Stockholm, May 1, GNA - Stakeholders at an international conference on environment and development at Stockholm, Sweden on Wednesday said climate change, depletion of biological diversity and malfunctioning ecosystem risked triggering 'tipping points' with abrupt and irreversible consequences for human communities and ecological systems.

They have therefore called for 'catalysing fundamental' transformation in all spheres and scales to bend the curves of negative global environmental change and bring sustainability into the twenty-first century.

These were contained in a press statement made available to the GNA in Stockholm after the official opening of the Conference christened, 'Stockholm+40.'

The Conference served as prelude to Rio+20, scheduled for Brazil later in the year, and commemorates UN Conference on Human Environment held in 1972 at Stockholm.

'Science indicates that we are transgressing planetary boundaries that have kept civilization safe for the past 10,000 years,' it stated.

The statement said business as usual was therefore no longer an option and called for new path towards sustainable production, innovation and living.

It emphasized the need for every country to opt for 'green economy,' which would ensure growth while protecting the Earth's ecosystems and the eradication of poverty.

The statement said sustainable development could not be achieved through an urge for immediate rewards or a narrow focus on national interest and urged individuals and institutions to reduce pressures on the environment.

GNA