The world’s environmental crisis

Contrasting tranquil images of nature with shocking, but sadly familiar scenes of the air and water pollution, noise and filth produced by human beings, this documentary exposes the world's environmental crisis. It explains how NATO's science programme called the Committee on Challenges of Modern Society (CCMS) is supporting collaborative projects that tackle air, fresh and seawater pollution, road deaths and congestion. The documentary also raises the issue of accidental and intentional oil spills, the need to seek clean energy sources to replace fossil fuels and ways of innovating in waste water treatment and the processing of household refuse. The narrator explains that by creating the Committee on Challenges of Modern Society, NATO was recognising its treaty obligations to promote conditions of stability and well-being. The film was made in 1974.

Tackling environmental issues – the Committee on Challenges of Modern Society.

Context:

The NATO Information Service had regularly covered the activities of the Committee on Challenges of Modern Society for TV networks from 1970, preparing short TV clips on the main meetings of the Committee. In this instance, the United States representation at NATO suggested to produce a film, with their financial assistance, highlighting the non-military cooperation achieved by the science programme. Dedo Weigert Film Gmbh was commissioned to prepare a script and produce the documentary, which was released in 1974.

Transcript:

"The Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society" – NATO718256

The causes of air pollution are many. The ways of dealing with them are different from place to place. Turkey, the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany decided to work together on the problem. Brown coal produces a heavy acid smoke when it burns. That was the problem in Ankara. Saint Louis has a long experience of industrial and motor vehicle pollution. Frankfurt is surrounded by heavy industry and often suffers from unfavourable weather conditions. In these three cities, experts joined together and produced a system of air quality assessment and criteria. The results of this study can be used by any city, anywhere. This was a project of CCMS.

And then there's water. Rivers don't stop when they cross borders. They carry along everything they've picked up along the way. One country's sewage is the next country's fresh water supply. An international organisation was needed to develop forms of cooperation and responsibility. Four countries - Canada, France, Belgium and the United States - decided to work together. In three years' work, they completed a project, which included a study of the Saint John River. The methods developed can be used by all countries everywhere to save their rivers and lakes. This was another project of CCMS.

We may soon be depending on the ocean for our survival, and we know little about it. We do know that pollution is increasing at an alarming rate. A computer model is being made. Belgium, with the help of several other countries, is doing a systematic study of the North Sea, its life, tides, currents, temperatures and contamination. The results will provide a basis for intelligent future action. This tool is a project of CCMS.

One cause of ocean pollution is well known and well understood: accidental and intentional oil spills. These have increased enormously as the demand for oil has grown. When a giant tanker breaks up, it's headline news, but the daily small oil spills add up. Loading terminal leaks, oil in ballast water, an accident at an offshore oilrig, all contribute to the problem. CMS took up the challenge. Some techniques for dealing with the problem have been developed. More satisfactory methods are under study. Fifteen nations that control 80% of the world's oil tanker capacity agreed to stop intentional oil spills entirely.

CCMS, the Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society, maintains a minimal permanent staff. This is cost efficient. How can these few people get anything done in a complex modern world? They are part of an organisation that already exists, that is geared for action, that commands attention at high levels of government in its member states. CCMS - the Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society - was created by NATO. In establishing CCMS, NATO was recognising its treaty obligation to promote conditions of stability and well-being. The members of the Atlantic Alliance are among the world's most highly industrialised nations, which means that they are among the first to have become aware of the problems of modern society and at the same time that they are among the best equipped to find solutions.

111,000 people are killed every year in car accidents in the NATO countries alone. The car was defeating the man who used it, and ultimately itself. The CCMS has coordinated work on experimental safety vehicles. Five member nations have built prototypes, two non-member nations - Sweden and Japan – have joined in these CCMS studies. Computer studies of guardrail design are being carried out in France as part of a global CCMS programme to improve road safety. Emergency medical aid is an Italian CCMS project. Green fast public transport to relieve congestion is another CCMS objective. Great Britain has long experience in the advanced treatment of wastewater and sewage and is piloting a CCMS project. Eliminating wastes this way looks disgusting, yet many of our most deadly industrial wastes look perfectly harmless or are even invisible. This means that sometimes the worst poisons can get mixed up with household refuse. We have to find safe and economical ways of dealing with them. Germany, in cooperation with CCMS, is searching for new techniques.

The sources of power our ancestors knew were clean, but they were not enough for the needs of the modern world. Later forms of energy are dirty and they're quickly running out. Up to now, we've used fossil fuels to create our energy. As long as they last, we have time to develop new ways of using untapped forms of power. The CCMS is coordinating the search for new ways; harness the natural energy that has always gone to waste; reach down toward the fearsome heat that lies hidden in the bowels of the earth; capture the power that comes from the sun. The world environmental crisis is far too great a challenge to be solved by any single country or organisation. Through CCMS, NATO combines brains and facilities to help nations find solutions that they would otherwise have to seek separately, alone.