their forests Lor commercial Sale perhaps a billion people remain desperately poor m these circumstances of mismatched resources and population slowing the Onset of the demographic stat Many of these Are moving to increasingly overcrowded and misery racked cities in their search for Suste Amo tuesday june 2, 1992 the stars and stripes Page 15