UN report calls for fundamental change in tackling environmental crises

(MENAFN) A new report from the United Nations University, released on Wednesday, highlights the urgent need for humanity to go beyond simply managing the symptoms of environmental crises and to address their fundamental causes. The 2025 Interconnected Disaster Risks report, titled Turning Over a New Leaf, produced by the Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), critiques existing strategies as often being "superficial fixes."

The report calls for a transformation in societal priorities, recommending that instead of merely increasing plastic bag recycling efforts, the focus should shift towards significantly cutting down on plastic consumption.

Similarly, the report emphasizes that rather than solely working on mitigating the impacts of global warming—such as through experimental atmospheric cooling—efforts should be redirected to tackle its root cause: a major reduction in fossil fuel consumption.

"We cannot expect real change unless we explore the reasons behind our actions and question why we are doing what we are doing," the report asserts. It cautions that many well-intentioned initiatives, such as recycling, provide benefits "only to a certain extent if we continue to produce ever-increasing volumes of garbage."

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