The Question
Ban Ki-moon himself did not use the word survival in his speech… The word is used only in the press release. The actual call is for a free market revolution for global sustainability. With the pressing questions:
- How do we create growth in a resource constrained environment? How do we lift people out of poverty while protecting the planet and ecosystems that support economic growth? How do we regain the balance? How we organize ourselves economically? How we manage increasingly scarce resources? The most scarce of all being time? And the disaster looming?
- How do we connect the dots between climate change and water, energy and food, ensure sustainable, climate-resilient green growth, generate a clean energy revolution, expand clean energy access in developing countries.
- How do we get prepared to make major changes — in our lifestyles, our economic models, our social organization, and our political life.
- Ban Ki-moon suggests to tear the walls between the development agenda and the climate agenda. Between business, government, and civil society. Between global security and global sustainability. Because it is good business – good politics – and good for society.
- He is asking heads of state to send the right signals to build the green economy.
- He is asking corporations to embed sustainability principles into their strategies, operations, supply chains, and to participate in global compact lead initiative.
- He expects visionary recommendations by the end of December so they can be feed into intergovernmental processes until Rio 2012.
Original Secretary General statement: http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=5056
Reactions:
- Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, said technology alone wouldn’t solve the problems
- Yudhoyono, pdt of Indonesia said developing countries should not give up on their aspiration to achieve the same level of wealth as the rich world. This position shared by Bill Gates.
From Survival to sustainable prosperity, thrivability – flourishing
What does “survival” mean?
Who’s and what’s survival? Is an agreed definition possible? Who owns the definition of survival.
- Survival as preparedness to catastrophes and changes, to disruptions in supply chains and other vital functions through building resilience (living off-grid, self sustained, basic survival skills) to minimize impact and maximize recovery.
- Survival of democracy and civilization (freedom vs totalitarisms, shock doctrine), Survival of the species and biosphere (natural and man made catastrophes)
- Definition of survival/basic needs: To be warm, dry, fed, loved, and stimulated” — Dr. Benjamin Spock
- The “manner in which”: John Holland’s model … “fitness maximizing for survival in complex adaptive systems” … Nice/Forgiving/Tough/Clear …
- What other fitness attributes?
- Long term survival in setting up a sustainable economy…
What does sustainability, sustainable mean?
“Sustainability” Meeting the present generation’s needs in ways that are not only economically viable, environmentally sound and socially equitable but will also allow future generations to do the same (based on an explanation in the Brundtland Report “Our Common Future” United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987).
- What other definitions? How do we define the criteria?
- What would be a test that showed that you had achieved “a workable concept of sustainability in human society”?
- Thriving & flourishing: Are sustainable growth and sustainable consumption possible?
- Sustainable economy based on living systems, shared value, thick value, socio-efficiency, replenishing, regenerating what is “consumed” or destroyed…
- Is the economic model for survival/prosperity to be driven primarily by self interest (more of the same if its short term self interest) or community based values and ethics or both in some way where there is common purpose? This is a contentious political issue (especially in the US)… How to get out of it?
- Survival induces an idea of urgency, pressing need, where each must count on his own capacities and on the collective.
- Time is running: What to do to solve urgency –suppose it goes down in a few months (this was suggested before Sandaï)… Most of these issues have been on the agenda for decades (re the call for action of the teenager in Rio) how to contrast the urgency with the time that has been lost…
- What horizon are we talking about?
Attitude towards risk: action vs reaction?
There are basically two modes of positive response to a looming disaster: action to avoid it while realizing that it is inevitable, and action (a posteriori? – reaction) to survive it in all its forms… Regardless of which “camp” one is in, there are modes of commonality in each that give way to a collective sum. It is to this that we are working.
To be effective in either we will need to attack all of the heads of the Hydra: Governmental/institutional reform, corporate enlightenment, economic opportunity and ecology in general. Even if we do our best and the worse comes to pass….many will have been positively affected and potentially saved. So its worth doing…
We must fight the temptations of demonization or doom that are a factor of powerlessness and that take the focus away from effective solutions and rather tap into pockets of consciousness, self-responsibility and possibilities. Possibilities exist. Many initiatives are out there that can inspire and be spread further.
What to survive? Catastrophes, induced or not
Making the possibility of future catastrophe credible as a destiny in order to project them in the future and backcast in « negative » the ways to avoid them… Stop reasoning in terms of probabilized risk, but in terms of possibility. http://villagillet.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/dupuy-mourning-the-future.pdf
Natural catastrophes
- Large extra planetary object impacting earth within 10 years or 2-5, 25% chances
Global Warming/Climatic Chaos: whatever the cause/origin
Extremely unpredictable and frequently violent and unstable weather patterns causing floods, heat and cold waves, droughts that will
- Large pocket of subsea methane may release in the next 7 years
- Cause Plague and pestilence, and change in ecosystems (more insects, new organisms & diseases)
- Increased risk of Pandemic outbreaks http://pandemic.avianbirdsflu.com/article.aspx?pageId=97
- impact global and regional food production and water supplies.
Resources burn out
Conflicts/abuse
- Conflicts over water/energy, vital/arable space
- Major armed conflict with Russia and China within 3-7 yrs
- New totalitarian world order imposed through shock doctrine (pandemics, war, shortages) or quashed rebellions (google denver airport – see Naomi Klein Disaster Capitalism)
Man hubris, out of control
- Depletion of resources
- Major economic/financial crisis
- Technology risks (waste, pollution, nuclear, nanotech, genetic manipulations, poisonings, singularity..)
To be discussed further: accounting related to risk, anticipation and monitoring in relation to externalities. See Pre-cycling Insurance
Who follows, who monitors the risks?
For a framework:
Other resources
Go to next section: UN call – Sustainability – Summary 2 – The Situation