In this first Switch of 2010 the Anped secretariat wishes you a resourceful and happy 2010. We look forward to continue working with you in 2010 to achieve a sustainable and fair world soon!
Of course, Copenhagen was a disappointment to all of us. Many people around the world with their hearts and minds at the right place hoped for a meaningful step forward. But ‘realpolitik’ continues to reign. Although, continues…? It was the first time that all major heads of government came together, precisely because now they really had something to lose. This at least is one of the conclusions from commentators of the world’s leading media that Danish journalist Morten Andersen collected. He argues that the summit introduced a new kind of dynamics in global climate policy.
To us in the field, this may all sound as a poignant piece of ‘newspeak’ from conservative media outlets, but it does show that negotiations have now moved into hard economic reality. And that is a very different position to where we were 5 to 10 years ago.
The Switch is a monthly newsletter distributed by the Northern Alliance for Sustainability (ANPED) on initiatives that are making the switch to a sustainable society. The Switch covers various campaigns, new book releases, academic papers, policy processes and more. It takes a holistic and progressive approach to the sustainability debate and does not shy away from addressing controversial topics. The Switch also keeps you updated on upcoming conferences and events.
The Switch is open for your news, events and articles as well. So please send them to us !!
If you have any other recommendations or comments, don’t hesitate to contact the new editor of The Switch, Koen Stuyck, koenstuyck[at]gmail.com
“Copenhagen was more than the accord”
According to Danish journalist Morten Andersen, the Copenhagen summit did not just introduce a disappointing accord but also a new kind of dynamics in global climate policy. And this last effect might be looked upon as an advantage. Andersen went through the international media and made a summary of the most remarkable commentaries.
http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=3089
Q&A: "Copenhagen Was Great for Citizen Mobilisation"
Claudia Ciobanu from IPS interviewed Remus Cernea, leader of the Romanian Green Party in Bucharest. - "It is important that we all come together, the Green Party, NGOs and citizens, on major issues such as pollution in big cities or deforestation," says Remus Cernea, the new executive president of the Romanian Green Party. "And we have to use all means, from public protests and working with the media to judicial action and party politics, in order to achieve our goals."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49934
COP 16
In December 2010 in Mexico City, countries will be tasked with filling in details sketched in the Copenhagen Accord.
On the Cop 16 website, Mexico presents itself as a country that acknowledges climate change as the primary global environmental challenge of the century. They present their PECC-program (Spanish acronym for Special Climate Change Program) in which they propose their mitigation scenario for National GHG Emissions.
Aspirational target
Mexico sets out as an indicative or aspirational target, a reduction of 50% in its GHG emissions by 2050, compared with the volume emitted in the year 2000. In so doing, Mexico aspires to contribute to a potential stabilization of atmospheric GHG concentrations at a level not exceeding 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), compatible with limiting the Earth’s average temperature increase to between 2°and 3° C, and a flexible convergence towards global average per capita emissions of 2.8 tons of CO2e, in 2050. In this desirable trajectory towards reduction, Mexico’s emissions would have to reach an inflection point in the second decade of this century, and then decrease gradually to reach the level indicated in 2050: approximately 340 million tons of CO2e (MtCO2e).
http://www.cop16.mx/3w
Sustainable development and economic growth: Overview and reflections on initiatives in Europe and beyond
This Quarterly Report (QR) focuses on the linkages between sustainable development and economic growth from a conceptual perspective and provides reflections of these concepts in the strategies, initiatives and other exploratory events at the international, European Union and national level. The QR is subdivided into four parts. After outlining the historical development of the growth debate and its linkages to the sustainable development process, the current paradigms and the divergences between mainstream economics and ecological economics are presented in the first part. In the second part, the QR presents the manifestation of these concepts in the current Lisbon and European Sustainable Development Strategy (EU SDS).
Strategies
The third part provides an overview of strategies, initiatives and events at international level, specifically from international institutions (UN and OECD), the EU institutions and initiatives in the EU Member States (France, UK, Ireland and Austria) and of selected Green Parties in Europe. For each strategy or initiative, the QR provides background information, lists objectives and topics covered, and gives information on the coverage of specific topics such as sustainable consumption, knowledge and innovation, employment and education. The overview on strategies and initiatives also includes information on responsible institutions and on implementation tools and shows follow-up measures for the future. Finally, the QR presents some concluding remarks on similarities and differences between these strategies and initiatives in their understanding of economic growth and sustainable development.
http://www.sd-network.eu/?k=quarterly%20reports
New Report: GREEN JOBS AND WOMEN WORKERS - Employment, Equity, Equality
Women may be excluded from the green economy due to gender-segregated employment, discrimination, and traditional attitudes. The lack of gender equality is decreasing the access of women to green positions in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. Although they are the foundation of sustainable households, women agricultural workers in poor countries are a marginalized group. Most green jobs are expected to be in the secondary sectors of construction, manufacturing and energy production, where women are significantly underrepresented. Women may fare better in the tertiary sector where most are now employed. However, men dominate the better paid jobs in engineering, financial and business services, where the bulk of green service positions are likely to be created.
Candice Stevens prepared this report on green jobs and women workers for the International Labour Foundation for Sustainable Development (Sustainlabour) and the International Trade Union Confederation. She welcomes readers of The Switch to give comments. Candice is now working on the revision of the document. It is also available in French and Spanish.
You can send comments to Candice Stevens (canstevens[at]gmail.com) and/or Julianna Angelova (jangelova[at]sustainlabour.org)
http://www.sustainlabour.org/dmdocuments/en255_2009.pdf
2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity
The huge variety of all living species on our Planet is a key element to life as we know it. However, too many species – including a fourth of mammals – are at risk of extinction. This has to be changed and real protection has to increase. This is why The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. For the occasion the WWF issued a list of ten species to watch in 2010 as they are at risk of becoming extinct. Among the list is the tiger. What would Calvin become without Hobbes ?
Self-interest
According to the UNEP press release, biodiversity – the variety of all living things and the interactions between them – urgently needs to be conserved for us and future generations. “Conserving biodiversity is in our self-interest. Biological resources are the pillars upon which we build civilizations. Specifically, biodiversity and the ecosystems it forms are essential for sustaining the living networks and systems that provide us all with health, wealth, food, fuel and the vital services our lives depend on.”
“Goods and services” provided by ecosystems include:
- Provision of food, fuel and fibre
- Provision of shelter and building materials
- Purification of air and water
- Waste recycling
- A stable climate
- Mitigation of floods, droughts, temperature extremes and destructive winds
- Generation and renewal of soil fertility, including nutrient cycling
- Pollination of plants, including many crops
- Control of pests and diseases
- Maintenance of genetic resources which are key inputs to crop varieties and livestock breeds, medicines, and other products
- Cultural and aesthetic benefits
“The loss of biodiversity destabilizes ecosystems, and weakens their ability to withstand natural disasters such as floods, droughts and hurricanes, and with human-caused stresses, such as pollution and climate change.”
2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity, and people all over the world are working to safeguard this irreplaceable natural wealth and reduce biodiversity loss. This is vital for current and future human well-being.
http://unep.org/iyb
Indonesia finally resolved to slow down deforestation
According to Reuters, Indonesia will rehabilitate degraded forests and plant millions of hectares of new forests to meet its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent from projected levels by 2020
Presenting in Jakarta, Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said that 500,000 hectares of new forest would be planted each year from now until 2020, at a cost of 2.5 trillion rupiah ($269 million) per year. Indonesia would also rehabilitate 300,000 hectares of degraded forest every year using funds from international donors.
26 percent emissions cuts
In all Hasan said that Indonesia could expand its forest cover by up to 21 million hectares by 2020, although it wasn’t immediately clear the extent to which new forest would consist of plantations.“If the scenario described proceeds, if the planting proceeds, we can reach more than 26 percent (in emissions cuts),” Hasan was quoted as saying by Reuters. “If we can also eradicate illegal logging, then the 26 percent will be achieved entirely in the forestry and peat sector.
Degradation and destruction
However reaching these targets will be a challenge. By some estimates illegal logging may account for up to half of logging in Indonesia. Meanwhile palm oil producers are eagerly eying peatlands for new plantations. Last year President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened up some 2 million hectares of peatlands for development. A report released last year by the Indonesian government revealed that degradation and destruction of peatlands (45 percent) and forests (35 percent) account for 80 percent of Indonesia’s 2.3 billion tons of CO2 emissions per year.
There are not emissions cuts per say, but divergences from business as usual scenarios. This is not absolutely fantastic but it shows that local governments not only acknowledge there is a problem but also that they are ready to try and solve it as long as they receive help from wealthier nations.
Indigenous leader forced to surrender carbon rights for REDD in Papua New Guinea
Tom Goldtooth from the Indigenous Environmental Network sent out an alarming press release about an Indigenous leader that was kidnapped and forced at gunpoint to surrender carbon rights. Carbon traders force indigenous peoples to sign over their territories for UN programs REDD or REDD-plus (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).
According to the release, Carbon Markets Violate Indigenous Peoples' Rights and Threaten Cultural Survival. A recent World News Australia television exposé sheds light on the risks of REDD, carbon traders and the shocking kidnapping of a Papuan New Guinea native leader. Abilie Wape, a leader of the Kamula Doso Peoples claims he was forced at gun point to surrender the carbon rights of his tribe's forest.
Evictions in Kenia
Another REDD-type project, a UNEP-funded carbon forestry project in the Mau forest of Kenya has resulted in evictions and threatens the cultural survival of the Ogiek hunter-gathers. "Ordering us to leave Mau is like taking a fish out of water and expecting it to survive" said Ogiek People Development Program Director Daniel Kobei. According to REDD Monitor, "UNEP's failure to prevent the eviction of thousands of people to make way for a carbon project does not bode well for the millions of Indigenous Peoples and forest dwelling communities of the world."
Survival International reports that REDD schemes could leave Indigenous Peoples with nothing. "Everyone who cares about our future, forests, Indigenous Peoples and human rights should reject REDD because it is irremediably flawed, cannot be fixed and because, despite efforts to develop safeguards for its implementation, REDD will always be potentially genocidal," concluded Goldtooth.
Read the complete press release.
SEED launches a new online database about its winners
The Seed Initiative, a global network founded in 2002 by UNEP, UNDP and IUCN wants to contribute towards the goals in the UN’s Millennium Declaration and the commitments made at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development. Through an annual, global awards scheme SEED reveals a wealth of novel ways of doing business through partnerships and provides international recognition to the most promising enterprises. SEED Award Winners then receive a tailored package of support services to help them to become established and to increase their impact. This includes access to relevant expertise and technical assistance, meeting new partners and building networks, developing business plans and identifying sources of finance.
Winners database
An important new feature of the SEED website: the online Winners’ database. Since 2005 SEED has been working with exceptional and promising projects that won a SEED award. As part of SEED’s ongoing support to the alumni and present winners, SEED has developed a dynamic and interactive online platform where the winners can profile their initiative in more detail. If you would like to find out more about the SEED winners, you can check their detailed project description or their future growth plans.
http://www.seedinit.org/winners-database.
Gordon Brown unveils £100bn wind farm gamble
The first week of January, UK’s prime minister Gordon Brown launched a £100 billion green power revolution when he awarded a raft of development contracts to build a new generation of offshore wind farms.
Offshore wind farms
The government envisages a third of the UK’s energy coming from wind power by 2020. The plan is far and away the most ambitious in the world and comprises the central plank of the country’s efforts to cut emissions. It revolves round the construction of nine enormous offshore wind farms on parcels put up for auction by the Crown Estate, owner of the UK’s territorial seabed. The sites will cost more than £100 billion to develop.
The prime minister is expected to use the announcement of the winners, to be made at an event in Exeter, to highlight the employment and economic benefits of the programme. The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) estimates it will create up to 60,000 jobs.
Read full article on Timesonline.
Lecture: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth
On Tuesday January 26 the 67th Aurelio Peccei Lecture in Brussels has the following subject: Agenda for a New Economy: by David C. Korten (US). Organizers are the Club of Rome EU-Chapter (Brussels) CoR-EU, The European Support Center (Vienna) COR-ESC. In collaboration with Flemish/Dutch Platform on Sustainable and Fair Economy and Oikos
Treating cancer with band aids
Today’s economic crisis is the worst since the Great Depression. However, as David C. Korten shows, the steps being taken to address it -including pouring trillions of dollars into bailouts for the Wall Street institutions that created the mess- do nothing to deal with the reality of a failed economic system. It’s like treating cancer with band aids. The financial collapse now in the public spotlight is only the tip of the iceberg; the system’s social and environmental failures risk to be even more destructive. Korten identifies the deeper sources of the failure: Wall Street institutions that have perfected the art of creating phantom “wealth” without producing anything of real value. Its major players engage in speculative trading, buy into asset bubbles, create debt pyramids, and engage in predatory lending practices. Their seeming success created an economic mirage that led us to believe the economy was expanding exponentially, even as our economic, social, and natural capital eroded and most people struggled ever harder to make ends meet. Our hope lies not with Wall Street, Korten argues, but with Main Street, which creates real wealth from real resources to meet real needs. He outlines an agenda to liberate the latent entrepreneurial energies of Main Street from Wall Street’s deadly grip and bring into being a new economy—locally based, community-oriented, and devoted to creating a better life for all, not simply increasing profits.
Korten’s intention is not to offer final answers, but rather to provoke discussion of options that powerful interests prefer not be mentioned. These interests devised the system that has brought us to the brink of ruin. It’s time to turn away from the Wall Street system of phantom wealth and return to an economy firmly rooted in the longterm health of people and the planet.
Practical’s:
- Venue: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium (Vesalius room) , Hertogstraat, 1, rue Ducale B-1000 Brussels.
- Date: Tuesday January 26, 2010 at 18:00-20:00
- The lecture will be followed by refreshments. After the event all participants are invited to join the speaker for dinner (participation is at own cost).
- For planning and logistical reasons, please send your registration for the lecture as well as for dinner to cor.eu.secretary@gmail.com
Growth in Transition - International Conference, 28 – 29 January 2010
Prosperity and quality of life call for economic strategies that are soundly financed, equitably allocated, that deal responsibly with the world’s resources, while taking into account the material and immaterial needs of mankind. Such a positive future scenario cannot be put on the same level with a permanent or even exponential increase of the economic production (GDP).
We can achieve this goal though, by taking specific measures to alter the incentive systems and regulations of our national economies. While this is the responsibility of governments, the design of those measures must be the result of a wide public debate. The international conference in Vienna aims to start such a wide debate on ‘Growth in Transition’ with various stakeholders and to contemplate first approaches.
Discussion
The main topics will be discussed in key note speeches, discussions and nine (partly parallel) sessions. A detailed conference program is available at www.growthintransition.eu. Everyone’s invited to discuss the topics and questions in the run-up to the conference at http://www.growthintransition.eu/discussion-forum
Growth in Transition will be discussed at the conference on the basis of the following themes:
- Money and the Financial System
- Growth and Resource Use
- Social Justice and Poverty
- Sustainable Production and Consumption
- Regional Aspects
- Macroeconomics for Sustainability
- Quality of Life and Measurement of Prosperity
- Work
- Governance
- Sustainable Management
Practical’s:
- The conference takes place in: Aula der Wissenschaften, Wollzeile 27a, 1010 Vienna
- Conference Language: German and English with simultaneous translation English/German
- Registration: www.growthintransition.eu - Deadline: 15.01.2010
- Fees all in: 100,- EUR - reduction for students: 50,– EUR - Refunding due to cancellation is not possible
Target Group: Politics, science, civil society, public administration, business.
In case of questions please contact: regina.weber@lebensministerium.at
You Are Here: Exposing the Vital Link Between What We Do and What That Does to Our Planet
In a travelogue heavy on statistics but disappointingly pale in atmospherics, Kostigan (The Green Book) invites readers to accompany him on a trip into the thick of the most environmentally tenuous places on the planet to observe the havoc caused by human behavior, from Jerusalem, where acid rain and global warming–induced salt weathering are wearing down the Western Wall, to the sewage-logged Great Lakes. He visits the future: the orgy of color, mayhem, flash modernity, and squalor of Mumbai; Linfen City, China, the dirtiest place on Earth; and the Eastern Garbage Patch, a mid-Pacific lethal marine habitat of trash twice the size of Texas. Post-trip, Kostigen exclaims, Now I see people in my actions.... I feel differently about what I do and what it does to the planet. Unfortunately, his feeble powers of description convey little feeling to the reader (the Amazon jungle is definitely a bit of Survivor out here) and his naïvely optimistic claim that We have changed the Earth's natural course of development and we can just as easily change its course again—for the better is less than convincing.
Order this book: HarperOne; Original edition (January 19, 2010)
Pragmatic Sustainability: Theoretical and Practical Tools, by Steven A. Moore (Editor)
Though many disciplines have been advocating the need to create a world which is sustainable, too often the theories and ideas are discipline specific and too narrow for comprehensive adoption. The authors of this book– all leading thinkers in their fields – instead propose a more general way of thinking, a pragmatic and pluralistic approach. Rather than suggesting a single solution to the problem of how to live sustainably, this collection instead discusses broader approaches to social and environmental change.
The ideas here contribute to important cross-disciplinary discourses which emphasise the need to think beyond the present and consider the consequences of our actions. Utilising knowledge from architecture, business, economics, engineering, history, philosophy, planning, science and technological studies this book supports a constantly changing approach to the issues we currently are, and will shortly be, facing in our planet’s future.
Aimed primarily at students, this text appeals to undergraduates and postgraduates in almost any discipline, especially those interested in how to secure a future in which we can live productively but not destructively with those other humans and non-humans which inhabit the Earth.
Order this book: Routledge; 1st edition (Feb 15 2010)
Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development
Development Agendas in a Changing World, by Ricardo Melendez-Ortiz (Editor), Pedro Roffe (Editor)
Experience, as well as cyclical attitudes to intellectual property (IP), shows that there is no particular 'one-size-fits-all' model of IP protection. This comprehensive book explores the pervasive importance of IP in the new world of globalization and the knowledge economy. Each detailed chapter explores new and emerging IP issues from the perspective of development, examining how trends contribute to or hamper this process.
Order this book: Edward Elgar Pub (Feb 28 2010)
