Climate change threatens the WANA region with thirst
The world today needs 1.7 planets, which means it consumes more natural resources than it produces
Tunisia is among the countries that have less biological consumption capacity than local production, making it indebted to future generations and usurping its right to the planet’s ecological reserves, according to international studies in this field.
In doing so, they borrow the natural resources that ensure a decent and balanced life from future generations.
Princess Basma Bint Ali, chairperson of the board of trustees of the Hashemite Fund for the Development of the Jordan Badia (HFDJB), drew on these studies in her lectures presented on Thursday morning, 10 October at the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) as part of the ‘ALECSO Talks’ series.
According to the annual country overshoot index, the overconsumption of natural resources has made the world need to have 1.7 planets for life to continue. We can live in balance, which means that all countries are in debt to future generations, except for Ecuador, which is a creditor rather than a debtor, meaning that the consumption capacity is less than biological production, according to the lecture.
Tunisia today needs approximately 1.25 globes if the current consumption pattern continues, noting that in 1966 it was a permanent country with a surplus of organic production exceeding consumption, but the decline began in 1976, and in 2022, overconsumption began.
Tunisia has depleted its stocks today since August 1, 2024, according to the same indicator, which sets a timetable for countries to enter the stage of borrowing from future generations.
Princess Basma said that this reality is frightening and makes us sound the alarm, especially since the Arab countries in West Asia and North Africa, which represent 7 per cent of the world’s population and have less than 1.5 per cent of renewable freshwater resources, 80 per cent of them will experience water scarcity by 2040.
Among the effects of climate change that will worsen the situation in the region is the expected increase in days with temperatures above 50 degrees, from 16 to 200 days by the end of the century.
The Princess stressed that it is time to formulate strategies and plans that restore biological production and the environment to its balance by adopting sustainable agricultural techniques that ensure the preservation and conservation of environmental resources and conserve water resources within the habitats themselves (the original habitats of living organisms) so that ecosystems can come back to life.
She emphasised that this approach will not cost much but needs good management and governance.
She reviewed Jordan’s experience through the Jordan Badia , which today houses a fertile database and a seed bank, as well as a cradle for scientific research and raising awareness of the need to adopt rational behaviour that preserves the right to resources for future generations.
She pointed out that the world today is in the process of establishing the Biodiversity Fund and other effective funds in the field that would dedicate efforts to preserve the property rights and genetic heritage of our countries and promote benefit-sharing.
TunisianMonitorOnline (Dhouha Talik – English: NejiMed)
