Well, here’s something you don’t often see: a Prime Minister saying that the Club of Rome’s seminar 1972 Limits to Growth report “was right”. Here’s an excerpt from a speech made earlier today at the UN food summit:
In 1968, a think tank was formed here in Rome gathering the wisdom of wise men from all over the world who accepted the call of Dr Aurelio Peccei, and Italian. This think tank was to be known as the “Club of Rome”.
Four years later in 1972, the Club of Rome released a report titled “The Limits to Growth” which gave a warning on exhaustion of resources and destruction of environment. This report caused a sensation when it was released. However, not many of us at the time took this prophecy seriously. As a result, we continued our dependence on fossil fuels without reflecting upon our lifestyle of mass production, mass consumption, and mass waste, thereby steadily increasing the emission of greenhouse gases.
The wise men may have thought about Cassandra who made a prophecy of the fall of Troy. Thirty years have passed since the Club of Rome issued the report. We are finally hearing the scream of the earth, and we now realize the Cassandra’s prophecy was right.
And who was the speaker? Clue: he’s chairing the G8 in a month’s time. Hokkaido may prove to be interesting…
