In checking out the dates for Clean Up Australia this year, which by the way is 2 March, I came across these statistics:

• Australians are among the highest producers of waste, per person, in the world.
• An estimated 7 billion cigarette butts end up in Australian waterways, streets and parklands each year.
• 80 million plastic bags are dumped in Australia each year – creating a serious threat to our precious marine life.
• 37% of all items collected on Clean Up Australia Day 2004 were plastic – recycling one tonne of plastic saves enough energy to run a refrigerator for a month.
• To date, Clean Up Australia Day participants have collected over 200,000 tonnes of rubbish – that’s 4.7 million household wheelie bins!

“Giving: How Each of us Can Change the World”
(Bill Clinton, 2007)

• In 2004, the US Department of Agriculture said that almost 12% of American households – 13.5 million – were unsure of their ability to feed themselves at some during the year and about 1/3 of them said that at least one family member went hungry at least some of the time
• Until 2007, minimum wages had not been raised in a decade
• With 5% of the world’s population and 21% of its economic output, Americans account for 25% of emissions

“Ben & Jerry’s Double-Dip: How to Run a Values Led Business and Make Money, Too”
(Ben & Jerry, 1997)

• 2/3 of boys who reach the age of 15 in Harlem can expect to die in young or mid-adulthood – that is before they reach the age of 65 – due the physical effects of living in a subhuman environment
• The growing gap between rich and poor makes US society the most unequalled of any industrialized nation
• In 1980, 29.3 million Americans were living below the poverty level; in 1993, the number was up to 39.3 million. In 1996, the richest 1% of Americans owned 39% of the nation’s wealth (with assets averaging $2.3 million) while the bottom 90% owned just 29%

• Each year, 17 million people die of diseases that we know how to cure.
• It is estimated that if the price of the 10 most important tropical commodities such cocoa, sugar and cotton, had risen with real inflation, the countries that produce these goods would have earned almost 5 times the total world annual aid budget in 2002.
• 20% of aid promised by the European Union arrives more than a year late – a year in which 11 million children will die unnecessarily.

So I urge you to Stand Up and Speak Out against poverty and inequality!

• Over 3 million people died from AIDS in 2004 of which almost 80% were in sub-Saharan Africa. That amounts to 8,493 people dying from AIDS every day and 6 people every minute.
• Aid to the 28 countries with the highest HIV adult prevalence rate declined by 1/3 between 1995 and 2000.
• A World Bank study concluded that, unless further action is taken, current rates of HIV in South Africa will result in complete economic collapse within 3 generations.

• In the Asia-Pacific region almost 1 child out of 5 between the ages of 5 and 14 is in the workforce. In the Sub-Saharan Africa that figure is closer to 3 out of 10.
• The WHO estimates that at least 1.3 billion people worldwide lack access to basic healthcare, and that infectious diseases and complications of pregnancy cause at least 10 million deaths a year.

The good news is:

• More than 1/3 of people partook in unpaid work for community organisations in 2006 compared to less than 1/4 in 1995
• Volunteer hours have risen from 512 million hours to 713 million hours — a 39% increase

The bad news is:

• The number of hours devoted per person decreased from 74 hours in1995 to 56 hours in 2006 — a 24% decrease

So overall, more people are giving their time but they are giving less of their time. This reflects the nature of our ‘time poor’ society. However, people are contributing in monetary terms with almost 80% of adults giving money to community groups. It is disappointing to note that the wealthy only gave slightly more than those who were in the lowest 20% of homes by socio-economic status.

• Do you think it’s wrong that 50,000 people die of poverty every day?
• Do you think it’s wrong that a child dies of poverty every 3 seconds?
• Do you think it’s strange and perplexing that people don’t talk about this…. that no one says “Have you heard? 18 million people will die this year unnecessarily — that’s millions more than the population of London?

• In Australia, for $1 invested, less 1c is invested in socially and environmentally responsible funds. (ACF)
• 80% of the world’s wealth is owned by 15% of the inhabitants of the richest countries. (UN Johannesburg Summit 2002)
• More than half of the world’s population lives below the poverty line (less than A$ 2.65 a day). (UN, 2002)
• By 2050, the increase in the average world temperature could cause the disappearance of 25% of living species. (‘Nature’ magazine, January 2004)
• During the 20th century, the average global temperature increased by 0.6°C. This figure is likely to continue to rise by between 1.4°C and 5.8°C during the 21st century and by close to 10°C in the polar regions. (IUCN, 2002 / IPCC, 2001)
• In 2025 two thirds of the world’s population will suffer from a lack of water unless large-scale action is taken. (UNESCO / UNEP, 1999)
• Fair trade has improved living standards for almost 1 million farmers and their families (around 6 million people) in the developing world. (Max Havelaar)
• The world’s annual budget for military spending is US$1000 billion (A$1300 billion); the budget for development aid is US$60 billion (A$78 billion). (SIPRI/ OECD, 2003)
• One in 5 adults worldwide cannot read or write. 98% are from developing countries; 2/3 are women. (UN)
• A fifth of the world’s population has no access to drinking water. (UN)
• Every year 200,000 hectares, or the equivalent of two million ¼ acre suburban household blocks, of Australia’s native forests are logged. (ACF)
• Australia is one of the highest users of water per capita in the world, despite being the driest inhabited continent. (CSIRO)
• Although Australia is famous for its marsupials, almost half of them are either extinct or threatened with extinction. (ACF)
• Australia is one of the largest per capita emitters of greenhouse pollution in the world: 27 tonnes per capita which is double the average for developed countries. (Australian Bureau of Statistics)
• Australians are big drivers: per capita we own more cars than any other nation except the United States. (ACF)
• There are 4.5 million green power consumers in the world today (REN21) and 250,000 of these are in Australia. (Green Power)
• With the amount of sun enjoyed by Australia, solar energy could supply all our energy needs many times over. (ACF)
• Micro-credit — which allows the most impoverished to fund their projects — is helping 60 million people worldwide. Every year, 5% escape the poverty trap. (Grameen Bank)
• Every minute a woman dies of complications resulting from pregnancy or child birth. 99% of these deaths occur in developing countries. (UNICEF 2002)
• If everyone in the world were to live like Australians, it would take 5.3 planet Earths to provide all the resources and absorb all the pollution. (AGO)
• If everybody was living and consuming as the French do, we would need two more planets. (WWF)
• The sea level could rise by an average of 50 cm between 1990 and 2100. This would potentially affect the lives of 20% of the world’s population. (CEAA)
• In 30 years, the world has lost 30% of its natural resources. (UICN / WWF)
• Thanks to the current agricultural production techniques, the earth could feed 12 billion people, however today, with a population of 6 billion people, 800 million suffer from hunger. (FAO / Worldwatch Institute)
• 87% of the world’s teenagers live in a developing country. (UNFPA, 2003)
• 80% of children who go to school will never reach secondary level. (UNICEF, 2005)

The website provides further details on the photographer and the Earth from Above project. Yann’s aim for the Earth from Above project was to create a record of the world’s environment as a benchmark for future generations. By presenting these 120 emotive images in a free public forum, he invites us on a journey to experience a unique view of the earth’s natural beauty, but also our assault on the environment. With these images, he encourages us all to consider the impact of our footprint on the earth’s surface, and the role we all have to play in the preserving the future of planet earth.

“The more conscious one is of the issues at stake, the more interest one takes in our planet, the greater the desire to actively engage in change for the better.”
- Yann Arthus-Bertrand

The exhibition has been seen by more than 50 million people in over 100 cities in more than 40 countries. It is well worth seeing! For further information visit www.earthfromabove.whereis.com