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Articles from November 2009  Trying to stop the destruction of the world’s remaining forests is a complicated affair. One proposed mechanism to help in the battle is a clean development mechanism for developing countries called REDD, or Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. The general idea behind it is to give developing nations an incentive to maintain intact forests by assigning them value and finding alternatives to industries like logging or slash and burn farming. On the ground, it works like this: a set area of land with tree canopy cover is assigned a value for the ecological service of carbon absorption. Polluting companies can purchase a credit for this value as a means of offsetting their carbon emissions elsewhere in the world. Whoever owns the land benefits from the financial transaction. (article continues)  One of the keys to keeping carbon emissions, and therefore climate change, in check is getting reductions in place. One of the easiest and most palatable ways to sell this to business is through energy efficiency measures. Energy efficiency in business is considered low-hanging fruit, something that can be easily achieved in many cases, with both environmental and economic savings. They have one of the highest internal rates of returns (IRR) and companies can usually see the business case to do it. However, Frederic Crampe, Managing Director of ReEx Capital Asia stumbled onto difficulty with one of his case studies.
In discussing a client project in the Philippines, Crampe mentioned that some simple steps were taken to conserve energy in one of the properties of a shopping mall developer. The net operation savings were in the vicinity of US$1 million in the first year, and likely to be similar going forward. (article continues) The upcoming climate negotiations in Copenhagen have highlighted an interesting dilemma. Nations worldwide are trying to shirk their responsibilities around emissions and their economies. So called “developed” nations like the U.S., U.K., and Australia are having a difficult political time getting industries to swallow the fact that big changes need to happen. Industry needs to clean up its act. Of course, then the political dance begins: (article continues) Don’t expect climate change to get fixed by the governments of the world. Don’t expect that, however noble in intention, the efforts of Gore, McKibben, Stern, and their many cohorts will succeed either. Not on any large scale. It won’t be clean tech or green products saving the day either.
Climate change, like energy scarcity, water pollution, and other serious global issues is merely one symptom of a larger global problem. Tackle the symptoms individually, and at best you might get lackluster results. Tackle the source of the problem, and everything attached to it will be positively affected.
That problem is consumerism. Too many people want too many things on a finite planet with limited resources. The process of obtaining and manufacturing those things is what has gotten us into trouble: carbon emissions, resource depletion, deforestation, species extinction, etc.
The consumer economy is the cornerstone of “democratic” governments worldwide. As a result, governments have no genuine interest in changing the status quo. It would be too problematic, too chaotic, and mean transcending too many vested interests. Don’t count on Copenhagen to come to much.
And while Al Gore and company have some good ideas and rational arguments, the problem is that the arguments are rational, while the roots of consumerism are not.
For decades, the worldwide public both in the U.S. and any country that has emulated the American formula for “success” has had their minds absorbed by consumerism, and their emotions compromised by its advertised promises. At this point, the average consumer is largely driven by irrational motives, advertisers tugging at the heart strings, making promises that products will solve “problems”.
In this emotional landscape and this mindset, at best you might get a few people to change to energy efficient light bulbs. You might get their attention just long enough for a few token actions. As for significant lifestyle shifts, they will be few and far between. Any significant shift will come from reaching people on an emotional, and likely irrational level—just as advertisers have been doing for decades.
What we need is a shift to a new model—for our lifestyle, for our economies, for our livelihoods, for our planet.
A rational argument is not going to bring those about. What will?
Not clean tech, not green products, nor any other model that looks similar to the one we already have. Merely re-positioning “stuff that is less bad” for consumers to consume is just shifting the nature of the problem. As Buckminster Fuller advised, to make an existing model obsolete, one must create a new model worth aspiring to.
Or as Einstein so elegantly put it, “We cannot solve problems using the same logic we used to create them in the first place.”
There needs to be a shift in people’s values and behaviors on a wide scale.
The terrain is there for exploration. Here is a well documented series from the BBC tracing the origins of consumer behavior and how they got us to where we are today. It’s a long series to watch, but incredibly detailed and insightful. If you are serious about wanting to change the way things are, study and reflect on these videos.
As the old adage goes, “Turn the problem into the solution.” In this case, the answer is getting consumerism to quickly consume and snuff itself out. Will it be another banking crisis that does it? Some other social movement rooted in the masses? Some other driver yet undetermined? Who knows, perhaps you will be the one coming up with the next golden idea on that one.
The Century of the Self Part 1
The Century of the Self Part 2
The Century of the Self Part 3
The Century of the Self Part 4
Economy and jobs seem to be on people's mind a lot lately. Here are some really great articles to help reframe your reality: - First, to set the stage, our colleague John Thackara has some useful thoughts on the way the world is going, emerging trends, and some promising news-- we are in fact on the cusp of a major shift in business as usual. He's quite a worldly man, and we tend to trust his instincts and observations. Check out his keynote speech from a recent event in Japan for some inspiration and a glimpse into our future, starting now.
- Secondly, there's been a lot of swirling discussion about "green jobs" and "green shoots" in the "new" economy (that's a lot of air quotes for one sentence!). GoodWork Canada has some interesting food for thought on actually creating green jobs/opportunities for yourself, rather than just milling about waiting for something to come your way ... or not.
- And if you're thinking one step wider about lifestyle issues as well as career, well then Half Farmer/Half X might just be for you. Created by a Japanese man interested in rebalancing his life and cutting out the fast paced, consumption-focused norm, he engineered his own lifestyle and then made it a mandate to help others do likewise.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a critical issue across Asia. From local companies to multi-national conglomerates, how successfully business interacts with its environs and community is of supreme importance. The CSR-Asia Conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia gave some worthwhile perspectives in a region home to roughly 60% of the world’s population. But how many of the case studies demonstrated a genuine portrayal of companies doing good work, and how much was at best blatant greenwash? What countries, industries, and companies are emerging as leaders? What are they key issues facing the region? (article continues...)  | |