Companies often profit from environmental destruction, leaving taxpayers to pick up the cleanup bill. That shouldn’t be the case, according to Erik Solheim, executive director for the United Nations Environment Program. At a conference at Columbia University earlier this week, he said, “The profit of destroying nature or polluting the planet is nearly always privatized, while the costs of polluting the planet or the cost of destroying ecosystems is nearly always socialized. This cannot continue.”
Solheim said we can turn around Earth’s environmental fortunes if businesses, citizens, and politicians work for a shared goal – with the biggest polluters paying for damage. He said, “Anyone who pollutes, anyone who destroys nature must pay for the cost of that destruction or that pollution.”
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Two scientists made a similar point in a recent opinion piece for The Guardian, saying big oil companies should pay for climate change. The Union of Concerned Scientists’ Director of Science and Policy Peter Frumhoff and University of Oxford professor of geosystem science Myles Allen pointed to July lawsuits against ExxonMobil, BP, and Chevron, saying they should pay for damages coastal communities face from rising sea levels. They, together with other researchers, published a peer-reviewed study quantifying sea level rise and rising temperatures coming from emissions from fossil fuel companies.
Solheim also said businesses must play a role by creating new technologies to address needs. He pointed to China as an example, highlighting the work of bike-sharing firm Mobike, which boasts over a million shareable bicycles in the Beijing area. Meanwhile, China is also working on transportation with a high-speed rail network and urban metro systems.
He also pointed to India, where addressing environmental issues has been good for the country. Solar power has created jobs, simultaneous boosting the economy and helping the planet.
Solheim said, “Change is happening. Economic-wise, we are on the right track, but we need to speed up because the challenge is so big.”
Via Thomson Reuters Foundation and EcoWatch
Images via Sgt. 1st Class Malcolm McClendon/Army National Guard and Steve Snodgrass on Flickr
