by: Jeremy Edmunds P.E. Assoc. AIA LEED AP
Event: State of the Planet 08, Real People, Real Places, Real Solutions
Location: Columbia University Earth Institute, 03.27-28.08
Speakers: For full list of over 30 speakers, go to the State of the Planet 08 website.
Organizer: The Earth Institute at Columbia University
The poor population is expanding, human and environmental conflicts abound, clean energy seems elusive, and climate change is happening at an unpredictably quick pace. A new global mindset is required. In their own self-interest, the rich will need to help the poor. If developing countries go it alone, the environmental impacts from smokestacks will be felt across national borders. The polar ice cap is already 30-50 years ahead of projected melting due in part to the compounding effects of water seepage through cracks. The time to act is now and we will have to adapt to the irreversible damage already done.
And yet, “There is no clash between national and international interests.” — Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations and President of the Global Humanitarian Forum told the gathering.
The State of Planet 08 conference addressed all of these issues, and more. Here are notable sound bites. To watch the full event online, click the link.
“The poor are the most motivated to eliminate poverty; all they lack are the tools.” — Asha-Rose Migiro, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
“Beware of attempts by the security industry to reframe the climate change problem as a security problem. Hardening infrastructure and tightening immigration policies will not address root causes of instability.” — David Victor, Director, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
“A nation’s energy expenditure is relatively fixed. When costs rise by 20%, demand decreases by about 20%. There will be no macro-economic damage from fixing the energy carbon problem.” — Michael Grubb, Chief Economist, UK Carbon Trust
“It is a myth that biofuel crops destroy the Amazon — the soil conditions and proximity to processing centers rule this out. Ethanol from sugar cane is eco-friendly and makes for a good Sunday drink.” — Roberto Rodrigues, Coordinator, Getulio Vargas Foundation Agrobusiness Center; President, Superior Agriculture Council of Sao Paulo’s Federation of Industries; Co-Chairman, Interamerican Ethanol Commission, and Former Brazilian Minister of Agriculture
“Coal-fired power plants must be made more efficient for carbon capture to become economical. We should immediately construct demonstration projects to prove effectiveness of carbon capture technologies.” — Klaus S. Lackner, Murice Ewing and J. Lamar Worzel Professor of Geophysics, Earth and Environmental Engineering, and Director of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy, Columbia University
“What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic. The growing season has doubled in some parts of Alaska.” — Daniel White, Director, Institute of Northern Engineering
“Some species win when climate change takes place. Cod, for example, grow larger in warmer waters, and invasive species like snake pipefish thrive as well.” — Ken Drinkwater, Senior Scientist, Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Norway
“One potential solution that could help improve productivity by improving communications is the simple cell phone. This has been seen with female nut pickers who are coordinating and maximizing sale prices across their marketplace via telephony.” — Carl-Henric Svanberg, President & CEO, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
“We don’t want a global government but we do want global governance.” — Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director, The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management, Columbia University; Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Jeremy Edmunds, P.E., Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, is the AIANY director of Programs and Strategic Planning, and a sustainable planning and development associate with private equity firm Cherokee.