WWF-UK: Welcome to our election special edition of Siren!
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Welcome to our election special edition of Siren!
Introduction
As you will be aware there is an election in the next few weeks and WWF Cymru has been busy putting party leaders and Welsh Assembly Government ministers under the 'environment' spotlight. We've asked them key question about their party's commitment to addressing climate change, protecting our seas and coasts in Wales and sustainable living.
The need to make the environment a key election issue alongside the more traditional topics of education and health is more urgent than ever.
Last year WWF launched its sixth Living Planet Report. The media in Wales and around the world carried the report's message that we are seriously exceeding the capacity of the Earth to support us. With a global population of six billion there is an increasing need for us to take stock of the report's findings. It discovered that wildlife populations around the world are in decline as our ecological footprint – our impact on the world - is growing at a tremendous rate. In some areas species have declined by as much as 30 per cent since 1970 and in the same period the human footprint has increased as much as 90 per cent in areas such as carbon dioxide emissions.
WWF's footprint research discovered that every person in Wales needs the equivalent of six rugby pitches of land to support their lifestyle - put another way, if everyone on Earth lived like we do we would need three planets to support us. Worryingly, if everyone lived like the average American we would need eight planets, while those in Bangladesh only use a quarter of a planet. This is not just an environmental issue but an ethical one that needs to be addressed.
Moving our lifestyle onto a more sustainable path in Wales is something that WWF Cymru is passionate about doing. This is the driver behind all our work from protecting the habitats of orangutans in Borneo to reducing carbon emissions from our homes.
Our lifestyles in Wales have a local and global impact which can be reduced through One Planet Living - a way in which everyone can lead happy, healthy lives within their fair share of the world's natural resources. A key audience who can help us deliver a One Planet Wales is the Welsh Assembly Government and indeed all 60 Assembly Members. With the Welsh Assembly election just around the corner WWF has interviewed the four main parties in Wales to quiz them on their commitments to the environment.
We hope you will consider what each leader has to say and that you'll turn out to vote on 3rd May. Remember you can help to vote in leaders that put the environment at the heart of their policies.
Morgan Parry
Head of WWF Cymru
Last year WWF launched its sixth Living Planet Report. The media in Wales and around the world carried the report's message that we are seriously exceeding the capacity of the Earth to support us. With a global population of six billion there is an increasing need for us to take stock of the report's findings. It discovered that wildlife populations around the world are in decline as our ecological footprint – our impact on the world - is growing at a tremendous rate. In some areas species have declined by as much as 30 per cent since 1970 and in the same period the human footprint has increased as much as 90 per cent in areas such as carbon dioxide emissions.
WWF's footprint research discovered that every person in Wales needs the equivalent of six rugby pitches of land to support their lifestyle - put another way, if everyone on Earth lived like we do we would need three planets to support us. Worryingly, if everyone lived like the average American we would need eight planets, while those in Bangladesh only use a quarter of a planet. This is not just an environmental issue but an ethical one that needs to be addressed.
Moving our lifestyle onto a more sustainable path in Wales is something that WWF Cymru is passionate about doing. This is the driver behind all our work from protecting the habitats of orangutans in Borneo to reducing carbon emissions from our homes.
Our lifestyles in Wales have a local and global impact which can be reduced through One Planet Living - a way in which everyone can lead happy, healthy lives within their fair share of the world's natural resources. A key audience who can help us deliver a One Planet Wales is the Welsh Assembly Government and indeed all 60 Assembly Members. With the Welsh Assembly election just around the corner WWF has interviewed the four main parties in Wales to quiz them on their commitments to the environment.
We hope you will consider what each leader has to say and that you'll turn out to vote on 3rd May. Remember you can help to vote in leaders that put the environment at the heart of their policies.
Morgan Parry
Head of WWF Cymru
