LAST year, 2011 was the worse economic, social and ecological year ever recorded. It was the year that the Earth shook and sent her cries for help.

The economy continued to rumble as the value of money was lost to inflation. Poverty and unemployment are on the rise.

Never has the global Insurance Industry lost so much due to climate change-related calamities. The people are suffering and it is apparent that the planet cannot sustain the present development model.

The ecology was worse off -- the wanton destruction of our forests and watersheds, biodiversity and habitat loss, pollution of our rivers and seas. Climate change has brought forth typhoons and killer floods never seen before, especially in the island of Mindanao.

Witness:

The droughts that have plagued Africa and the Middle East;

The fires and heat waves in the United States;

The earthquake and tsunami in New Zealand and Fukushima, respectively.

No country has been spared by the wrath of nature.

Until today, the floods in Thailand and Asia remain and we are still recovering from Typhoon Sendong.

The Arab spring has occasioned changes in the governments in North Africa and elsewhere.

Socially, the world has never seen so many upheavals and revolutions.

These cannot happen in 2012. Something will snap, be it an economic or monetary collapse, famine or a drought that will kill and dry our rivers and lakes or typhoons and floods that will show no mercy.

The people in  UNFCCC are a disappointment. The planet cannot wait for them and we need to reduce green house gases (GHG) ASAP. The political will must show more teeth as these occurrences happen many times every year and will get worse.

Logging was pinpointed as one of the causes. The once rich in biodiversity and forested Mindanao, our promised land, is gone.

All the signs are there and the answer is clear. The development model must transform with emphasis to social and ecological systems.

Let us learn from all these  and make 2012 a good year.

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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)