Green Cross International’s conference on Earth asks “What will be your first action for the Earth today?”
On the Pont du Mont-Blanc in Geneva, white flags bearing the Green Cross logo waved high. They were announcing the 7thEarth Dialogues Conference organised on September 3rd, 2013 by the international NGO Green Cross International for its 20th anniversary.
The Conference, entitled “Pathways into the Future: Triggers of Change”, took place in the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Saint-Gallen University students and high level panellists were invited to share their views and solutions. As opposed to some conferences where panelists tend to only exchange theoretical views, the 7th Earth Dialogues panel actually did address practicalways of taking care of our planet, the objective being to steer it away from the dangers it currently faces because of ourexcessive use of its resources.
The Green Economy is an opportunity for development
The audience was particularly receptive to the most active speakers. Among them, Bertrand Piccard, the well-known advocate for clean energy with his latest SolarImpulse solar-powered plane, motivated the audience with his ideas. He focussed on making people realise how profitable it would be to engage immediately in research and action in the field. He not only directed his questions to the other panellists, but also to the entire room. He asked what each person plans to do to trigger individual and immediate environment change. He particularly addressed the job creation potential of the sustainable development field and reminded the room of the need to present the green economy in a positive way. In fact, according to him, the solutions are “practical, cost effective and thrilling”. Panellists from all backgrounds, private andpublic, agreed. Jerry C. Jones, Acxiom’s Chief Ethics and Executive Vice-president, repeatedly said that there are currently insufficient investments in the future, yet sustainable development would be highly profitable for businesses, governments and for the job market.
New technologies are hindered by those who will potentially lose their power
A situation where every actor will benefit immediately is hardly possible. For Dimitri Zenghelis, Principal Research Fellow at the London School of Economics, powerful companies’ fear of sustainable change caused by the greening of the economy triggers their active resistance to new ideas. Thus, how powerful these potential “losers” are determines how easy it will be for the green economy to move forward. In other words, the “losers” block the advancement of the “winners” ideas. The murmurs of approval in the room when this “losers-winners’ situation was explained were echoed later when a panellist spelled out the weak political will for advancements in sustainable development.
Most panellists pushed the idea that governments have “cold feet”when it comes to unleashing the potential for new ideas. At the same time, they “play it cool” with powerful companies, institutions and other “losers” who aggressively lobby to continue business as usual. New technologies already exist as Hans Björn Püttgen, Director of Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), insisted. They are only waiting to be financed and implemented. William Becker, Adviser to the US President Barack Obama, said there is a trade-off between political sustainability and technological sustainability. Most politicians look first for their own sustainability in power. To that, Marie-Hélène Aubert, counsellor to the French President François Hollande, iterated that the population is often against the idea of change and she gave the example of the difficulty of implementing taxes on greenhouse emissions.
Local initiatives are essential to boost investments in sustainable development
The Director of Dupont, Davide Vassello, said he is in favour of actions to boost the potential of the Green Economy. His science and research company can help find solutions. Bertrand Piccard was approached in a separate discussion. The ‘inspionner’ (his website’s contraction of the words inspired and pioneer) mentioned the existence of the CleanTech initiative in Switzerland. CleanTech regroups businesses working in the sustainable economy and funds projects within the country and abroad. The sector is permanently looking for investors and specialists in research and development.
Change is inevitable and often simple
Two student panellists said there is a difference in approach between the generation currently in charge and the youth, with the latter seeming to be more prone to change and innovation. Taking the floor, Dr. Hamadoun Touré, Director of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), reminded the assembly that being solutions oriented is urgent. Placing the blame on each other has never been useful. Change can often be a simple one that brings a significant difference and each and every one of us can act. Repairing a dripping faucet is as important as pushing for policy change. As for policy change, he gave an example in international telecommunications, where the newly set standardisation of phone chargers will not only save millions of dollars, but also resources.
The arrival of President Mikhail Gorbachev in the Room of Civilisations for the closing panels created a scrum of media and participants. They were trying to get a close look at that monument of international relations and now, of the Clean Economy. Finally, the Earth Dialogues Geneva Declaration on Action for a Peaceful and Sustainable World was issued at the end of the day to put in writing a wake-up call.
Green Cross International is an international nongovernmental organisation created by President Mikhail Gorbachev after the first Rio Conference of 1992. The Earth Dialogues conferences are an idea of President Gorbachev and Maurice Strong, known as the “architect” of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.
See also:
http://www.gcint.org/fs/Earth-Dialogues-Geneva-Declaration-2013.pdf
http://www.gcint.org/earth-dialogues-2013
http://www.swisscleantech.ch/fr/association/
http://www.cleantech.admin.ch/index.html?lang=en
http://www.solarimpulse.com/en/home/
http://www.acxiom.com/
photo credit: ~jjjohn~ via photopin cc
