SHIFT mag [n°5] - Can Europe save the Earth?

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12 20 © Mi Ran Collin 01 Î03 2008 [N°5] Can Europe save the Earth? EUROPE TALKS TO BRUSSELS

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This fifth issue of SHIFT Mag marks the first anniversary of our magazine. To celebrate our sustainability, we've put together an exciting issue on what Europeans and others can do to save the planet. We all have a bit of waking up to do. What you'll get is an inspiring mix of and faces that try to help us change the way we perceive and live in our environment.

Transcript of SHIFT mag [n°5] - Can Europe save the Earth?

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Can Europe save the Earth?

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Breaking the boundaries of

communication

CONTENT

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Biomimicry: nature knows best

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Putting knowledge

before profit

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Reservoir Blogs

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Sweden, Europe’s green engine?

> 12

Shiftingwith...

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PostScript

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Population and the ecological crisis

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GoodMorning, ClimateChange

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Europe’s green calling

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Juan ArcasSHIFT MagPublisherBrussels

EDITORIAL

SHIFT MagEUROPE TALKS TO BRUSSELSAvenue de Tervueren 2701150 Brussels – Belgiumwww.shiftmag.eu

Publisher: Juan [email protected]

Editor: Victor FLEUROT • T. +32 2 235 56 [email protected]

Contributors to this issue: Rasmus BENESTAD (Oslo), Zoë CARON (Ottawa), Gauthier CHAPELLE (Brussels), Frédéric DARMUZEY (Brussels), John FEENEY (Boulder, Colorado), Mikael OLSSON (Brussels/Stockholm), Bruno TURNHEIM (Brussels), Laurent VAN BRUSSEL (Brussels)Illustrations: Mi Ran COLLIN, Brieuc HUBIN, François TACOEN, Emmanuel TREPANT, Roberto TRIOSCHI, Christophe WANLINPhotography: Brieuc HUBIN, Mikael OLSSON, International Polar Foundation, iStockphotoSpecial thanks to Alain HUBERT and Lise JOHNSON from the International Polar Foundation for the interview material, the Tipik models for the Reservoir Blogs photos, Ann MACPHERSON, Abigail ACTON and Maria GALLO for linguistic supportProduction & coordination: Nadine [email protected] & Graphics: Tipik StudioPrinted by: Van Ruys, BrusselsAdministration & subscription: Gabriela OLSSON • T. + 32 2 235 56 44 [email protected] advertise in SHIFT Mag contact: Guy DE SAN • T. +32 2 235 56 [email protected]

SHIFT Mag • 2008

Tipik Communication – A SWORD Group Company.Avenue de Tervueren 270 – 1150 Brussels – Belgium.

Free quarterly publication (cannot be sold). Published by Tipik Communication. Reproduction in any form is prohibited without prior consent. The views expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent those of SHIFT Mag.

[ N° 5 ] > SHIFTmag 03

Welcome to the fi fth issue of SHIFT Mag, which also marks the fi rst anniversary of our magazine. It’s a small step for mankind, but a big step for us. A year on, we’re as hungry and determined to inject fresh ideas and perspectives into the European debate.

To celebrate our sustainability, we’ve put together an exciting issue on what Europeans and others can do to save the planet. While planning for this issue back in 2007, we thought we’d be talking about the aftermath of the Bali conference. This gathering of the world’s leaders having been a muted success, you won’t read much about it in here.

What you'll get is an inspiring mix of new ideas and faces that try to help us change the way we perceive and live in our environment. Ever heard of biomimicry? Aware of the consequences of overpopulation? We all still have a bit of waking up to do.

Forget Bali, Antarctica was the place to be this winter. Two freshly returned, polar explorers share their views on climate change with us: Zoë Caron tells us about tomorrow’s climate leaders, while Alain Hubert is the fi rst guest in our new series of high-profi le interviews.

Our fi rst anniversary issue also sees the launch of two exciting new features: Mr Shift’s Reservoir Blogs and Laurent van Brussel’s lyrical Postscript.

The overall message is: get up and go!

Enjoy the read and drop us a line at www.shiftmag.eu

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I was sitting at the kitchen table at 6am last Tuesday morning, a loyal cup of dark coff ee to my left and a notebook displaying my sporadic handwritten notes to my right. My co-author, Elizabeth May, in an identi-cal set-up on the other side of the table. Staring directly at me were the notes from a scientist from the Nobel Prize winning International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), who is review-ing our manuscript “Global Warming for Dummies”. Track changes on my Word document sent a chill down my barely-awake spine as I focused my early-morning eyes:

“Deleted: 379 p.p.m.”

“Inserted: 388 p.p.m.”

P.p.m is short end for parts per mil-lion, the measurement used for the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. 400 is the number we want to stay away from. It’s in between 400 and 500 that things get really messy. I hadn’t planned on get-ting to know number 388 until 2010 or 2011. Now here I was, as if I’d been shot into the future, and it was staring at me on a glowing screen, in 2008.

“Good morning to you too, climate change”, I thought.

The climate generation

Not enough has been done in the past 20 years to reduce emissions that are causing global warming. But in those 20 years, dedicated people built a base of international environ-mental awareness. And in those same 20 years, a new generation of people emerged taking a strong lead on climate change.

It’s a common sentiment among people my age - those of us who were born when the fi rst consensus came out on climate change by the interna-tional scientifi c community. Who was watching when we were 5-years-old and the IPCC wrote the fi rst major climate change report? Who was in charge when we were 10 and science showed that humans were changing the climate? And what was the world doing at the creation of the Kyoto Protocol when we were 12?

But then we get a twinkle in our eyes as we remember that we dedi-cated ourselves to climate change at 18. We smile at each other when

remembering being at the fi rst meet-ing of the Kyoto Protocol at age 19. And we break into a full grin when we realise we’re creating more changes than we ever thought possible at age 22. Meet my generation. The genera-tion that woke up to climate change.

Raising global awareness

A new movement is happening, and it’s more than just a feeling, a thought, or an interpretation. In the past 4 years, 5 major youth coalitions have sprung to life: the Energy Action Coalition (US and Canada based), the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change, and, most recently, the Chinese Youth Climate Action Network - arising in the areas most needed. My generation - from children to young adults in our 20s - is proving to be the international catalyst of a new focus and a new era of awareness.

Never before have we been able to connect around the world in net-works as far-reaching as today. Never in the history of humankind has there

GOOD MORNING, CLIMATE CHANGE

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been real-time communication on a global level. And never before has there been an issue as global, time-dependent, and solution-based as climate change.

Youth are connecting to their local government representatives through Adopt-a-Politician programs to work on climate change at a national level. These coordinated eff orts encourage politicians to lead on climate solu-tions in sessions of parliament and to support major policies requiring large-scale improvements in lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Empowering from the bottom up

We are taking up the issue in our own communities: our university and col-lege campuses. Projects range from working with university governments to adopt clean energy policies to em-powering fellow students to positively alter our day-to-day lives. As students we have a goal of institutionalising change at the level of our campus community. And when we move on from university, we will do the same in our cities and towns, our countries, our world. And for those of us not in college or university, we are changing whatever community we have found ourselves in.

Hundreds of international youth collaborate on an annual basis to represent our generation, and fu-ture generations, at international United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conferences. All of us come from diverse backgrounds - whether on the basis of religion, geography, experi-ence, age, political views, or educa-tion - yet we all have the same goal of prioritizing immediate and pragmatic action on reducing GHG emissions

and eff ectively implementing projects that will help us physically adapt to the changes in climate.

On the home front these leaders are bringing together hundreds of colleagues on an annual basis to conferences in order to spur network-ing, the sharing of dialogue, and the basis for transcending each other’s silos. The piece that really glues us together, however, is the basic and primal understanding that we depend on one another - and will continue to depend on one another for decades to come - to make this world a safer place in which to live. We depend on each other for survival. But that’s how life on earth has always been.

Air, water and hope

I could sit down with you and talk for hours about the climate change work of young people around the globe. But for now I just want to convey that, as I pause for a moment to refl ect on this exact moment in time, I feel a sense of security I’ve never felt before. I can’t help but feel a surge of pride and in-dependence as our generation moves on - seamlessly at times - infl uencing widespread changes to the best of our ability.

I know that much of this has been done before. I know what we are do-ing would never have been possible without groundwork laid before us. And I also know we all have stories to share - and we should. Because we all breathe the same air. We all drink the same water. And we all crave the same thing: Hope.

Despite the past, we’re looking for-ward to the future.

Considering old barriers, we’re now watching change happen.

And no matter who it is, we are work-ing together.

To simply reiterate what we said on the world stage at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali last November: Join Us. •••

> Zoë Caron

Co-author, Global Warming for DummiesOttawa, OntarioCanadian

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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC, YOU CAN VISIT:

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/http://www.energyaction.net/main/

http://cydbali.org/http://www.youthclimatecoalition.com/

http://ayicc.org/

Never before have we been able to connect around the world in networks as far-reaching as today. And never before has there been an issue as global, time-dependent, and solution-based as climate change.

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POPULATION AND THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS

John is a former psychologist who became an environmental writer on seeing that few environmentalists were speaking up about the problems of population and corporate econom-ic growth. His passionate activism is driven by the belief that population is arguably the most important environ-mental topic today, and yet receives close to the least coverage.

No one wants to talk about it, but the size and growth of the human popula-tion is central to the climate crisis.

It's a simple equation: our total con-sumption of greenhouse-gas-emitting fossil fuels is the product of two fac-tors: population size and average per capita fossil fuel consumption. The latter factor gets all the press. China's rigid one-child policy and and politi-cal pressures from activist groups who see the issue as a distraction from their own causes have made discus-sion of population taboo.

Ultimately, the subject will not be denied. When we consider the larger ecological crisis of which climate change is a part, it becomes clear that we cannot expect to solve our envi-ronmental problems without tackling both factors in the equation.

Living above the planet’s means

From a human-caused sixth mass extinction (the fi fth having wiped out the dinosaurs) to groundwater and oil depletion, the evidence speaks. Living as we do, we have outgrown the earth. Our numbers have exceeded the biosphere's resource-generating and waste-absorbing capacities, putting us into what ecologists and environmental scientists call "overshoot" of the earth's "carrying capacity" for humans. According to the Ecological Footprint data at

the Global Footprint Network we entered into overshoot in the 1980s. We now use the regenerative and absorptive capacities of 1.25 Earths - clearly an unsustainable situation. The Ecological Footprint authors empha-sise, moreover, that their methods are conservative; the reality is worse than the data suggest.

A lesser known fact emerging from the Footprint data is that we can-not realistically expect to return to sustainability merely by reducing per capita resource consumption. To converge at a consumption level low enough to ease us out of overshoot would require all developed na-tions to drop voluntarily to the level of Nigeria or Guatemala – an un-likely scenario, and even then not low enough given the data's conservative nature.

Yet the study of other species tells us overshoot can only be temporary. Ultimately, we will return to living within Earth's limits, whether by purposeful, humane actions or at the hand of nature. The latter's methods, eff ective but dispassionate, include such corrective measures as famine and disease.

Shaking off the population taboo

Fortunately, our own more compas-sionate approaches cost little. Better health care, women's education, and family planning services – the center-pieces of any program to reduce population growth -- come in ata fraction of the cost of technologi-cal solutions such as nuclear power plants and the development and construction of renewable energy facilities.

But the world needs a nudge to shake off the population taboo. And a

glance at fertility rates tells us the EU is poised to set an example for other developed countries, and ultimately the rest of the world, to follow.

A country's "total fertility rate" refers to the number of children born, on average, to a woman in that country. A rate of 2.1 leads in time to a stable population size. At lower rates, bar-ring immigration levels high enough to compensate, a country's popula-tion will eventually shrink - however, it should be noted that there is con-siderable lag time between the drop below 2.1 and the actual shrinkage.

Low fertility rates: a blessing in disguise?

All EU countries now have fertil-ity rates below 2.1. Belgium and Germany, for instance, are now at about 1.6 and 1.4 respectively. Though some countries such as France and Norway are close to 2.0, others includ-ing Italy, Spain, and Poland are under 1.3.

Those fertility rates may be the best news in the world today. They mean the EU could be among the fi rst areas of the world to return to living within the earth's limits. But you would not know it from listening to economists. They hear about low fertility rates and complain of economic challenges ahead as the younger, working age population declines.

They would probably stop complain-ing if they took a class in environmen-tal science. They would learn that our overshoot of the earths' limits threat-ens hundreds of millions and possibly more human lives as problems such as climate change, mass extinction, and oil depletion converge. We are already on track to extinguish half of all spe-cies by the end of the century. The

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economic implications of a shrinking popu-lation are a mere in-convenience compared to the ecological impacts of a population continuing to grow under these conditions.

Lower growth to avoid catastrophe

The complaining economists should consider that no economy can exist without an intact biosphere. Maybe then they would more easily listen to natural scientists who call for world-wide population stabilisation and even reduction to ensure the survival of mil-lions of species including our own.

Unfortunately, some EU leaders are paying more attention to the economists. Some governments have enacted policies designed specifi cally to boost fertility rates. France, Poland, and Italy, for instance, have all insti-tuted monetary incentives encourag-ing larger families. At a global level, such policies can ultimately be seen as suicidal. By encouraging population growth they push us closer to a global ecological collapse threatening all life.

We humans are an inventive species. Surely we can learn to maintain a good quality of life, avoiding economic hardship in the context of declining populations. But we cannot undo extinctions, provide suffi cient water when aquifers have run dry, or easily turn back climate change as it passes certain thresholds. Instead of listen-ing to complaints about short-term

economic worries, EU citizens should welcome the prospect of population decline and embrace the

challenge of learning to live well, but within

natural limits. Now is the time to show the

rest of the world the path to sus-tainability. •••

© Emmanuel TREPANT

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[ N° 5 ] > SHIFTmag 07

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC, YOU CAN VISIT:

http://growthmadness.org/http://www.appg-popdevrh.org.uk/Publications/Population%20Hearings/Population%20Hearings.htmhttp://www.populationmedia.org/http://www.optimumpopulation.org/

http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/worldscientists.html

> John FeeneyEnvironmental writerBoulder, Colorado, USAAmerican

The study of other species tells us overshoot can only be temporary. Ultimately, we will return to living within Earth's limits, whether by purposeful, humane actions or at the hand of nature.

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The European Union is increasingly active on the international scene in promoting global action against cli-mate change. The necessity for strong leadership in a context of interna-tional reluctance is clear. The reasons for the EU's willingness to engage in a fi rst-mover position with such vehe-mence are less straightforward. Let us have a closer look at them.

Green Europe, a reality and a great prospect

EU Member States such as Scandinavian countries and Germany have long been involved in environ-mental issues. To this day, they still off er the most progressive environ-mental policies and have the highest public awareness of all European countries. These pioneers have contributed to raising environmental

issues at European level since the early beginnings of the EC, with most EU developments in the fi eld being a result of the uptake of their ideas. They have given Europe as a whole a strong platform to build on.

Behind the EU’s ambitions as a global leader also lies the fact that environ-mental protection and sustainable development are attractive issues for its member states. EU environmental legislation – one of the least contro-versial areas regulated at community level – serves internal cohesion, which is always welcome. Unlike other areas such as foreign policy, the EU has, from very early on, acted as a single force in international climate negotiations.

There is therefore a clear case for a “green” political Europe, pushed by

internal drivers and local leaders, eventually diff using standards world-wide. It is a great opportunity for Europe to shine as a normative power, especially given the ethical appeal of the cause and its high symbolic value.

From local to global

Local environmental solutions have targeted eff ects that may benefi t local communities directly. When it comes to global problems such as climate change, the rationale for domestic action is not as simple. The results of local eff orts are very hard to trace and such eff orts may not seem to pay off .

Yet in view of recent scientifi c evi-dence and projected catastrophes due to greenhouse gas emissions, it is clear that concerted global action is necessary. The EU seems to have understood that “to wait and see” is not an option. But curbing emissions alone will not prove very fruitful, as Europe’s emissions only amount to 14% of global emissions.

Transatlantic divide

Since the US withdrawal from the Kyoto protocol, the EU has had an ever-stronger drive to take the lead in international climate negotiations. The transatlantic divide is an occasion for the EU to re-establish its identity and to seize a niche role on the inter-national scene.

The EU needs a new raison d’être now that it has secured peace and relative prosperity for Europe. This could be its chance: after having saved itself from human destruction, why not rescue the planet from environmental suicide?

The EU’s position is to push for the ap-plication of the precautionary princi-ple and international law, as opposed

EUROPE’S GREEN CALLING, A NEW RAISON D’ÊTRE?

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to that of the “unwilling” coalition centered around the US (and including China, Australia, etc.). These actors are involved in multi-lateral agreements but have until now rejected the condi-tions of the Kyoto protocol.

When to step in?

From a European perspective, tak-ing climate change seriously implies pushing for concerted global action. Domestic response is ineluctable, whether jointly implemented or not. It is in fact just a matter of timing and ef-fi ciency. Part of the game international actors are playing consists of choosing how long to maintain the traditional economy based on cheap fossil fuels and low energy savings, and when (if ever) to drastically reconsider the carbon-intensity of their economies.

The good news for the EU, both as an economic competitor and a global advocate, is that green growth has formidable potential. Green econo-mies and markets are already emerg-ing from the successful combination of environmental concern and promising technological innovations. Europe’s renewable energy industry, with the help of strong state protection in some countries, is growing steadily and becoming competitive. There is thus evidence of an alternative growth

model, conciliating environmental concern with the traditional industrial paradigm.

A strategic argument for engaging early in environmental modernisation is the resulting competitive advan-tages it would give the EU in the global market. Scholars refer to the Porter hypothesis: under the assumption that stringent environmental regula-tion will eventually diff use worldwide, forerunners are likely to benefi t from a head start.

Political leverage and system inertia

Taking the lead in international nego-tiations also implies greater leverage and political infl uence in shaping the climate regime. Initially opposed to market-based instruments, the EU is now advocating a mixed approach combining fl exible mechanisms (car-bon trading, off set mechanisms, etc.) and binding emissions targets.

The European Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is one of the EU’s policy innova-tions and red lines – it looks like it will be defended at any cost, if only for the amount of energy and compe-tence that have been invested in it. Interestingly enough, there is no sign of organised resistance from busi-nesses and major industries. However, technical details, such as the mo-dalities of permit allocation, are being thoroughly debated.

Presented as a necessity in the cur-rent context of international immobi-lism, European leadership on climate change is therefore promising to bring a wide range of benefi ts. Yet the real excitement of the ongoing negotia-tions for the post-2012 period will most probably not come from the European side (as most choices seem already made), but rather from the wind of change the US elections might blow on the “unwilling” coalition. •••

> Bruno TurnheimAssociate researcher, Institute for European StudiesVrije Universiteit BrusselFrench-American

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC, YOU CAN VISIT:

http://unfccc.int/2860.php

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/index_en.htm

www.ies.beThere is a clear case for a “green” political Europe, pushed by internal drivers and local leaders, eventually diffusing standards worldwide. It is a great opportunity for Europe to shine as a normative power.

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PostScript Laurent van Brussel

EUROPE TALKS TO BRUSSELS

P.-S: It’s time to forgive the winter. A time for forgetting, a time for remembering. If we were to enumerate the things to be kept from “our” good or bad start to 2008, which picture, phrase or word would come fi rst? That was the initial purpose of this text. But while everybody can follow the world’s pace page after page, minute after minute, does writing the story again still make any sense? In the end, is the essence not to be found in the current relationship people have with their times? Here is the verdict: we are not the architects

(artisans) of our common destiny. But if the phenomenon has been going on for a long time, its rhythm has

kept on accelerating, making us passive consumers of our times. We skim through each daily episode as if the world was other people. With our bread and circuses, we are living our own “Roman empire’s death”. Just like a bride choking on her wedding cake, we are not able to distinguish good from bad taste anymore. Just like traders frenetically gambling with the stakes of climate change, poverty, demographic ageing, sustainable energy or human rights, we don’t know where or what our true purchasing power is. “Work more to earn more”, says the slogan. But what’s the use? To consume more? When human heat is used for heating buildings, what is left of human warmth? So it might be true: Moses’ Ten Commandments are in fact a junkie’s transcript. Too intoxicated, it seems the lawgiver (prophet) didn’t get God’s essential message: “It’s up to you…”

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To launch our series of high-profi le interviews with Europeans making a difference, we are glad to publish the views of Alain Hubert, the leading Belgian explorer and

environmentalist who co-founded the International Polar Foundation.

We met him days after his return from Antarctica, where he built the world’s fi rst “zero emission” polar station to research climate change. He gave us his take on what we can do to fi ght climate change, from EU leaders to individual citizens.

Visit http://www.polarfoundation.org/ for more information on polar research, the Princesse Elisabeth station and related climate issues.

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CAN THE RECENT HYPE SURROUNDING CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ALSO HAVE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES, SUCH AS CORPORATE APPROPRIATION OR DISTORTION OF THE DEBATE?

I don’t think this hype is an obstacle to rational debate. These issues have been around for a long time, and although some clearly try to use them for commercial ends, at least the debate is emerging.

Our role is to reap concrete benefi ts from this, by using the momentum to move things the right way. Most people see Al Gore’s fi lm as the turning point, but I believe the IPCC report in early 2007 was even more signifi cant in exposing the “inconvenient truth”.

For the fi rst time in history, scientists gave us unquestionable evidence that man had negatively aff ected the planet. And they clearly showed that this was linked to our consumption pattern.

But the world as a whole, including us Europeans, still hasn’t fully gotten the message. And yet it is clearly in our social and economic interest to invest in a green economy. It’s where Europe’s future growth lies…

NINE MONTHS AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF THE IPCC REPORT, IN DECEMBER LAST YEAR, THE BALI CONFERENCE WAS HELD. WERE YOU DISAPPOINTED WITH THE OUTCOME?

Well, as you know, in December I was still in Antarctica building the fi rst “zero emission” polar station. This more or less cut me off from the rest of the world for four and a half months, and I’ve only just come back and started to catch up with things.

From what I’ve gathered, there was an opening at Bali and that’s about it. But it’s already a positive step. These high-profi le summits are necessary, even if they don’t lead to concrete results. Remember that this is the only forum where world leaders can discuss the future of the planet.

We have a very complex equation here you know; there are a lot of things we neither control nor understand yet. So we have to stay positive and not discourage people. The key is to act, using all the energy and support there is available. Someone like Al Gore has played a very important role, no matter what his own agenda was. Here was someone putting his political weight in the balance, and it certainly paid off .

THE EU HAS POSITIONED ITSELF AS A GLOBAL LEADER IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE. CAN IT LIVE UP TO THIS TASK AND WILL IT BE SUCCESSFUL?

First of all, I’m really proud of being European. I think the principle of diff erent people fi nding a way to live together, the way they do in Europe, is key to our future on this planet. Antarctica is another inspiring example of this principle: here’s a territory twice the size of the US managed by an international treaty representing two-thirds of mankind…

As for Europe’s role against climate change, I believe it should do much more. Not only for the planet, but for its own interests. Europe has all the assets to lead a green industrial revolution, from technologies to a mature public opinion. Now is the time to capitalise on this.

We shouldn’t accept people saying: “We have identifi ed the problems. It’s up to the next generation to fi nd the solutions”.

ALAINHUBERT

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And we shouldn’t blame other countries for following our old economic model either. We invented (and benefi ted from) the fossil fuel economy, so we’re responsible for fi nding a way out of it before the Earth runs dry. The good news is that this will also help our economy.

WE’RE BEING DROWNED WITH MESSAGES ON WHAT WE CAN DO AS RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS TO HELP PRESERVE OUR ENVIRONMENT. WHAT DO YOU THINK PEOPLE SHOULD KEEP IN MIND ABOVE ALL?

Two things: fi rst, everyone should try to understand their consumption level and environmental impact. We need people to move from small day-to-day initiatives to really questioning themselves and adjusting their lifestyle.

Where is my consumption carried out? What do I consume and in which quantities? How can I minimise my environmental impact without reducing my satisfaction? This is the next step people have to move to.

And the second most important thing is civil responsibility. People should expect and demand more from their politicians, punishing them electorally when they don’t do enough for the environment. If we can make this the number one electoral criterion, we will automatically make huge progress.

HOW CAN WE CHANGE PEOPLE’S CONCERNS AND BEHAVIOUR?

Through education, positive campaigning and good coverage. The media and politicians must go further than they have so far. It might be a bit easier with young people, but it takes immense time and eff ort to get someone to change their lifestyle (think of someone wanting to change his/her spouse’s habits).

And if the EU wants to stay ahead, it needs to set a 60% reduction target now. We can’t aff ord another generation of passive passengers waiting for a crash to take hold of the wheel…

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For a few days in February this year, the following message was played in the Brussels subway: “Due

to exceptional weather conditions, air pollution has reached a peak in our capital today. We thank you for using public transports and for encouraging your friends and colleagues to do the same”.

Gas in the city

According to the IBGE (Institut bruxellois pour la gestion de l’environnement), the quality of the air in Brussels has shown an improve-ment over the past 20 years. Still, and worryingly, they have also found that the levels of greenhouse gases are growing. This is due to a gradual in-crease in energy consumption linked to heating, transport and industrial activities.

As a Swede who has been living in Brussels for almost 8 years, it is interesting to compare this situation with that in my home country. As a matter of fact, I often get the question about why I left Sweden for Belgium: “Your country is such a clean country, with such a high quality of life!”. At the same time there is another, less fl attering, image of Sweden: that of a rather distant and cold country, with a peripheral role in European aff airs.

A warm place for environmental protection

Of course, there is some truth in both. It is true that Sweden is geographi-cally rather peripheral and that it is, at least sometimes, quite cold (even

though the temperature is gradu-ally rising due to climate change). It is also true that Sweden has a good track record in environmental protec-tion. For example, Sweden is ranked 41st in the world when it comes to the amount of carbon dioxide emis-sions per person, while its neighbour Finland is 9th and Belgium 18th.

Even though a major reason for the low greenhouse gas emissions from Sweden is that it has a close to 0% dependency on fossil energy for its electricity generation (using hydro and nuclear power instead), there is also a heap of other reasons including an active environmental policy with green taxes, information to increase awareness on climate change, cli-mate investment programmes, etc. Sweden’s long term goal is to dimin-ish its emissions of greenhouse gases by up to 50% by 2050. And a Swedish professor, Mr Bert Bolin, was one of the fi rst scientists to warn of the threat of global warming.

Sweden’s European coming-out

Could Sweden, be it geographically peripheral and sparsely populated, transfer its experiences in the environ-mental fi eld, in particular its policies against climate change, to the rest of Europe? For this to happen, Sweden would have to move to a more central

position in European aff airs. This would mean that both Swedish politi-cians and the Swedish people would have to get more involved in what goes on in Brussels. And the good news is that, at least when it comes to Swedish politicians, this might be taking place as we speak.

In a speech before the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 19 February, Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt started by saying that Sweden should belong to the core of European cooperation and went on to announce that climate change would be one of the major issues during the Swedish presidency of the EU in the autumn of 2009. He presented Sweden as an example of a country which has succeeded in combining economic growth with a sustainable environmental policy.

A leading green economy

The Swedish economy has grown by 44% since 1990, while its emissions of greenhouse gases have diminished by 9%. Mr Reinfeldt continued by saying that he was convinced that the EU could reach its climate and energy targets, as long as we introduce the correct steering mechanisms that will push our societies and companies into making the right choices. He also talked of the necessity of shared

SWEDEN, EUROPE’S GREEN ENGINE?

14 SHIFTmag > [ N° 5 ]

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC, YOU CAN VISIT:

http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/5745/a/21787

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=IM-PRESS&reference=20080215STO21489&language=EN

http://www.ibgebim.be/Templates/Particuliers/Informer.aspx?id=1684&langtype=2060

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> Mikael OlssonTranslatorBrusselsSwedish

”We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings.”Albert Einstein

”We know the science, we see the threat, and we know the time for action is now.”Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

responsibility of politicians and citi-zens, in a kind of a social contract, in order to achieve a real change.

The possibility to combine economic growth and successful environmental protection is of course good news for the EU. This is nothing less than what the Lisbon strategy aims to achieve. The point about shared responsibil-ity is also essential, since a lot of the responsibility for reducing climate change lies with the “ordinary” citizen.

Mobilising citizens and global partners

One of the key issues therefore concerns awareness, taking respon-sibility and changing habits. That is perhaps another area where the rest of Europe can learn something from the Swedes. Swedes were among the fi rst Europeans to react to environmental threats such as acid rain. In Sweden, the top-down approach that char-acterises the present environmental policy has long been combined with a bottom-up approach with popular environmental movements.

In the fi ght against climate change, time is running out and we have to act swiftly. The EU has already made far-reaching commitments and the Swedish experience can be very help-ful in their implementation. In order

to achieve real results, the EU would however also need to infl uence the big polluters, i.e. the US, China, Russia, India and Japan to make quick moves towards drastically reducing their emissions. It is possible that Sweden, with its long commitment to work within the UN framework, might also play an important role in that endeav-our. At least that is what a Swede living in the still-a-bit-too-polluted heart of Europe would hope. •••

EUROPE TALKS TO

[ N° 5 ] > SHIFTmag 15

In Sweden, the top-down approach that characterises the present environmental policy has long been combined with a bottom-up approach with popular environmental movements.

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Best Original Insult to an MEPAnd the winner is… Gawain Towler, for hav-ing called Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald a “blithering ninny” on englandexpects.blogspot.com. Mr Towler doesn’t under-stand why politicians believe a signature on a piece of paper can save “the part of the world that has temporarily grabbed their attention”.

Mary Lou McDonald sent an e-mail an-nouncing “55 more signatures to end street homelessness”. Gawain answers the MEP by saying: “No they won’t, you blithering ninny. No amount of MEPs queuing up to salve their well-fed consciences will end street homelessness.”

Gawain continues his post by referring to another sentence in McDonald’s e-mail: “The European Parliament called twice for urgent action to tackle homelessness this year”. His reply: “So the Parliament has made this call twice in the last three

months, and bugger me there are still homeless people on the street. How damned ungrateful they are not to have cleared off ”.

Poor Ms McDonald, she’s doing her best to tackle street homelessness and gets insulted for it. Gawain, you’re the ungrateful one. Please refrain from insulting MEPs or they’ll stop spamming our inboxes with petitions and declarations. We wouldn’t want that, would we?

What is it with petitions nowadays?Jon Worth and Jan Seifert created a blog called whodoicall.eu. These two bloggers think it’s time to answer Henry Kissinger’s famous question: “Who do I call if I want to call Europe?”.

They say: “We stand for openness, accounta-bility and democratic legitimacy […] It would be possible for there to be one person to call – the same person as President of the Commission and the European Council”.

They think that an additional and powerful European Council President would damage the EU through “competing power bases in Brussels (European Council, Commission), and less democratic legitimacy (the Commission president is at least chosen according to the results of the European Parliament elections; the European Council President simply appointed)” .

They end by saying: “If you agree that the European Union needs one person to call – One President – sign our petition below.”

Does Gawain Towler have anything to say about that? Maybe it’s worth a try. If you think this would save

RESERVOIR BLOGS

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WELCOME TO RESERVOIR BLOGS. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS? IT 'S EUROPE’S WEIRDEST BLOG REVIEW, GATHERING, JUST FOR YOU, ALL THE STRANGEST TIDBITS FOUND ON THE EUROBLOGOSPHERE. FROM NOW ON, MR SHIFT WILL WHIP OUT HIS FINGER AND STICK IT ON BLOGS TO SQUEEZE THE JUICIEST AND CRACK OPEN THE NUTTIEST FOR YOUR DISCERNING PALATES.

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Europe, feel free to sign it. However, Mr Shift is afraid it takes a little more than a petition to change such political issues… But who knows?

“Two legs good, four legs bad”Joe Noory drew our attention to the follow-ing piece of news on no-pasaran.blogspot.com: “The police’s National Diversity Expertise Centre (LECD) wants sex allowed in all public parks in the Netherlands. The police institute has advised the cities to follow the example of Amsterdam […] In Amsterdam’s Vondelpark dog owners who let off the leash can be fi ned, but sex will shortly be permitted.”

Authorities say sex in public parks brings much pleasure to a certain group. Joe Noory answers: “There’s “group pleasure” which in previous generations was expressed as a pas-sive acceptance of mass slaughter and waiting in bread lines, and other forms of meagerness with some kind of literary potential”.

From now on, dogs may not be able to run freely anymore in parks in the Netherlands and Joe Noory gets off ended: “I will give them this: this is the fi rst evidence of two legs good, four legs bad that’s been heard of from the continent of divine wisdom in decades”.

Joe, Mr Shift has one piece of advice: why don’t you create a petition to save these dogs?

England good, Europe badNow that we’re done talking about petitions, let’s talk about Eurosceptics. On

Bruges-Europe, Henri Védas posted what an auditor said on The Now Show (BBC) when he was asked to give three things he liked in Europe. The answer:

1. “The”2. “English”3. “Channel”

When the same person was asked three things in Europe he disliked, he answered:

1. “The”2. “European”3. “Union”

Interesting, isn’t it? Mr Shift suggests this per-son should learn how to count.

On Re: Europa (reeuropa.blogspot.com), a blogger posted what some British Eurosceptics told him. One of them said: “The EU is the new Socialist Block dedicated to central control and the power to decide their own future has been taken away from the people because you believe that that power is better off in the hands of a few, who know best, in Brussels.”

Another one said: “The EU is worse than Russia. At least there are SOME kind of elec-tions for the President of Russia. Who elected Barroso?”

Don’t know, but watch out! You’re right! The autocratic EU is watching YOU! And if you do something wrong, Barroso will whip you!

Harry, Britain’s new secret heroNo, not Harry Potter, you “blithering ninny!” (sorry, Mr Shift loves the insult and needed to end the fi rst Reservoir Blogs entry the way he started it).

Euros du Village (eurosduvillage.com) com-ments on last month’s big news: Harry was in Afghanistan with the army since 14 December 2007 and no one knew about it, apart from the press. Harry has instantly be-come Britain’s secret hero! How cute… After having made a fool of himself a few years ago wearing a nazi costume at a fancy dress party, Harry is now a superhero represent-ing his country in Afghanistan. Everyone is happy: the public, the queen, the media (who surprisingly managed to keep the secret for 6 weeks), the army and the government, who always benefi ts from a positive trend in public opinion…

But for all this well-orchestrated piece of royal bravery, Harry will be back for the Easter egg hunt at Buckingham Palace Garden now that his presence was revealed – for understand-able safety reasons given the soldier’s high profi le as a target for terrorists. The other lads from his regiment will probably have their own (and rather more intense) egg hunt in the land of the Talebans…

See you next time!

Mr Shift

Bpohtha

1.2.3.

Washe

1. 2.

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PUTTING KNOWLEDGE BEFORE PROFIT

There has been scientifi c consensus about anthropogenic global warming since the 1970s. So what has hap-pened since? Why has the world not acted upon this information since then, apart from world summits and talks? All the (supposedly advanced) western world has done in the mean-time is to increase its energy con-sumption and reliance on cars.

Is the free market economy sustainable?

The current situation probably has something to do with the way we think about the “economy”. Remember that the Kyoto proto-col is supposed to destroy the US economy… I actually believe that the free market economy has a mixed record in organising our society in a more optimal and sustainable way. Its main failure is that economic interests often inhibit new developments that are not profi table for those in power in the short term. No other logic can explain why there have been subsi-dies for oil production while renew-able energies have had a much harder time fi nding a break-through.

Economic growth through economies of scales is unsustainable over time if it relies on ever-increasing consump-tion. Sooner or later, we will have to fi nd answers to the question: is a free-market economy able to deal with mitigating climate change and securing sustainable development? It should not be assumed that an economic model that has worked well in the past will continue to do so in the future when conditions change radically.

The track record is not too encour-aging if we look at the North-South divide in terms of wealth and pov-erty either. Trade is an important

matter for our future, and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), introduced by the Kyoto Protocol, can be seen as both good and bad. On the one hand, CDM may spawn a new “carbon-imperialistic” trend – shifting the burden on less developed coun-tries. But it may also go hand in hand with actual development in third world countries.

The need for free science

However, such schemes will not suffi ce as emissions do not stop automatically because of economic incentives. Substantial reduction re-quires reorganisation, innovation, and ground-breaking research. We urgently need brilliant scientists and innova-tions. Can Europe provide those?

European science is being increas-ingly taken over by the so-called European Research Area (ERA), which is widely seen as unneces-sarily bureaucratic. I have witnessed colleagues turning down suggestions to apply for EU funding simply because of the prospect of the bureaucratic load it entailed. It seems that the EU is trying to turn research-ers from scientists into accountants and managers. In the accountants' regime, there is a collision of diff erent cultures. Hardly an environment in which to excel.

So does free and basic science still exist? Or are we blinded by our own illusion that the world can only func-tion properly under market condi-tions? I believe the problem regarding climate change has some connec-tion with how science is increasingly

being conducted. The trend seems to be short-term projects and detailed auditing, with scientists competing for funding as if they were operating in a competitive industrial market. Perhaps we need to get out of this spiral of predominantly economic thinking?

No easy solution, but some promising leads

But there is also a more optimistic take on the future of environmental action when one looks at the number of promising technological solutions already emerging. The main focus is

currently on fusion, but fuel pel-lets from waste is another

interesting idea, while renewables are mak-

ing an entrance. Another question is whether the thorium reactor is a viable solution.

Politicians should also look into

changing infrastruc-ture and traditional

patterns of mobility. The internet off ers a new wealth of

opportunities: perhaps daily commut-ing is not all that necessary anymore? Houses can be made more energy effi cient, CO2 can be sequestered into the ground, etc.

At present, there are no real alterna-tive to cars. We are still too wasteful. But biofuels are not necessarily the right direction, as land area must be divided between growing food, natural ecosystems and making fuel. Preserving and taking care of forests and other natural habitats will also contribute to the mitigation of climate change.

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> Rasmus BenestadSenior scientist, Norwegian Meteorological InstituteOsloNorwegian

Rasmus E. Benestad, D.Phil, is a senior Scientist at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and a contributor to www.RealClimate.org. His main area of work include climate analysis, seasonal forecasting and climate change, and is the author of "Solar Activity and Earth's Climate" (Praxis/Springer, 2002) and "Empirical-Statistical Downscaling" (World Scientifi c Publishing Co., in press).

EUROPE TALKS TO BRUSSELS

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[ N° 5 ] > SHIFTmag 19

Getting the media and other countries on board

Another element that is key to promoting technological advances is communi-cation, in order to increase public understanding and appreciation of environ-mental issues. We must engage with public opinion and inspire a culture for sustainable living. One problem here is the media themselves and their interest in maximising profi t rather than informing and enlightening the public.

The strong economic interests at play often get mixed up in the reporting, which can add to the confusion instead of improving public understanding. One can suspect that we are the targets of systematic propaganda from special interest groups that aim to sow doubt and inhibit action against global warm-ing. Cynics could argue that since the industry provides more ad revenue to newspapers and TV stations than NGOs and think tanks, we should not expect the media to go against the former’s interests in their editorial lines.

This infl uence on the media partly explains why we are in the state that we are today, looking back to the 1970s wondering why we did not take action then. Maybe it has been profi table for some to conceal the explosiveness of the issue until the last minute.

In the end, the question of whether we will solve the problem of global warming – as well as the other pressing issues – boils down to a question of will. Can we work miracles? Just look at the pyramids built 4000 years ago; is the EU capable of building such magnifi cent constructions? But Europe is not alone. The only way it can have a real impact on the planet is by initiat-ing a concerted global eff ort with all major carbon-emitting economies. If it can lead the way in innovative research and its implementation, the EU will be halfway there. •••

“It should not be assumed that an economic model that has worked well in the past will continue to do so in the future when conditions change radically.

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BIOMIMICRY: NATURE KNOWS BEST

As part of our quest to build a sustain-able future for our planet, we would perhaps do well to fi rst sit down and listen to the most established expert in sustainability: nature itself.

A natural evolution

“Innovation inspired by nature” is the way American expert Janine Benyus describes her area of expertise – bio-mimicry. This principle draws inspira-tion from what it considers to be the genius of nature and its inhabitants. But you wouldn’t be wrong in think-ing that there is nothing new to this. Man’s fi rst attempts to fl y spring to mind – comical images of men attached to bird-like contraptions falling from the sky. Think also of the invention of Velcro. It was inspired by the burdock plant which so readily attaches itself to passers-by through a system of hooks and loops.

What’s new about Ms Benyus’ and her colleagues’ work, is that it compares nature and the natural way of doing things to man and man’s way of doing things. It contrasts the sustainable ap-proach used by nature with the waste-ful approach used by man. After 3.8 billion years of natural evolution, only nature’s fi ttest now survive. These are the champions of sustainability and those that hold the key to survival. Whether it’s knowing how to adapt to a specifi c environment or fi nding strategies for sharing this environ-ment with others, nature is the expert.

Innovation inspired by nature’s shapes

Who would have thought it? The shapes found in nature can be used to solve man’s problems. Japan’s bullet train, the Shinkansen, was inspired by the kingfi sher. The initial challenge was to optimise the train’s penetration

into the air when it entered and exited tunnels in the Osaka-Hakata line. Engineers turned to nature for the answer – diving birds have to make rapid transitions between atmospheres of vary-ing densities, such as air and water. By rec-reating the shape of the kingfi sher’s beak, engineers found

a solution to the problem of com-pressed air in tunnels. The discovery led to a 15% reduction in electric-ity consumption, a 10% increase in speed and less noise for travellers and residents.

These engineers and designers who were faced with a technical problem adopted the biomimcry approach. They asked biologists: which other creatures have the same problem and how have they solved it?

Innovation inspired by nature’s processes

It’s not just nature’s shapes that can be inspirational. Biomimicry also of-fers fertile ground for developing new materials. Several laboratories across

the world are studying the specifi c mechanisms involved in photosynthe-sis. They are looking, in particular, at the sensors which transform sunlight into electricity and how these could be replicated in a biodegradable paint. Other teams are in the process of producing ceramics using a similar technique to that seen in mollusc shells.

Each of these new ways of producing materials share a common denomina-tor: they reject, in no uncertain terms, what in English is called the “heat, beat & treat” methods. These meth-ods - developed over the last few centuries to manufacture fossil fuels quickly and cheaply - often resort to

© Christophe WANLIN

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very high temperatures, pressures and chemical substances which are frequently toxic. Chemical reactions inspired by nature, however, take on the ambient temperature and pressure, use water as a solvent and leave nothing behind that isn’t biodegradable.

Innovation inspired by nature’s organisation

When American ecologist William Cooper was invited to a meeting on industrial ecology for the fi rst time, he was the only biologist in the room. He had good news for business experts

who were looking for inspiration from the natural world. Nature

has many mature ecosystems – such as primary forests

and coral reefs which function exactly how

they wish. These ecosystems, known as Type III, organise

themselves as part of a community of

diverse organisms. These organisms all share the common

goal of looking after their given environment, by using the resources

available in the best way possible and over the

longest period possible.

However, Mr Cooper also had bad news. Because seen

through the eyes of an ecologist, our current

industrial civilisation behaves in exactly the opposite way to the Type III ecosystem. Instead it operates like a pioneer ecosystem known as Type I. In nature, these pioneer ecosystems are normally in the minority and are ephemeral. They generally emerge after certain events that create new areas to invade or re-invade - after the birth of a volcanic island, or after a forest fi re or mudslide. Their characteristics include weak diversity, and the excessive use of key resources such as water and food. Type I ecosystems favour rapid growth,

prefer quantity to quality, produce lots of waste and use up lots of energy.

Through agriculture and the industrial revolution man chose how he would operate. Overwhelmed by the seemingly limitless resources and energy available, he thought this would always be the case and that there would always be somewhere he could migrate to. The nature of this Type I colonisation strategy was not taken into account. And, today, all colonisable places have been colonised. Mankind must make the move towards a mature ecosystem. By observing nature’s mature ecosystems, perhaps we can learn a few lessons in sustainability and in turn fi nd a more harmonious way to live and adapt to our environment.

The article is a compilation of excerpts from Archiborescence by Luc Schuiten, Pierre Loze, Gauthier Chapelle and Fabrice Wagner (Pierre Mardarga, 2006). Translated from French by Ann Macpherson. •••

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC, Y OU CAN VISIT:

www.biomimicry.eu

www.biomimicryinstitute.org

www.biomimicryguild.com

www.archiborescence.net

Biomimicry Europa strives to promote biomimicry as an innovative process encouraging the transfer of ideas, concepts and strategies from the living world to human applications aimed at sustainable development. Education, research and communication about biomimicry are the main objectives of the association, in order to acclimatise the concept in Europe.

> Gauthier Chapelle

Biologist and Executive Director of Biomimicry Europa, aisblBrusselsBelgian

After 3.8 billion years of natural evolution, only nature’s fi ttest now survive. These are the champions of sustainability and those that hold the key to survival.

[ N° 5 ] > SHIFTmag 21

EUROPE TALKS TO BRUSSELS

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VISIT OUR BLOG www.shiftmag.eu

Want to suggest your own topic for discussion?

A blog version of the magazine is available on www.shiftmag.eu, with each article condensed into a blog entry to stimulate debate on every topic.

Readers can also submit an entry on a related topic for publication online.

Join us at www.shiftmag.eu to have your say as EUROPE TALKS TO BRUSSELS.

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22 SHIFTmag > [ N° 5 ]

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