Analytics, Ecology, Energy, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Forum

"By the year 2030 the world will need 50% more food, 45% more energy, and 30% more water," Paet noted. "This will only be possible if we use resources as efficiently as we can. Development must be sustainable, because unsustainable activities will prove self-destructive. But these developments must be supported by good governance."

The Estonian foreign minister stated that we need a sustainable revolution, which would mean a tremendous shift in both our thinking and our actions, writes LETA.

"We have to know the price of our actions as well as what inaction will cost us," said Paet.

He added that developments today are extremely alarming – 85% of the oceans' fish stocks are over-exploited, in the last 20 years CO2 emissions have increased by 38%, 67 million children in the world do not attend school, forests are decreasing by 5.2 million hectares per year, inequality is growing, and our ecological footprint is very large.

"Only focused global action can create change. Sustainable development is not a goal in and of itself; it is rather a path that enables us to have a future," he noted.

Paet also mentioned the need to make the UN more effective and resourceful.

"It is unbelievable that the UN spends 2355 US dollars to translate, design, print and distribute one page," he stated.

"Opportunities in a free market economy and electronic solutions would certainly help to reduce these costs. Resourcefulness must become the norm in the UN," Paet noted.

According to Paet, Estonia has already made its choice regarding environmentally sustainable development and has many e-solutions to support this decision.

"In Estonia, we have always been on the path – the path to sustainable development, which we recommend that everyone else choose as well," said Paet.

He added that in Estonia, sustainable development goals until the year 2030 are defined in a national strategy.

"Organic and ecological are strong keywords for people in Estonia, e-solutions help to bring education into the home, and an e-government helps to cut down on government expenditures," he noted.

During the meeting, Paet also introduced the worldwide cleanup campaign that got its start in Estonia, "Let's Do It!", and invited everyone to participate in the "World Cleanup. Let's Do It 2012" cleanup action happening today in Garota de Ipanema Park in Rio de Janeiro.

"The "Let's Do It!" cleanup campaign is a good example of how this civic initiative has gone global," he stated.

The discussion panel that Foreign Minister Paet participated in, "The Future We Choose: Tipping the Scales Towards Global Sustainability", was opened by the King of Sweden and other participants in the panel included former president of Finland Tarja Halonen, former president of Brazil Fernando Cardoso, Nobel Prize winner for chemistry Yuan Lee, and Heritage Minister of Ecuador Maria Espinosa.