Global environmental and social problems are symptoms of unsustainable human lifestyles and population growth. The document discusses the current global crisis in terms of climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions. It proposes addressing this at the individual level through adopting a simple, sustainable lifestyle as taught by Buddha - moderate views and actions that avoid extremes. Living according to Buddhist principles like the Noble Eightfold Path can help create a more just and harmonious world for all.

1. Helping towards Global Peace
Danuse Murty
For free distribution only

2. Preface
In this 21st century we are faced with many Global scale problems – Global
warming, climate change, pollution, poverty and violence. However, all the above
problems are just signs or symptoms of the deeper causes within the human
population and its unsustainable lifestyle.
Through this presentation I wish to share with you an overview of the current
global situation and a simple and cheap way that everyone can help towards a
cleaner and more peaceful world for all. I hope that it will inspire many people to
improve their way of life and help others.

3. Dedication
To children

4. Introduction
• Intro
• 4th
UN IPCC Report 2007
– The Physical Science Basis (Feb 2007)
– Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (April 2007)
– Summary for Policy Makers (November 2007)
• Purpose of this presentation
• Basis - Recent United Nations IPCC and MDG reports, Aus Gov and IUCN
reports, and documentaries
• Method of discussion - use the Buddha’s teaching of the 4 Noble Truths,
applied to the current Global environmental and social crisis (suffering or
stress, its causes, its cessation or end, and the way to this cessation), with
emphasis on our own lives and an environmentally sustainable way of life.

5. Suffering – Global environmental
and social crisis
• Present and predicted:
– Global warming
– Climate change
– Environmental degradation
– Species extinction
– Human population increase
– Increasing poverty and violence
• Like with a physical illness, all these are just signs or symptoms of deeper
causes within the human population and its way of life
• The biggest crisis at present – Global warming and Climate change
Q: Why is the Global warming the most critical global issue at present?

6. Earth Ecosystem
CO2 and °T dynamics
A: Atmosphere
C: Snow & Ice
G: Land, Biota H: Oceans
Sun
Human
Society
CO2 emissions
Temperature feedbacks
Forest clearance, agriculture
Fishing

7. Global situation - last century
to the present
• Major changes in:
– Atmospheric greenhouse gases concentration (CO2, NH4, N2O)
– Atmospheric temperature
– Sea temperature and sea level
– Glaciers and permafrost
– Weather anomalies (cyclones, floods, heat-waves, droughts)
– Biota (plants and animals)
– Human population size and technological development

8. Greenhouse gases and Global
temperature
• CO2 concentration - increased from 270 ppm to 370 ppm from 1700s.
• Global mean surface temp - increased by 0.8 (0.6 to 1.0) °C over the last century.
• Land areas - warmed more than oceans.
• Arctic - warming almost 2x the rate of the rest of the world.
• 11 of the last 12 years (1995-2006) - rank among the 12 warmest years since 1850.

9. Sea level and sea ice
• Mean sea level:
– Increased by 17 (12-22) cm over the last century
• Arctic sea-ice extent and thickness:
– Thinned by 40% in recent decades in late summer
to early autumn
– Decreased in extent by 10-15% since the 1950s in
spring and summer.

10. Glaciers and snow cover
• Non-polar glaciers - retreating, up to 1.4 m per yr
• Glacial lakes - number and size has increased
• Snow cover - decreased in area by 10% since global
observations became available from satellites in the 1960s.

11. • Cyclones - number of Category 4 and 5 tropical cyclones has increased over the last 50
years. Their destructiveness increased since about 1970. This is an outcome of
increased sea surface temp, as they draw most of their energy from the surface waters.
• Floods - number of severe floods increased sharply since 1950s.
Hurricane Katrina and floods in New Orleans, Sep. 2005
Weather anomalies – cyclones and
floods

12. Weather anomalies – droughts
• Australia
– 2002-2005
was particularly dry.
Sydney water storage
declined to 38%
capacity
– Summer 2002-2003
violent bushfires, severe
dust storms, significant
drop in agricultural
production.
– Jan 2003 – Canberra
devastated by a massive
bushfire, 500 houses
destroyed.
• Droughts frequency and
intensity - increased in parts of
the world over the last 50 years.

13. Forests
• Clearing of world’s forests:
– contributes 20% of the global CO2 emissions, which is more than
world’s emissions from transport
• Global clearance data:
– more than 4.4 million of trees are removed every day (1.6 bill. per
yr)
– more than 50% of these are not replaced
– an area 2x size of Tasmania is cleared every year
• Reference – Australian Greenhouse Office, Global Initiative on Forests
and Climate, Press Release, March 2007
Q: What are all those trees used for?
Q: What percentage of those trees is used to make paper?

14. Plants and animals
• Species extinction – “Climate change has been identified as one of
numerous pressures on the world’s biota. It has led to some 25% of
the world’s mammals and 12% of birds being at significant risk of
extinction.” (Australian Greenhouse Office 2006).
• Current rates of extinction – 100-1000 times greater than the
background rate as shown in the fossil record.
• IUCN 2006 Red List of Threatened Species:
– http://www.iucn.org

15. Human population
(UNICEF 2007, UN-MDG Report 2007)
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Time (years)
Populationsize(millions)
Demographic Indicators: World MDC LDC
•Total population in 2005 (million) 6,450 960 5,490
• Population under 5 in 2005 (million) 616 54 562
• Growth rate (% per yr 2002-5) 1.35 - 6.7 3.27
• Predicted population 2020 (million) 7,900
• Living in cities or towns (%) 50
• Living in slums (%) 17
• Correlation between the population, industrial activity,
CO2 and global °T
MDC - more developed (31 most technologically advanced countries); LDC - less developed (developing) countries.

16. Health and nutrition
(UNICEF 2007, UN-MDG Report 2007)
Indicators: World MDC LDC
• Life expectancy (years) 68 79 65
• Under 5 mortality rate (out of 1000) 76 6 83
• Children under 5 underweight (%) 25 - 27
• Population with improved drinking water (%) 83 100 80
• Population with adequate sanitation facilities (%) 59 - 50
• Deaths from diarrhoeal diseases in children under 5 - 1.5 million /yr
• Children infested with intestinal worms - 100s of millions
Q: What % of children under 5 in MDC are overweight?

17. Education
(UNICEF 2007)
Indicators: World MDC LDC
• Adult literacy 80 - 79
• Primary school attendance (%) 76 - 76
• Secondary school attendance (%) 44 - 44
• Child labor (5-14 yrs old) (%) - - 17
Q: How many millions of children can’t go to primary school?

18. Economy
(UNICEF 2007)
Indicators: World MDC LDC
• GNI per capita (US$) 7,000 35,400 1,800
• Population living on less than US$1 a day (%) 22 - 21
• Central government expenditure allocated to:
• Health (%) 13 16 4
• Education (%) 6 4 10
• Defense (%) 12 12 10
• Share of household income (%) :
• By highest 20% of population 42 40 48
• By lowest 40% of population 20 21 17
Q: What would be a better partitioning of the incomes and expenditure to
alleviate the environmental and social suffering?

19. Predicted Global situation
for the 21st
century
• CO2, Temperature and Sea level by 2100:
 CO2: 400 - 700 ppm
 Temp: 1.1 – 6.4 °C; 0.2 °C increase per decade
 Sea level: 0.2 - 0.6 m
• Snow cover – projected to contract. Wider spread increase in thaw depth over most
permafrost regions.
• Sea ice – projected to shrink in both the Arctic and Antarctic. In some projections,
Arctic late summer sea ice will disappear almost entirely by the latter part of the 21st
century.
• Tropical cyclones (typhoons and hurricanes) – will become more intense, with larger
peak wind speeds and more heavy precipitation.
• Heavy precipitation events and floods – will continue to become more frequent.
• Heat-waves and droughts – will continue to become more frequent
• Extra-tropical storm tracks – projected to move pole-wards. This will cause changes
in wind, precipitation and temperature patterns, continuing the trends observed over the
last half-century.

20. Predicted Global future –
plants and animals
• The resilience of many ecosystems is likely
to be exceeded this century.
• Species extinction rates - projected to
increase more than 10x the current rate
(which is already 100-1000x higher than the
natural background rate).
• “20-30 % of plant and animal species
assessed so far are likely to be at increased
risk of extinction, if increases in global
average temp. exceed 1.5-2.5 °C.” Q: What is the adaptive capacity
of the Earth natural ecosystems?

21. Predicted Global future -
Australia
• Most of Australia may warm 0.4-2.0 °C by 2030 and 1-6 °C by 2070.
• Reduced precipitation and increased water security problems to intensify
by 2030.
• “Significant loss of biodiversity by 2020 in some ecologically rich sites –
Great Barrier Reef, QLD Wet Tropics, Kakadu, southwest Aus, sub-
Antarctic islands and alpine areas.
• Production from forestry and agriculture to decline by 2030.
(CSIRO)

22. Predicted Global future -
human population
• Human population - will continue to increase towards a steady state (8-10 billion?)
• Number of urban dwellers - will continue to expand from 3.2 billion today to nearly 5
billion by 2030, with most growth in Africa and Asia
• Death and disease from natural disasters - such as floods, droughts and water shortage
will increase world wide, especially in Africa and Asia
• Tropical diseases - such as malaria, will spread to higher latitudes.
• UN 8 Millennium Development Goals - will be more difficult to achieve
(UN - The MDG Report, 2007)

23. Causes of the current Global
environmental and social crisis
• Unsustainable human population growth and size
• Unsustainable human ecosystem
(people + material possessions + industries + environment resources)
– Use of natural resources (fossil fuels, forests, plants and animals, etc.)
– Production of consumer goods and waste
– Distribution of resources and incomes
– Lifestyle
– Desires

24. Anthropogenic CO2 emissions –
as an index of population average lifestyle
• Emissions per country
– Aus 1.4%
– India 4.2 %
– China 14.6 %
• Emissions per individual

25. Solid waste -
another index of the average population lifestyle
• “In Australia, solid waste generation per person increased from 1.23 tonnes
in 1996–97 to 1.62 tonnes in 2002–03.
• Australia's growth in income and wealth has created a large increase in the
disposal of goods no longer needed or wanted, with an associated increase in
waste diversity, toxicity and complexity.
• Governments across Australia and around the world have recognised the
environmental effects of current consumption patterns and have, among
other policy responses, adopted ambitious targets for reducing waste to
landfill or adopted “zero” waste policies.”
• Solid waste generation in Australia ( 2002-3; tonnes)
– Waste to landfill 17 423 000
– Waste recycled 14 959 000
– Waste generation 32 382 000
– Waste to landfill per person 0.87
(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2007)

26. Human ecosystem
Q: What is an environmentally
sustainable society?

27. Cessation of the Global crisis -
beginning with visions of the better world for all
• Visions of the future based on understanding (of the causes-effects)
and love
• Causes
– visible (unsustainable population and lifestyle)
– deeper (selfishness and ignorance)
• Analogies :
– Sick body with a fever restored to health
– Polluted garden turned into a beautiful garden for all
– A family working together towards wholesome common goals
– Buddha’s teaching of the spiritual path-fruits attainment

28. The way leading to the cessation of
the Global crisis
• International:
– UNEP (IPCC, Climate Change Treaties – Kyoto 1998, etc.)
– UN (8 Millennium Development Goals and Programs)
– NGOs (Environmental and social initiatives)
• National and State:
– Aus Government (Environmental research, education and conservation;
Foreign Aid)
– NGO (Environmental and social initiatives)
• Local:
– Councils/ Communities (local initiatives)
• Individual:
– Environmentally sustainable lifestyle or way of life
– Helping others
Current way at 4 Levels:

29. Individual
• Personal lifestyle, or way of life
– is the deeper cause of the current Environmental and Social
suffering or crisis
– is the most important way of helping to end such Global crisis
• Helping family and friends
• Volunteer activities
• Q: What is a personal success (physical, intellectual, spiritual)?
• Q: What is a high standard of living and how do you measure it?

30. Personal lifestyle
or way of life
• Traditional - traditional cultures, in general sustainable on a local scale
• Modern - secular global culture, in general not sustainable
• Spiritual - A way of life lived and taught by spiritual teachers:
– Buddha - “The Middle Way”
– Christ - “The narrow way that leads to life”
The only way a better world can come about is through each of us living in a better way -
hence teaching children naturally a better way of living.

31. The way of life
taught by the Buddha
• The Middle Way - a way between the 2 extremes of self-indulgence and self-
injury
• It is called the Noble Eightfold Path, and it consists of the right
understanding, right thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness
and concentration
• This way of life is both environmentally and socially sustainable
“They who fulfill the greater and lesser duties, they who are correct in life, walking according to
the precepts – it is they who rightly honour, reverence and venerate the Tathagata, the Perfect One,
with the worthiest homage.” (Buddha, 500BC)

32. Basis of the Middle Way
Q: What are right actions and livelihood w.r.t. the basic life requisites?
• Understanding of the 4 Universal (Noble) Truths:
– Suffering (physical and mental)
– Causes of suffering (selfishness and ignorance)
– Cessation of suffering (absence of such causes and hence of symptoms
also, Nibbana)
– The way to this cessation - the Middle Way, the N8FP
• Understanding of the 4NT - on a personal and global level, and
interdependence of both.
• Moral rules of conduct (Precepts)

33. Basic life requisites along the
Middle Way
• Food
• Clothing
• Medicine and body care
• Shelter (building, furniture, appliances,
cleaning and other things, garden)
• Education and work resources
• Transport
• Q: What are wholesome (good) and
unwholesome (bad) things people use?
In each of the 6 categories, what are the
essential things for life and
development?
• Q: Why is it very important to live
simply?

34. Basic life requisites – food
(Heinemann Atlas 2004)
• Food for thought: What would this figure be like for the other life requisites?
What is the Middle Way towards a healthier world for all?

35. Basic life requisites - food
• Human food production energy efficiency - To produce 1 kg of meat
from a herbivore requires 10 kg of plants. Energy required to produce
1 kg of meat is 10x energy to produce 1kg of plants.
• Food processing - leads to nutrients losses, energy use and waste
production at every stage of the processing.
• Q: What are healthy (wholesome) foods and what is a healthy diet?
What is a healthy vegetarian diet?
• Q: What % of the total greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to
the production and consumption of food? (Consider the whole human
ecosystem)

36. Basic life requisites – clothing
• Clothing production:
– Fibres
– Dyes
– Packaging
• Efficiency - energy is used and waste generated at every stage of the
production and distribution
• Q: What is wholesome and unwholesome clothing and what is essential
clothing?
• Q: How much does the clothing production contribute to the
environmental pollution and climate change? (Consider the whole human
ecosystem)

37. Basic life requisites -
medicine and body care
• Products:
– Traditional, modern natural and synthetic
– Side effects
– Testing methods
• People
• Animals
• Effectiveness - short and long-term
• Q: What are essential medicines and body care products?

38. Basic life requisites – shelter
• Building, water and electricity
• Furniture
• Electrical Appliances:
– Heating and Cooling
– Cooking and Washing
– Communication (Phone, TV,
computer)
• Other things
• Garden and its care
• All these things require Energy and
generate Waste in their production and
disposal
• A key advice - Reduce, reuse, recycle

39. Basic life requisites -
education and work resources
• Education and work resources:
– Computers
– Books
– Stationery
– Other tools
• Q: What is a good quality product?
• Q: What are essential education resources? What is a wise or
environmentally friendly way of using these resources?
• Q: What is an environmentally friendly office?
• Q: What are some good gifts to give to others?

40. Basic life requisites - looking back
• Q: How much, how many things have you
bought and thrown away this week, this month,
this year? What happened to all that waste?
• Q: Have you improved over the last few years?
• Q: Do you know the Middle Way forward
regarding the basic life requisites?
• Q: Why is it very important to live simply?

41. Brief review
of the presentation so far
• UN IPCC 2007 report
• Suffering or stress - Current and predicted climate change and poverty
• Causes of the Global crisis - unsustainable human population growth, economy
and way of life
• Cessation or end of this Global crisis - beginning with visions and deep
understanding
• The way to the cessation of this crisis - a way at 4 levels, based on the
understanding of the 4 Noble Truths
• Individual way of life - the environmentally sustainable way, the Middle Way
• Basic life requisites - along the Middle Way
• Importance of a simple lifestyle – for personal and collective well-being
• RRR advice

42. A last question
• Q: Why don’t some or many people change their way of life, even if they know about
the Global situation and the 4 Noble Truths?
– View of oneself
– Beliefs about this world and life after death – Universal laws and justice
– Mental development
Industries (p,s,t,q)
Material possessions
People
Environment
A quotation from Al Gore:
“It is difficult to make a man understand something,
if his salary depends on not understanding it.”

43. Conclusion
• Bad news – The Global environmental and social crisis are real.
• Good news -
– There is a way out of this current global crisis. It is an environmentally
sustainable way of life, applied at all levels - the Middle Way.
– This crisis is a unique opportunity for awakening to the 4 Noble Truths
by many, and working towards the common goals – such as the United
Nations 8 Millennium Development Goals, and saving plant & animal
species from extinction.
Together we can make a difference and alleviate the current environmental and social crisis, and so a
possible global disaster.

44. Millennium Development Goals
(UNICEF, 2006)
The State of the World’s Children 2006, UNICEF
“The publication of this year’s State of the World ’s Children coincides with the beginning of UNICEF ’s
60th
year. The report sheds light on lives in a world that is often hidden or neglected – a world of
vulnerability and exclusion. And it calls on all of us to speak up for the rights of children and to act on behalf
of those who need our protection.
Five years into our work on the Millennium Development Goals,we can see the many ways in which the
goals are about children. If we can get it right for children – if we can deliver on our commitments and
enable every child to enjoy the right to a childhood, to health, education, equality and protection – we can get
it right for people of all ages. I believe we can.”
Kofi A. Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations
1. Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

45. To help achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals, please help children
out of poverty to health and education, simply by sponsoring a child in need
and sharing your knowledge and skills.
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” (Mother Teresa)

46. References
Australian Government Department of Environment, 2007. Global Warming –
Cool It! www.environment.gov.au/settlements/gwci/
BodhiTree: http://www.buddhistcouncil.org/bodhitree
Climate Action Network Australia (CANA): www.cana.net.au
Encyclopaedia Wikipedia: http://www.wikipedia.org
Feeding Children: http://www.feedingchildren.org
Healthy Kids - www.healthykids.nsw.gov.au
Hungersite: http://www.thehungersite.org
International Day of Peace: http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org
International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC): http://www.ipcc.ch
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): http://www.iucn.org
NASA: http://www.nasa.gov
Our Environment – It’s a Living Thing: www.livingthing.net.au
United Nations – Climate Change : http://www.un.org/climatechange
UNICEF: http://www.unicef.org
World Vision: http://www.worldvision.org.au/wvconnect

47. References
Diamond G, 2005. Collapse – How Societies Chose to Fail or Survive. Penguing Books, London,
England.
Gore A, 2006. An Inconvenient Truth. Video, Paramount Pictures. www.climatecrisis.net
Haub C., 2005. How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth? Population Reference Bureau.
http://www.prb.org
Heinemann Atlas, 3rd
Edition, 2004. (Pask R., executive editor). Reed International Books,
Australia, Melbourne
IPCC 2007. Climate Change 2007. http://www.ipcc.ch
Sachs J.D., 2005. Can Extreme Poverty be Eliminated? Scientific American, September 2005.
http://www.sciam.com
Sale C., 2001. Our Wonderful World. Longman, Australia, Melbourne.
Stiling P, 2002. Ecology - Theory and Applications. Prentice Hall, NJ, USA.
UN, 2006 & 2007. Millennium Development Goals Reports. http://www.un.org/milleniumgoals
UNESCO, 2000. Education for All. http://www.unesco.org
UNICEF, 2005. Progress for Children. http://www.unicef.org/publications
UNICEF, 2006. The State of the World’s Children – Excluded and Invisible.
UNICEF, 2007. The State of the World’s Children – Women and Children
http://www.unicef.org/publications