Page 57 - Supplemento 2-2016 (ENG)

Tackling Environmental Crime throUgh standardized Methodologies

The great transition to a sustainable future

Marco Lambertini
General Director of WWF International

Humanity’s relationship with the planet is changing profoundly. We have
entered the “anthropocene” - an era of humans driving planetary change. Last
year was the hottest on record, with 2016 expected to be hotter still and global
temperatures already 1°C above pre-industrial levels.

To prevent catastrophic climate change, we must transform our dirty fos-
sil fuel economy to one based on clean renewable energy. And this is but one
of the major challenges we face. We must transform global food systems to
sustainably and equitably feed a growing population without further devasta-
ting our environment. We must ensure access to sufficient freshwater resources
for people and nature, an issue identified by the World Economic Forum as the
biggest threat to the global economy for three years running. In the face of
unprecedented pressure on natural systems, we need to refocus and redouble
our efforts to defend and enhance the value of our oceans, forests and wildlife
for the future well-being of people.

Nature remains under huge pressure. We are living in extraordinary times.
Times of unprecedented risk but also unparalleled opportunity for the future
of our planet and our society. A time when the world’s wildlife has been halved
in less than a generation; oceans, rivers and forests are struggling to cope with
our growing pressure upon them; and when we are still on a path toward cata-
strophic climate change impacts.

But this is also a time when the science is clearer than ever before.
Awareness is at an all-time high, commitments are more ambitious. 2015 was a
record year for investment in renewables and divestment from fossil fuels; a ter-
rible year for the number of elephants and rhinos killed in Africa by poachers,
but also a year when a historic UN resolution recognized wildlife crime and its
impact on governance, security and sustainable development. And while the
percentage of the ocean that is protected remains shamefully low, governments
announced new marine protected areas covering millions of hectares.

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