Help for a Planet Under Siege

By Adi Ignatius, Executive Editor

I probably shouldn't say this, but there is always the risk in preparing a big report on the environment that no one will read it. Not that people don't care about the issues. But after years of listening to the debates, many of us suffer from "environment fatigue": we get the big picture (pollution bad, clean energy good) but are frustrated that no one seems able to do much to help.

Well, my advice is to put aside your skepticism and give the Green Century report in this issue a close look. Prepared by Charles Alexander, who has edited TIME's environmental specials for the past 13 years, the report is at its root a declaration of optimism. Yes, our planet is under siege from the combined pressures of air and water pollution, global warming and overpopulation. But new technologies, innovative, market-based incentives and a growing mainstream acceptance of green concerns offer hope that real progress is within reach.

In this issue, we focus on paths toward a future world that all of us--corporate chiefs, subsistence farmers, environmental activists--would like to inhabit. Among the strategies: a new Industrial Revolution based on much more than just raw output, high-tech buildings that are environmentally savvy, incentives to speed the switch to clean energy sources, fast and safe cars that don't pollute and innovative programs to keep the sprawling global village from swallowing our precious wilderness. "So much environmental reporting emphasizes only the problems," says Alexander. "We wanted to focus on the solutions."

Why now? Starting on Aug. 26, world leaders will convene in Johannesburg for 10 days to assess the state of the planet and chart a course of action. The focus will be on "sustainable development": how to keep growing and lifting living standards without exhausting the globe's natural resources. In an essay written for TIME, Kofi Annan, the U.N. Secretary-General, articulates a future that could be bright or disastrous, depending on the policies we adopt.

Be sure to check out our other guest essays: a loving tribute to the planet from former astronaut Kathryn Sullivan, who has seen Earth from a rare vantage point; a cautionary tale of lost civilizations from Jared Diamond, Pulitzer prizewinning author and a director of the World Wildlife Fund; and an impassioned call to action from Jane Goodall, the renowned conservationist. (Goodall faxed her essay to us with apologies that she wouldn't be around for a while to answer editors' questions. She was heading soon into a rain forest in the Republic of the Congo.)

And while you're at it, take a look at Andrew Goldstein's provocative indictment of the green movement. Although environmentalists are doing good works, the tactics of certain radical groups not only aren't achieving results but, Goldstein argues, are probably causing more harm than good.

The project reflects the hard work of many TIME staff members, in particular Andrea Dorfman, who did much of the reporting and co-wrote the lead story; Marti Golon, who created the striking design; and Jay Colton, who organized the impressive photography. So if you tend to skip environmental specials, make an exception with this one. There's a hopeful message inside that's well worth your time.

Adi Ignatius, Executive Editor