WWF “Greenprint” for presidential candidates

Washington, USA: WWF-US has released a “Greenprint” agenda, a policy roadmap for the next US president to address global threats to environmental, social and political stability in four key areas.

The WWF Greenprint highlights how the challenges of climate change, conservation of natural resources, food security and freshwater availability are intertwined, and how they can and should be solved by the next president.

“Conservation is in America’s long-term strategic interest,” said Bruce Babbitt, chairman of WWF-US’s Board of Directors and former secretary of the Interior Department in the Clinton Administration.

“Responsible and sustainable resource management is critical not just to protecting nature, but to avoiding conflict, alleviating poverty and promoting stability around the world.”

“In our conservation work around the world, WWF has long recognized the connection between political stability, regional security and natural resource use,” said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF. “These issues are now taking centre stage in the form of climate change, energy independence, and national security.”

Roberts added: “Global consumption of natural resources far exceeds the earth’s regenerative capacity. We are borrowing from our natural capital at an entirely unsustainable rate.

“And, as is evidenced from the current economic crisis, unsustainable borrowing is not without profound consequences. To raise the stakes even further, there can be no bailout if the Earth’s systems collapse.”

The WWF Greenprint has been provided to Senators John McCain and Barack Obama and their campaign staffs.

It outlines specific policy initiatives that would reduce threats to global peace and security by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and establishing preparedness measures for dealing with the impacts of climate change, ensuring plentiful food and clean water for people around the world, and retooling the U.S. government’s Cold War-era foreign assistance program to ensure more sustainable use of the world’s natural resources.

William Reilly, former WWF chairman and current member of WWF-US’s Board of Directors and former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George H.W. Bush, added: “The next administration will face daunting challenges on all fronts.

“Climate change is melting the Arctic, fueling deadlier storms, diminishing the availability of food and water, and threatening geopolitical instability on a scale never before witnessed. The WWF Greenprint outlines a clear path for slowing climate change and preparing the world for its impacts.”