And Now The Good News

In the post Rio +20 summit gloom it's difficult to remember that there is good news out there. I sense there is gathering momentum on a national and corporate front towards a greener future even as the international process falters.

Below are some examples:

South Korea

 

South Korea is the first country in the World to adopt a 'green' (or sustainable) growth strategy.

This trillion dollar economy is investing 2% of it's GDP annually (approx. $23 billion) into the program and has a stated aim of becoming a global leader amongst low carbon countries.

As with Japan, energy independence is essential to their future economy (They import 96% of their energy currently), so they are investing heavily in renewables. This will obviously reduce their carbon footprint.

They also want to create new drivers for economic growth by developing green, exportable technologies. Priorities are:high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) cells, fuel cells, advanced nuclear power, green cars, smart grid, advanced carbon capture and storage (CCS), water treatment, rechargeable batteries, Light Emitting Diodes (LED), Green IT.

Finally they want to promote a green lifestyle through a green transport infrastructure, as well as sustainable land and water use.

To facilitate this change they have come up with a 5 year plan (2010-2015) and are already making good progress. Korean companies involved in green technologies are expanding, creating tens of thousands of extra jobs. Export income is projected to be $36 billion per annum by 2015.

If S.Korea continues to be successful in this venture, it could be a blue-print that other countries could adopt.

More here.

Saudi Arabia

Last month Saudi surprised everyone by announcing plans to install an enormous 54,000 MW of renewable-generating capacity during the next two decades. That's more than what the U.S. currently have from all their solar and wind combined!

This amounts to about a third of their energy needs, but their main aim is to develop a domestic renewable energy industry.

The sources will be solar PV, Concentrating Solar Power (CSP), wind, geothermal and waste-to-energy.

There has been a lot of speculation about what this all means: Do the Saudis see a time when their oil production goes on the wane? Or maybe they want to cover the scenario where sky-high prices or alternative fuels make demand fall off the proverbial cliff?

Maybe. Or perhaps it's good business sense. Like the Koreans, they see a gigantic new market opening up and they want a piece of it.

More here.

Aruba

On a totally different, but no less important, scale, the tiny Caribbean island of Aruba has teamed up with the Carbon War Room to move the island towards 100% renewable energy.

If they get it right, and they have every chance of doing so with the Carbon War Room on-board, they could be a model for other island nations to follow.

Australia

Shortly before the Rio +20 summit, Australia announced the creation of the world's largest marine reserve. It will cover 3.1 million square km of the oceans surrounding Oz or more than a third of it's coastal waters.

Hopefully, where they lead, the rest of world will follow. Our oceans are essential to the health of the planet.

2nd Hottest May On Record

Miserable as it was in the UK, May 2012 was actually the second warmest, globally since records began in 1880. It was 0.66C above the 20th Century average.

The period January-May 2012 was 0.5C above average, making it the 11th highest such period on record. With an even chance of El Nino coming back this year, 2012 could end up in the top 10 warmest years. Here we go, yet again.

More here.

Rio+20: Epic Fail

So, the Rio+20 sustainable development summit ends with an agreement that the UK's deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, described as "insipid". Yep, that just about sums it up,

Beforehand, it was billed as an historic opportunity to put the world on a sustainable development path whilst ensuring everyone has access to enough food, water, and energy.

It's a fine idea. 7 billion humans on the planet have a massive impact on resources. It makes good economic sense to try to conserve those finite resources. To do otherwise risks price instability, job losses, failed national economies, and environmental collapse. You'd think it was a no-brainer really.

And yet, the final agreement was weak, with no commitments to speak of, no timescales, and nothing legally binding. All we got were empty words.

Why is this I wonder? Most of the politicians seem to understand we're heading for trouble and yet they give us this meaningless document.

Well, look at the mess European leaders are making of the Euro-zone crisis. If they can't even sort out a clear and present danger like that, what chance does a future crisis stand?

But it's more than our leaders' ineptitude that's the problem here. It's also narrow 'national interests' (e.g. not wanting to lose competitive edge), and influence from corporations (e.g. who don't want a slow-down in consumerism).

Forget the fact that business-as-usual will eventually undermine economic growth down the line, we want our profits now!

So there's the problem: Politicians are protecting what they know (a broken system) because they're afraid of what may replace it.

With that kind of approach, it's going to take a major crisis before the powers-that-be even consider changing to a sustainable system. By that time, it could be too late fix things.

Is It Wrong To Want My Kids To Have a Future?

An ex-rainforest

Climate sceptics find it convenient to classify people who are concerned about global warming as left-wing, tree-hugging, business-hating vegans. It kind of gives them something to really hate.

The truth is that, whilst the "tree huggers" may have brought climate change to the world's attention, they have now been joined by a vast army of ordinary people like myself, who are simply concerned for their kids' future.

Let's make this clear: If we continue with 'business-as-usual', there is a very real chance that the current generation of kids will be bringing up their own families in the near certain knowledge that the planet is doomed.

Overly dramatic? Not at all. Read Six Degrees by Mark Lynas (my review here), a summary of all the latest climate science, and you'll be in no doubt that, if we get to 2C above pre-industrial temperatures by 2050, we may be unable to stop it getting to 6C by 2100.

That would be disastrous for the planet. Not only would the natural environment fall apart, unable to adapt to the speed of change, but the world economy would collapse too.

Way before that, a growing world population and, more importantly, a growing middle-class, consuming at an unsustainable rate, will have massive inflationary effects for consumer products, energy, and food.

It will be a very difficult world to bring up a family in, and will only get worse. What a prospect.

We need to give our kids a chance.

Yes, it may mean some sacrifices here and there, but that's what parents do for their kids isn't it?