Global Change Science Report
*********************************************************************
1996 Annual Report of the German Advisory Council on Global Change
Assessing Global Environmental Change Research
Bonn, June 26, 1996. Today the German Advisory Council on Global Change
presents its fourth Annual Report to Dr. Angela Merkel and Dr. Juergen
Ruettgers, the Federal Ministers of the Environment and of Science and
Technology. In the Report "World in Transition: Challenges for Science" the
experts have developed options for science to address the most pressing issues
of global environmental change. One of the central statements is that the
scientific contributions of Germany have to reflect its above-average
responsibility for global environmental changes.
New priorities for global change research
According to the experts, global change research in Germany is lacking an
international perspective and co-operation, and it is too much focussed on
single scientific disciplines and too little on applied research for the
tangible policy needs. These problems are amplified by often undifferentiated
job cuts in global change sciences. The Council therefore calls for structural
changes within the scientific institutions, though more or less without
providing additional financial resources, but by better utilizing and
connecting existing research capacities. It is necessary to reconsider
existing research priorities, to focus more on global problems as well as to
improve the international scientific cooperation.
In order to facilitate the prioritization of research topics the Council has
developed so called "relevance criteria". These criteria, e.g. the urgency of
a problem or Germany's responsibility, can help to select the most relevant
research topics.
In particular, the Council considers it very important to comprehensively
monitor the environmental as well as social developments on a global scale.
Monitoring of the natural environment calls for large-scale technical
equipment - research ships, satellites etc. - and the development of global
models. Within the social sciences cross-cultural comparative research as well
as comprehensive social monitoring programmes are needed, especially in order
to understand the driving forces of human behaviour.
Foundation of a German Strategy Centre for Global Change
The Council appeals for a foundation of a German Strategy Centre for Global
Change in order to generally strengthen the problem solving capacity. Such an
institution would conduct research on natural and social global developments
in a politically understandable and relevant manner. Correspondingly, it would
have to ensure reciprocal social and political feedback on its work. Despite
shrinking public financial resources the Council considers establishing such a
centre very important.
Initializing new financing mechanisms
The Council further suggests that German industry should initialise and
finance a Global Change Foundation in order to facilitate the dialogue between
science, politics and business. Its activities could become a topic of the
World Exhibition in Hanover in 2000 (EXPO 2000).
Compilation of global reports by the federal government
The Federal Government is asked to compile a Global Report for every
legislative period (in Germany every four years), where the political actions
and initiatives in the field of global change should be presented. It should
also indicate as well as assess the results and developments of global change
research in the aftermath of the 1992 Rio conference.
Identification of the 16 most important global "diseases"
For the first time in its history mankind has reached a point where the scope
and magnitude of environmental and development problems have led to a serious
and global crisis. Science has not yet been able to develop adequate
strategies to cope with this development, since the "classic" disciplinary
approach has no mechanisms to address the complexity and connectivity of
Global Change issues. Therefore a true challenge for modern GC Science is the
development of an approach for this specific problem structure. Along that
line the Council has developed a so-called syndrome approach that can define,
explain and help solve the "diseases" of our planet. The Council has
identified the following 16 syndromes that encompass the phenomenon of global
change as a whole.
Utilization syndromes - Syndromes as a result of inadequate use of natural
resources as inputs for production
1. Overcultivation of marginal land - Sahel Syndrome
2. Overexploitation of natural ecosystems - Overexploitation Syndrome
3. Environmental degradation due to the elimination of traditional
agricultural practices - Rural Exodus Syndrome
4. Non-sustainable agro-industrial use of soils and bodies of water - Dust
Bowl Syndrome
5. Environmental degradation due to the exploitation of non-renewable
resources - Katanga Syndrome
6. Development and destruction of nature for recreational purposes - Mass
Tourism Syndrome
7. Destruction of the natural environment due to war and other military
impacts - Scorched Earth Syndrome
Development syndromes - Problems of people-environment-interactions resulting
from development processes
8. Degrading transformation of landscape due to large-scale projects - Aral
Sea Syndrome
9. Environmental degradation due to the introduction of inappropriate
agricultural pro#031#duction technologies - Green Revolution Syndrome
10. Neglecting environmental standards in the wake of highly dynamic economic
growth - Asian Tigers Syndrome
11. Environmental degradation due to uncontrolled urban population growth -
Favela Syndrome
12. Destruction of landscape due to planned expansion of urban infrastructure
- Urban Sprawl Syndrome
13. Singular man-made environmental disasters with long lasting impacts -
Disaster Syndrome
Sink syndromes - Environmental degradation due to the mismanagement of
waste-related processes
14. Environmental degradation due to large-scale diffusion of long lasting
substances - Smokestack-Syndrome
15. Environmental degradation due to uncontrolled disposal of municipal waste
- Dumping Syndrome
16. Local contamination of soils and bodies of water mostly due to industrial
production - Contamination Syndrome
Syndrome approach as alternative concept for Global Change research
The Council recommends that future German Global Change research should be, by
and large, syndrome-oriented, and it calls upon science to critically review
and further develop this concept. According to the Report, three syndromes -
Smokestack, Sahel and Urban Sprawl syndromes - are of prime importance and
should be researched upon with high priority. Smokestack refers to the
phenomenon of large-scale diffusion of long lasting substances, for example of
CO2 or CFCs. The Sahel syndrome stands for the agricultural overexploitation
of marginal regions. It occurs not only in the Sahel zone itself, but in
numerous other areas of the world, for example in northern Thailand or
northwestern Brazil. The Urban Sprawl syndrome can be found wherever wealthy
cities expand, L.A. being the prime example for this disease.
Global Change - a vital threat for mankind
The Council defines Global Change as a development that modifies the very
character of the system Earth, thereby affecting the basis of living for a
large part of humankind. Prime pheno#031#menons of Global Change are climatic
changes, the loss of fertile soils, the loss of of biodiversity, increasing
scarcity of freshwater resources, oceanic pollution, an increase in (man-made)
natural disasters, population growth, increasing environmental migration,
rapid urbanization, declining food security, the threat to human health as
well as the increasing inequalities between industrial and developing
countries.
Increasingly concerned about the preservation of the natural basis for life
and development of humankind, on April 8, 1992 the German Federal Government
established its Advisory Council on Global Change. The task of this Council is
to annually present a report on the state of the global environment and the
social consequences involved, with particular attention onto the evolution of
the agreements of UNCED in 1992 and the implementation of AGENDA 21
respectively. In addition, the report shall present specific recommendations
for political action and further priorities for research.
German Advisory Council on Global Change - 'WBGU'
Secretariat at the Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
P.O. Box 12 01 61 o 27515 Bremerhaven, FRG
Fax.: ++49 471 - 4831-218 o Ph: ++49 - 471 - 4831-349
BACK TO
*********************************************************************