Reports
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Worldwatch Paper #135: Recycling Organic Waste: From Urban Pollutant to Farm ResourceAugust 1997 Metal, paper, and plastic are commonly recycled, but most of the world continues to throw away an abundant, reusable resource: organic matter. Today, we normally send organic garbage and sewage to landfills and incinerators, or dump them into rivers, bays, and oceans. And manure is increasingly dumped or overapplied to farmland because of large,... |
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Worldwatch Paper #134: Getting the Signals Right: Tax Reform to Protect the Environment and the EconomyMay 1997 Progress on major environmental issues, such as global warming, will be nearly impossible until the world's governments begin to tax activities that cause the problems. Today, environmental harm often seems free even though it imposes real costs on this and future generations. Environmental taxes pass these hidden costs back to the people... |
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Worldwatch Paper #133: Paying the Piper: Subsidies, Politics, and the EnvironmentDecember 1996 Around the world, government policies shunt at least $500 billion a year toward activities like logging, mining, overfishing, and driving that hurt the environment and thus undermine the global economy. These subsidies contribute to environmental problems ranging from deforestation to air and water pollution. The money ultimately comes... |
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Worldwatch Paper #132: Dividing the Waters: Food Security, Ecosystem Health, and the New Politics of ScarcitySeptember 1996 A growing scarcity of fresh water is now a major impediment to food security, ecosystem health, social stability, and peace among nations. As supplies dwindle, competition for water is increasing-between cities and farms, between neighboring states and provinces, and between nations. Although water is renewable, it is also finite. The... |
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Worldwatch Paper #131: Shrinking Fields: Cropland Loss in a World of Eight BillionJuly 1996 Even in the face of record-low food reserves, cropland continues to be paved over and degraded worldwide, a situation that threatens the food security of millions. Today, the grain area supporting each person has fallen to just 0.12 hectares--less than one-sixth of a soccer field. Cities devour farmaldn for housing, industry, and recreation.... |
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Worldwatch Paper #130: Climate of Hope: New Strategies for Stabilizing the World's AtmosphereJune 1996 The climate dialogue is now marked by growing alarm over the risks the world faces, and by optimism that an historic shift away from our fossil-fuel-dependent energy system is feasible. Scientific studies now indicate that human-induced climate change may already be leading to disruptive and unpredictable changes in local weather... |
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Worldwatch Paper #129: Infecting Ourselves: How Environmental and Social Disruptions Trigger DiseaseApril 1996 Rates of infectious disease have risen rapidly in many countries during the past decade, according to a new study released by the Worldwatch Institute. Illness and death from tuberculosis, malaria, dengue fever, and AIDS are up sharply; infectious diseases killed 16.5 million people in 1993, one-third of all deaths worldwide, and slightly more than... |
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Worldwatch Paper #128: Imperiled Waters, Impoverished Future: The Decline of Freshwater EcosystemsMarch 1996 A new Worldwatch Paper, Imperiled Waters, Impoverished Future: The Decline of Freshwater Ecosystems, demonstrates that giant dams, massive irrigation systems, and widespread logging often bring few economic benefits, and instead cause environmental degradation, poverty, and suffering, as well as irreplaceable loss of biodiversity. ... |
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Worldwatch Paper #127: Eco-Justice: Linking Human Rights and the EnvironmentDecember 1995 The recent execution of Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa for the "crime" of organizing an environmental campaign tragically underscores the findings of a study from the Worldwatch Institute--that the ravages of environmental exploitation are often backed up by brutal human rights violations. Documented cases not only in Nigeria but also in the... |
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Worldwatch Paper #126: Partnership for the Planet: An Environmental Agenda for the United NationsJuly 1995 Unless the United Nations' key environmental initiatives are maintained and strengthened, no government will be able to protect its citizens from such global threats as skin cancer caused by ozone depletion, disrupted weather patterns caused by climate change, or the unemployment and high seafood prices caused by the further collapse of... |