State of the World 2013: Is Sustainability Still Possible?

The environmental awareness increases, mankind gets richer and the renewable resources are increasing in the world. That is some of the more positive pattern Worldwatch Institute highlights in the report according to to Swedish Radio program ”Klotet”

”But on the other hand the development is rappidly going the other way and it´s time to take out the emergency manual. This applies particularly to the continued growth of greenhouse gas emissions and our ever-increasing exploitation of finite resources.”
From: Veckans klimatnyheter

You can read the report if you click at the link above.
You can also listen to the radio – in swedish – if you click HERE.

According to European Cyclists´Federation two new bikes are sold for every car in Europe. Even though it’s not always possible to use the bike instead of the car – every time we make the choice to use the bike instead of the car – both the world and we ourself feel better.

You can read the whole article if you press HERE.

Tomorrow, Thursday, a regional training is starting in Luleå.
It contains how energy and climate efforts actually can enhance regional development while contributing to the transition to a fossil-free society.

According to a new report there really is no obstacles for a completely renewable electricity production.
CEO of the Swedish Windenergy says:

”There are good prospects for a renewable electricity system. But it requires thoughtful efforts to have it done in a cost effective manner. The grid needs to be refurbished and strengthened and trading capacity with our neighbor cuntries increase. It requires investment in ”smart grid” that will enable all consumers to become more active in the electricity market, while providing new opportunities to manage the renewable electricity fluctuations.”
(unfortunately the article is only in Swedish)

It is interesting that she comes up with constructive proposals to make it possible!

To get a better picture – click HERE!

To be a vital energy municipality you need statistics – boring but a fact!
You need to be sure of what the history looks like to manage the future!
This event takes place in Luleå, Sweden on March 14th.

The topic of the last day was building bridges to the future  and sustainable community plans.

”100% renewable energy is not a choice, it is the only alternative”, says Anna Leidreiter from World Future Council.  After showing us why non-renewable energy is not an option, Anna talked about success stories from Jämtland (Sweden), Iceland and Denmark. In Denmark community participation was key in the switch to renewable energy. Anna’s take away message was: Climate and security questions in the world are not to do with energy but rather fuel; Shift from fuel-based to infrastructure-based energy.

Anna Leidreiter

Next up was Michaela Hogenboom  and Elias Kindle, who are working together to create a connected and sustainable Liechtenstein. Through their project they are trying to move Lichtenstein from vision to implementation in sustainability. They bring people together in Future workshops and on online platforms. As well as trying to create community engagement they also offer consultancy to policy/decision makers. They finished their session with an interactive exercise. Below is one of the flowers that was created by the participants. To find out more contact Michaela and Elias at Verein Symbiose (www.symbiose.li).

Michaela and Elias

After coffee break Wolfgang Mehl (Jokkmokk Municipality/ Norrbotten Energy Agency) went on to present SEAP-PLUS. The Covenant of Mayors and Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAP) are instruments for implementing sustainable communities. Wolfgang started off by telling us about all the great work being done in Jokkmokk and then went on to explain what the Covenant of Mayors is.  The Covenant of Mayors is the mainstream European movement involving local and regional authorities, voluntarily committing to increasing energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources on their territories. By their commitment, Covenant signatories aim to meet and exceed the European Union 20% CO₂ reduction objective by 2020. When signing the Covenant of Mayors the municipality or council have to create a SEAP and BEI (baseline emission inventory). So far 4750 authorities have signed the Covenant of Mayors.

Jeppe Mikel Jensen (Union of Baltic cities environment and sustainable development secretariat) further explained that the Covenant of Mayors should work as a roadmap to the 2020 targets.  It is a bottom-up approach (although it kind of starts as a top-down tool ?) and a way of making climate protection happen on a local level. Jeppe represents NET-COM (a supporting network on Covenant of Mayors) and he sees the network as a way for small and big cities to get together and collaborate,  to exchange ideas and best practice and also to influence government.

Silva Herrmann encourages us to push our politicians into joining the Covenant of Mayors. If your municipality already has signed the Covenant of Mayors then ask your politicians what they are doing with it. A SEAP should not be a dust collector – it should be a plan of action.

Anna Hövenmark rounded up the conference and thanked everybody involved. She confirmed that JWC will be happening again next year first week in Februray (3d-6th). We’ll meet again in Jokkmokk!!!

Thank you Anna, Tiina, Silva and Wolfgang for an interesting and well-organized conference.

Today JWC focused on the way forward – turning ideas into reality.

The morning started with Rob MacMonagle from Canada presenting Toronto’s green economy strategies.  After an introduction to Toronto, Rob gave us some depressing data on the state of the earth and then went on to talk about his work for the City of Toronto on strategies for developing whole sectors in the green economy. There they have worked with innovation-integration strategies and a new paradigm: doing more with the same (or less).

Rob McMonagle

Next up was Eva Vitell from Vatttenfall and Antonio Caló from University of Oulu discussing centralised vs. decentralised energy systems. They gave us a good overview on the technical point of view: transmission vs transformation, smart grids etc. Interestingly, Antonio tells us how energy use in Finland peaks twice a day except at the weekend when there is a third peak, a so called sauna peak in electricity use. We must get better at balancing energy use.

On the question “What is better for climate and sustainability” Antonio and Eva more or less agreed that a mix between centralised and decentralised energy systems is the best. Eva pointed out that centralised solar panels (i.e. big solar parks) often are better for the environment (more efficient) than small decentralised solar panels. In general renewable energy is considered decentralised. However, as Eva pointed out, wind and water power are very much centralised since wind and water is where it is. Antonio added that social, economic and environmental aspects of the energy systems have to be considered when thinking sustainability, and thus decentralised will be beneficial due to the use of local resources. Eva admitted that decentralisation with small producers entering the market is a challenge for Vattenfall.

Eva Vitell and Antonio Caló

The morning session ended with parallel round-table discussions resulting in questions for the panel discussion on climate and energy policy in the afternoon. The panel consisted of: Karl Petersen, Municipal league Norrbotten; Jeppe Mikel Jensen, Union of the Baltic Cities environment and sustainable development secretariat; Eva Vitell, Vattenfall; Jon Petter Gintal, Sami Parliament Norway; Governor Sven-Erik Österberg; and Counsellor Michael Sullivan, US Embassy.

Overall the panel agreed on a lot of the questions asked. For example, on the question of “mining or no mining” in Jokkmokk (a very hot topic!). Karl Petersen emphasised that discussion should be developed into dialogue between people in the conflicts over land and natural resources. Others agreed and Eva further suggested that the dialogue requires a facilitator/mediator.

Transparency and education to help people understand the impact of things they purchase was suggested as a way to change people’s behaviour or consumer pattern. Furthermore, it was suggested that we need to make politicians secure/comfortable that we will re-elect them when they make the right (but sometimes difficult) decisions for the environment. Long term thinking in policy making was also considered important. Jon Petter finished off by reassuring us that the Sami people are here for the future – mines or no mines – and will adapt to change.

The day ended with open space discussions followed by the inauguration of Jokkmokk winter market.

The topic of the morning session was “A planet under stress”. Shora Esmailian, author and journalist, spoke about climate refugees in her talk “Out of the frying pan and into the fire”. According to Shora, climate refuges already exist today in many parts of the world. She has met victims of climate change in Egypt, Kenya and Pakistan, and she shared some of their stories with us today. However climate refugees are not recognised by the Geneva Convention and hence we need a new definition for refugees that includes climate and is borderless. Many people who have to leave their land due to extreme floods, draught or sea level rise become refugees within their countries.

Shora Esmailian

Next up was Lassi Heininen, University of Lapland, who gave us a run through of the politics of the arctic. Decision makers are picturing the Arctic without ice – a new ocean – and new opportunities.

“Indigenous knowledge – A resource for today?” was the question Kristna Sehlin MacNeil, Centre for Sami Research, addressed in her talk. According to Kristina, non- indigenous people have a lot to learn from indigenous knowledge and we should be asking indigenous people if they would be willing to share their knowledge.

Mats Berg, GirjasSamiVillage, expressed his concern over the expanding mining industries and how potential new mining will kill the reindeer herding and Sami traditions in his village. 8000 reindeers pass through his Sami village every year. A planned new mine will split the village up and stop the reindeers from passing between winter and summer pastures. Mats sees mining industry as the new predator in his area and calls for the right of the Sami people to say no.

Mats Berg

The afternoon was spent in workshops and the day was finished off with beautiful Sami music and stories performed by Ella Katarina Rimpi.