“Although the time we have been on the planet is insignificant in the context of the life of the planet itself, we have reached a defining moment in our history. We have expanded our dominion over Nature to the point where absolute limits to our survival are being reached. We have lost half of the great forests of the world to the demand for timber and for conversion to agriculture, without thinking that these giant wet sponges are responsible for the delivery of much of the fresh water…. Instead of living on income, or the available surplus of the earth, we are consuming environmental capital and destroying its sources as if there is no tomorrow.”
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
