FIGURE 15 

 
 
 SOURCE: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 1994  
- Radiative Forcing of Climate Change, J.T. Houghton et al., eds. 
 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Pre5s, 1995), p. 43. 
 
 It is clear that the United States cannot solve the potential problem  
of climate change alone.  But it also is clear that unless the  
industrialized nations demonstrate the benefits of a different  
development path, there will be little incentive for the rest of the  
world to follow. 
 
Threats to the global stock of biodiversity represent another global  
environmental challenge.  Although the risks and implications for the  
United States (as well as its own contribution to the problem) may seem  
vague and uncertain, the economic and environmental effects could be  
profound.  Economic benefits from wild species make up an estimated 4.5  
percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.  Fisheries contribute about 100 
 million tons of food worldwide.  One-fourth of all prescriptions  
dispensed in the United States contain active ingredients extracted from  
plants, and more than 3,000 antibiotics are derived from microorganisms.   
Further, nature tourism generates an increasing percentage of tourism  
revenues worldwide.  Yet, for all its value, biodiversity often takes 
 a back seat in many economic development plans.  Tropical forests house  
between 50 and 90 percent of all species on Earth, but because of forest  
clearing, 5 to 10 percent of the tropical forest species may be faced  
with extinction within the next 30 years.[6] (See figure 16.)  
Around the globe people who depend on the sea for a living are already 
 witnessing a decline in the productivity of many of the world's most  
valuable fisheries. As with climate change, one nation cannot solve the  
problem alone, and the potential for economic harm is huge. 
 
In accepting the challenges of leadership posed by its wealth, strength,  
know-how, and history, the United States must first adopt effective  
domestic policies to achieve sustainable development so that it can  
demonstrate that a better path to progress is possible. 
 Falling short of its own goals may signal to the world the  
ineffectiveness of free institutions to create environmentally sound  
economic development that equitably distributes the benefits of growing  
prosperity.  If the United States believes that free institutions are 
 the best means for pursuing human aspirations, it must show that these  
institutions can respond to the great changes taking place. 
 
More than 100 nations have established national councils on sustainable  
development similar to the U.S. President's Council on Sustainable  
Development; they seek to create consensus and shape policies to bring  
together economic, environmental, and equity goals.[7]  
Some, like the Canadian and Australian Roundtables, began their work  
several years before the U.S. Council.  Most have been organized in  
response to the 1992 Earth Summit, the United Nations Conference on  
Environment and Development. Each of the councils is addressing the  
relationship of human well-being, economic progress, and the environment  
within the fabric of the conditions, needs, heritage, and politics of  
its own country.  Their council representatives have said--in many  
different ways--that if the United States fails, they cannot succeed; but  
if the United States embraces the idea of sustainability, they believe  
their own nations will as well. 
 
Because the United States is linked to the world by inter-related  
economic, environmental, and security interests, it cannot simply turn  
inward.  The nation will achieve much that is in its interest by arguing  
the case for and assisting the transition to global sustainability.  It  
can create markets for U.S. technology, foster equitable conditions  
under which U.S. industries and workers can compete, and build fair  
agreements for action to address global problems that affect the United  
States and its citizens.  International engagement for sustainability is  
a task for government in its relations with other governments, but it  
is also a task for other parts of society. 
 
For decades, and with considerable success, America has provided aid to  
nations to encourage development, fight disease, build democracy, and  
reduce environmental damage.  The majority of that aid has come from  
government, but U.S. philanthropic organizations also have channeled  
billions of dollars of voluntary contributions into national and global  
efforts to meet human needs and protect the future.  Leading U.S.  
companies have been influential in moving their industries toward  
openness and the application of consistent codes of responsible global  
stewardship. Nongovernmental organizations have helped to spur the  
creation of strong independent voices in debates on development,  
environment, and social policies around the world.  Both official and 
 unofficial roles are essential to the process of international change. 
 
FIGURE 16 

 
 
 There must be several elements to this national engagement.  One  
element is having strong and effective bilateral and multilateral  
development assistance agencies.  Through organizations such as the U.S.  
Agency for International Development, the United Nations, the Global  
Environment Facility, and the various international organizations 
 charged with helping implement the international environmental accords,  
the United States can demonstrate its commitment to global development  
paths that make sense for both this country and the rest of the world.   
The United States can also continue to play a key role in helping  
developing countries confront the critical problems this nation has 
 already solved at home, such as the removal of lead from gasoline and  
the development of environmental assessment techniques.  Financial  
support is one way for the United States to make credible, substantive,  
and analytical contributions to the work of multilateral institutions and  
encourage broader participation by other countries. 
 
Second, the United States is a signatory to the international conventions  
or treaties that are designed to promote common actions to reduce the  
risks of climate change and biodiversity loss--two of a growing list of  
international accords to address global environmental concerns.[8] Yet, the United States has not ratified the U.N.  
Convention on Biological Diversity--the only major industrialized country  
that has not done so--even though ratification was supported by a broad  
cross section of U.S. industry and environmental groups. As a result, the  
United States faces the risk of not being able to participate in the  
treaty or help shape the treaty's evolution. Further, the United States  
may forgo potential economic benefits from the import of genetic  
resources. The international environmental treaties may not be perfect  
from many different perspectives, but they do offer a framework for  
nations to use to move forward together when there is little incentive to  
move alone. America will derive the greatest benefit in support of its  
economic and environmental interests by participating in these treaties  
as well as in the full range of international development assistance  
processes. 
 
Third, this nation must not diminish either the importance of scientific  
research for domestic and international fronts or the importance of the  
U.S. role in such research.  To develop treaties to deal with new  
concerns and issues effectively, the scientific understanding of the  
problems and the possible responses to them must continue to be 
 improved.  Therefore, the United States should continue to support  
research and encourage other nations to participate more in  
international research on critical issues relevant 
 to health and the environment. 
 
Finally, but no less importantly, this nation should continue to promote  
and encourage global trading systems that mutually reinforce  
environmental protection and other social development goals.  In recent  
years, initial steps have been taken to incorporate environmental  
provisions into regional and multilateral agreements designed to  
reduce trade barriers and improve equitable access to global markets.   
These agreements may serve to enhance U.S. economic well-being as well  
as that of other nations and to promote, in a broader sense, greater  
global stability.  Much still needs to be done, however, in reconciling  
trade and environmental objectives in an increasingly integrated  
world economy. This is not just a job for governments, but requires the  
resources and commitment of the industrial community and the private  
sector as a whole.  Improved economic health and political stability can  
provide greater resources for environmental protection and a more 
 effective coordinated global approach to the challenges that the nations  
of the world face together. 
 
 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE | 
 
 
  
The Earth has a blanket of gases that keeps its temperature at an  
average of about 600 F.[9] Without this natural  
greenhouse effect, the Earth's average temperature would be about O F,  
and the Earth itself would be frozen solid.  Life as we know it would  
not be possible. 
 
The greenhouse effect is the result of naturally occurring gases  
in the atmosphere, principally water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and  
nitrous oxide.  These gases trap some of the Earth's outgoing infrared  
radiation and, like a vast blanket, keep the Earth wormer than it  
otherwise would be.  With the industrialization that has occurred over  
the past 150 years, the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases  
have increased, and new greenhouse gases (such as chlorofluorocarbons  
that deplete the ozone layer) have been added to the atmosphere.   
The most important greenhouse gas influenced by human activity is carbon  
dioxide.  Concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased by about 30  
percent over preindustrial levels.  Buildup of this gas results  
primarily from the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. 
          
The buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is expected to  
lead to an enhanced greenhouse effect popularly referred to as global  
warming.  Carbon dioxide accounts for the great majority of global  
warming; because of the enormous complexity of the Earth's  
climate system, it is not possible to predict with certainty the  
temperature rise or other effects that will occur as concentrations of  
greenhouse gases increase.  Generally though, models predict that global  
worming will lead to higher surface temperatures and to a rise in sea  
levels.  They also suggest more severe droughts and/or floods in some  
places and the possibility of more extreme rainfall events.  The Earth has 
 wormed by about 10 F since preindustrial times, and the international  
scientific community now believes that the balance of evidence suggests  
a discernable human influence on global climate. 
  
        Efforts to reduce the risks of global warming include initiatives  
to reduce man-made emissions of greenhouse gases domestically and through  
cooperative efforts with other countries.  One such initiative is the  
recently developed pilot program, the United States Initiative on Joint 
 Implementation.[10] In addition, efforts should be  
pursued to mitigate potential effects of global warming and to adapt to  
those effects.  Since the world depends on fossil fuels (which account  
for most carbon dioxide emissions) for 90 percent of its energy, the  
implications of global warming could be profound.  If the risks of  
warming are judged to be too great, then nothing less than a drastic  
reduction in the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas would be  
necessary.
 
    | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PR0TECTING A FITE OF AUTUMN | 
 
 
  
As days grow colder and shadows longer, ducks and geese fill the  
skies of North America on their migratory journey south.  For some, it's  
a very long trip.  The tiny blue-winged teal, for example, 
 starts from the northern plains of Canada, passes over wheatfields and  
cornfields of the United States, crosses the Gulf of Mexico, and comes  
to rest at wintering grounds in Mexico and parts of 
 South America. 
 
This rite of autumn may not be witnessed by future generations if  
important wetlands habitats along migratory routes continue to be  
drained and developed.  Ten years ago, North American 
 waterfowl populations had plummeted to record lows.  More than half --  
and by some estimates 
 much more -- of 215 million acres of U.S. wetlands habitat within the  
lower 48 states had disappeared since the arrival of the first European  
settlers.  Across Canada, estimates of wetlands losses for 
 different areas range from 29 to 71 percent over the same period. 
  
Because efforts to safeguard migratory waterfowl cannot succeed  
without international cooperation, the governments of the United States,  
Canada, and Mexico have been working on a strategy to protect, restore,  
and enhance waterfowl habitat.  In 1986, Canada and the United States 
 established the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, which  
recognizes that the recovery and sustainability of waterfowl populations  
depend on maintaining wetlands and associated ecosystems throughout the  
North American continent.  Mexico became a participant in this plan in 1994. 
  
The strength of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan lies  
in the partnerships it encourages among federal, state, provincial, and  
local governments; businesses; conservation organizations; and  
individual citizens.  To date, this wide array of public  
and private partners has undertaken 12 joint ventures involving habitat  
and two directed toward individual species -- Arctic nesting 
 geese and black ducks.  None of these projects has been mandated by or  
subject to regulation and participation is voluntary.  Since 1986, over  
half a billion dollars has been invested in plan projects. 
 More than 2 million acres of habitat have been protected, and 2.5  
million acres restored or enhanced.[11] 
  
"Migratory birds are a natural resource we share," says  
Francisco Flores Verdugo, a professor at the National University of  
Mexico and member of Mexico's plan committee.  "They have an impact 
 on the economic and cultural aspects of all three countries and have to  
be managed multinationally for optimal conservation." Says Frank  
Dunstan, vice president for wildlife sanctuaries at the National 
 Audubon Society, "One of the great successes of the plan is that its  
conservation impact expands beyond just waterfowl and protects all sorts  
of wetlands wildlife and species."
 
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