HISTORY is replete with dramas that caused nations and empires to perish. Yet today, the very existence of our civilization is threatened and no one seems to pay much attention to this fact.

Not the UNFCCC and all the Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) and REDD+ that are being pushed to lower emissions in developing countries.

Why all the fuzz on low carbon economies? Why don’t we just take the bull by the horn and have the polluters lower their Greenhouse gases (GHG) and restore the CO2 level in the atmosphere to 350ppm needed to sustain life? I don’t seem to understand the logic.

This has been a record year for calamities. We have had earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand, typhoons, riots and food shortages in North  Africa and the Middle East, devastating droughts in southern United States and Yangtze River Basin as well as extreme heat experienced globally.

The toll has been heavy for the people and the planet. Both economically and ecologically. The pressures have been strong and if trends continue we wonder: how much more can we take?

We need to conserve water, a vital resource that has not gone far despite the many environmental conferences held in this regard.

But a positive event is the advent of the Aqueduct Alliance, backed by seven large U.S. companies and the World Resource Institute, launching a new database showing water availability in the local levels.

The goal is to manage water supplies in regions being affected by water shortages. This initiative is long overdue, given the looming water crisis. The members of this alliance  include General Electric, Goldman Sachs, Dow Chemical and Coca-Cola.What amazed me was that this initiative was not set up to conserve water resources but to make sure that water is available for industrial production.

What will befall the earth and its denizens? Already, we are experiencing water shortages and a food crisis coupled with an economic debacle. Why don’t we prioritize our needs -- to have the basic things in life: food, water, shelter, clothing and biodiversity.

With this simple equation, we will be able to solve and mitigate most of our problems.

How much more pressure we can take is just a matter of time.

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(Antonio M. Claparols is President of the Ecological Society of the Philippines, IUCN- Member IUCN-CEESP. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; http//www.esp.org.ph)