Szczecin Towards an Attractive,

Sustainable and Fair Future

2008 The up-and-coming generations
voice on climate change

A vision from the Baltic University Programme

students conference on climate change in
Szczecin, November 2008.

Jakob Grandin

1 Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future

 Szczecin Copyright 2008 by Jakob Grandin,
the Baltic University Programme Secretariat

2008
and the conference participants

Published by the Baltic University Programme

in Uppsala, December 2008.

Uppsala Centre for Sustainable Development

Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future 2

 Foreword

Students are key persons The Baltic University Programme has now for 10 years held an annual spring Students
for the transition and Conference. Approximately 6080 students from the 14 countries in the BUP net-
development of our work have been given a platform to meet and cooperate on issues connected to sustai-
region in a sustainable nable development. The conference themes have varied to some extent but the goal
manner. has been to increase the students knowledge, create a common understanding of sus-
tainable development in the Baltic Sea region as well as to promote contacts, interna-
tional understanding and democracy development. This is not the first time that we
have climate change as the theme, as it was in focus already in April 2007.

For the first time ever, the BUP decided to arrange two Students Conferences the sa-
me year. This decision was based on the feeling that the network would greatly benefit
from such an activity and due to the fact that the issue of climate change is a major
challenge for societies worldwide and is threatening livelihoods, food security and bi-
odiversity. The negotiations are ongoing regarding the replacement of the Kyoto agre-
ement. One milestone meeting took place in Poznan, Poland 112 December this
year and the new framework will be finalized in Copenhagen in December 2009. Stu-
dents are our future, as they will be implementing these changes and also will be af-
fected by the decisions that are taken today. Students are therefore are key persons for
the transition and development of our region in a sustainable manner. An important
and decisive factor in this decision was that the Maritime University of Szczecin offe-
red to support and host this conference, which we warmly thank them for.

Climate change is to a large extent dependant on that we take responsibility for and a
commitment to implement measures and changes in our lifestyle to drastically reduce
the emissions of greenhouse gases in order to avoid catastrophic climate change. This
is necessary to create a sustainable future for our planet. Therefore it is of great impor-
tance to involve the students of the Baltic Sea region in the battle against climate
change. I was impressed by the commitment and interest shown by the students that
participated in this Student Conference and look forward to future cooperation with
them and to see the results of their commitment.

We plan to have a series of Student Conferences on the theme Climate change that
will lead up to the Copenhagen negotiations in 2009.

Christine Jakobsson
Director
The Baltic University Programme

2 Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future

Acknowledgements

This report is the voice of the students from the Baltic Sea Region and we thank the This report is the voice of
Baltic University Programme for their long-standing trust and belief in students ta- the students from the
king an active role in their education as well as citizens. But we couldnt have done it Baltic Sea Region and we
alone. First of all, our thanks go to, the Maritime University of Szczecin for generously thank the Baltic University
hosting us during our conference. We were also lucky to have with us a great team of Programme for their
experts from different countries and disciplines, that contributed to our process long-standing trust and
belief in students taking
throughout the conference. Our warmest thanks to Dr. Andrzej Siemaszko from the
an active role in their
Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences; to Prof.
education as well as
Bernd Delakowitz from the University of Zittau in Germany; to Ieva Bruneniece from citizens
the Ministry of the Environment of the Republic of Latvia; and to Staffan Tillander,
Climate Ambassador at the Swedish Ministry of Environment, who unfortunately
couldnt be with us during the conference due to technical problems on our side but
contributed generously during the planning process.

We also thank Sara Andersson and the Centre for Environment and Development
Studies at CSD Uppsala, Uppsala University and Swedish University for Agricultural
Sciences for co-arranging this conference and generously contributing with their expe-
rience in education for sustainable development, participatory workshops and project
management.

We wish to thank Christine Jakobsson and Maria Winkler at the secretariat of the Bal-
tic University Programme, for their experience, optimism and belief in this project.

Christine Jakobsson and Sara Andersson contributed with insightful comments on the
draft of this report.

Jakob Grandin
Students representative to the board of the Baltic University Programme
and course coordinator at Cemus, CSD Uppsala

Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future 3

 Contents

Foreword 2

Acknowledgements 3

Executive summary 6

Introduction - Setting the context 8

Building blocks for the future 14

Education 16

Innovation and investments 18

Cities 20

Lifestyle 22

Citizenship 24

References 26

4 Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future

Szczecin

2008 Yes, we can!

Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future 5

 Executive summary

What we do today about climate change, strained ecosystems and global

poverty will shape the very foundations of life on this planet for genera-
tions to come. We can still reach a future that is attractive, sustainable
and fair, but our window of opportunity is closing fast. This report stres-
ses the defining importance of climate change, and urges our leaders co-
me up with a prompt and scientifically based action plan to mitigate
climate change and create conditions for an attractive and fair develop-
ment that ensures human wellbeing for future generations.

Past and current The threat of climate change has
development models brought global attention to the fact that
have generated human human activities are altering our en-
welfare at the expense of vironment in catastrophic and irreversib-
natural systems. This le ways. Still, emissions of greenhouse
needs to change if we gases continue to rise at an accelerating
want to sustain human rate and global emissions are worse than
progress.
even the worst-case scenarios. Moreover,
recent science suggests that the current
political target of a 450 ppm greenhouse
gas concentration is unrealistic if to avo-
id triggering self-reinforcing feedback
processes that will lead to runaway war-
ming of the planet. A target of 350 ppm
is regarded as more realistic if we want to
maintain acceptable living conditions.
Climate change is not only a future
risk and problem. People around the
world are already suffering the impacts
from climate change and the poor, who
have contributed the least to climate
change, are hit the hardest. Climate
change is also a generational issue. The
young generation of today, and the gene-
rations to come, will pay the highest
costs if we fail to respond properly.
Equally alarming is the state of our
planets life-supporting ecosystems and
we are pushing many of these systems
beyond their limits. Two thirds of global
life-support systems are being used abo-
ve their capacity and 60% of ecosystem
services globally have been degraded.
While humanity as a whole drastically
needs to lower its consumption of natu-
ral resources, billions of people live in
severe poverty and desperately need to
increase their resource consumption.
For the past 150 years, coal, oil and
natural gas has powered our develop-
ment. To move towards sustainability we
need deep and structural changes in how
our societies create wealth. Past and cur-
rent development models have generated
human welfare at the expense of natural
systems. This needs to change if we want
to sustain human progress.
Towards an attractive,
sustainable and fair future
It is possible to turn the trends of strai-
ned ecosystems, global warming and
poverty and to move towards a future
that is attractive, sustainable and fair. It
calls for an interrelated effort where pro-
gress is made on all fronts at once. Many

6 Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future

of the pieces for building this future are
already here, while others need to be
stimulated by proactive and targeted
efforts of research, education and market
signals. Key areas that can contribute to
a sustainable future are education, inno-
vation and investments, cities and urban
planning, lifestyle and the role of citi-
zenship.
The transition to a sustainable future
will not happen spontaneously. The me-
etings in Poznan and Copenhagen will
set the framework for how humanity
will meet the challenge of climate
change. As members of the up-and-co-
ming generation of the Baltic Sea Region
we see many opportunities for action
and recommend the following:
Come to prompt agreement on an
action plan to decrease emissions that
reflects the latest science and ensures
an equitable global development
While leaders have taken the first step of
acknowledging the problem, they now
desperately need to move on to concrete
actions in the post-Kyoto process to set a
political framework that delivers decrea-
sed greenhouse gas emissions. This fra-
mework needs to be scientifically based,
which currently mean going back to a
greenhouse gas concentration in the at-
mosphere of 350 ppm (rather than
450 ppm) in order to avoid runaway
global warming. It also needs to be fair
in the sense that it gives room for poor
countries to increase their resource use
in order to fight poverty. Rich countries
have contributed the most to climate
change and also need to take the leading
role in fighting it. This means significant
reductions of emissions at home as well
as substantial offsets abroad. A good and
clear framework will stimulate innova-
tion, create jobs and make the way for
an attractive future for everyone.
Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future
Implement sustainable development As members of the up-
in education at all levels and-coming generation of
Education at all levels, from pre-school the Baltic Sea Region we
to universities need to work with educa- see many opportunities
tion for sustainable development, provi- for action towards an
ding the necessary framework, tools and attractive, sustainable and
fair future.
models that are needed to understand
and work with the defining challenges of
our time. This puts emphasis on critical
thinking, systems analysis and transdi-
sciplinary cooperation.
Direct investment flows to promote
innovation in sustainable technologies
Markets will likely not react quickly
enough to stimulate the wave of innova-
tion that is needed. Investors and go-
vernments need to take a proactive ap-
proach to guide development towards
the low-carbon solutions that will power
our future and away from carbon inten-
sive industries. Investment flows and
economic instruments such as taxes and
subsidies play important roles in this.
Build cities for a bright green future
We live on an urban planet and how we
plan our cities will shape our future. Ci-
ties need effective public transportation
systems, proper waste recycling and
increased energy efficiency of buildings.
Involve people as citizens and
empower consumers
Leaders have a lot to gain by involving
citizens in the decision making process.
Instruments such as taxes as well as pro-
per labeling of products empower con-
sumers to make informed choices.
About the conference | In November 2008, concerned students
from the whole Baltic Sea Region met to take on the defining chal-
lenges of our time. The conference was hosted and cofinanced by
the Maritime Academy of Szczecin, cofinanced by the Swedish Insti-
tute and was the first in a series of conferences arranged by the
Baltic University Programme in collaboration with Cemus at CSD
Uppsala, Uppsala University that are leading up to the climate
negotiations in Copenhagen in 2009.
7
 Introduction | Setting the context

What we do today about climate change, strained ecosystems and global

poverty will shape the very foundations of life on this planet for genera-
tions to come. We can still reach a future that is attractive, sustainable
and fair, but our window of opportunity is closing fast. We have no more
than ten years, probably much less time than that, to change our direc-
tion, decrease emissions of carbon dioxide, lower our impact on life-sup-
porting ecosystems and move towards a sustainable future. Every month
counts.

We can still reach a For the past 150 years, fossil fuels have
future that is attractive, powered our development and generated
sustainable and fair, but our welfare. To move towards sustainabi-
our window of lity we need deep and structural changes
opportunity is closing fast. in how our societies generate welfare.
Our road towards an attractive, sustai-
nable and fair future starts with a vision.
Many of the pieces for building this fu-
ture are already all around us, while ot-
hers need to be stimulated by proactive
and targeted efforts of research, educa-
tion and market signals. This is the voice
of the up-and-coming generation of the
Baltic Sea Region. The message is clear:
we demand strong and concerted action
on the challenges of climate change,
strained ecosystems and global poverty
from our leaders and were there to
help.
The threat of climate change has
brought global attention to the fact that
human activities are altering our en-
vironment in catastrophic and irreversib-
le ways. Equally alarming is the state of
our planets life-supporting ecosystems:
resources are being depleted and species
are going extinct all around us. This
happens at a time when billions of peop-
le are in severe poverty and desperately
need to increase their resource consump-
tion.
This chapter starts by addressing the
three interconnected issues of climate
change, strained ecosystems and global
poverty, which are the defining challeng-
es of our generation. Our response to
these challenges will greatly shape our
future possibilities of generating wellbe-
ing. The chapter then looks into the Bal-
tic Sea Region and the special role it
plays in meeting these challenges.
Climate change is a moral
and generational issue
To think that climate change is only to
be seen as a future risk or problem is
simply wrong. People around the world
are already suffering the impacts from
climate change prolonged heat waves,
unpredictable weather conditions and
melting glaciers are affecting food securi-
ty and livelihoods for millions of people.
The poor, who have contributed the
least to climate change, are hit the har-
dest.

8 Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future

 Climate change is also very much a
generational issue. The young generation
of today, as well as generations to come,
will have to pay the highest costs of cli-
mate change, depleted natural resources
and collapsing ecosystems. The decisions
that world leaders take today are of great
importance for those already affected by
environmental degradation but they will
also shape our conditions for creating an
attractive future for ourselves and for our
children.
The meetings in Poznan and Copen-
hagen will set the framework for how
humanity will meet the challenge of cli-
mate change. If the international com-
munity fails to cooperate and come to
an agreement, it is the young generation
that will have to pay for their mistakes
and short-term trade offs. This report
therefore stresses the defining impor-
tance of climate change, and urge our
leaders come up with a prompt and sci-
entifically based action plan to both mi-
tigate climate change and create condi-
tions for attractive development and
human wellbeing in the future. This can
be done. We the students of the Baltic
Sea Region have many creative ideas
and are prepared to participate in the
process when society uses all available If the international
means to steer towards a sustainable, community fails to
attractive and fair future. cooperate and come to
an agreement, it is the
young generation that will
have to pay for their
Climate change: the need to mistakes and short-term
move from voicing concern to trade offs.
immediate action
Anthropogenic climate change, mainly
due to the burning of fossil fuels for
energy, threatens to irreversibly change
conditions for life on this planet. There
has been a lot of scientific as well as poli-
tical progress on this issue during the last
few years. The work of the Intergovern-
mental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), as well as the review by Sir Ni-
colas Stern on the economics of climate
change has put climate change on the
global agenda. Governments worldwide
are now accepting the reality and severi-
ty of the problem. In 2007, Al Gore and
the IPCC were awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize for their efforts to build up and
spread knowledge about climate change.
However, this high global awareness
has not led to decreased emissions of
greenhouse gases. On the contrary, emis-
sions continue to rise at an accelerating

About the conference
In November 2008, concerned students from 12
countries and 32 universities in the Baltic Sea Region
met to take on the defining challenges of our time.
The conference was cofinanced and hosted by the
Maritime Academy of Szczecin, cofinanced by the
Swedish Institute, and was the first in a series of con-
ferences arranged by the Baltic University Program-
me in collaboration with Cemus at CSD Uppsala,
Uppsala University that are leading up to the clima-
te negotiations in Copenhagen in 2009. The ongoing
international climate negotiations take place in Po-
znan and Copenhagen in the Baltic Sea Region. This
gives the citizens of the region a special responsibility
to make sure that global leaders come to a prompt
and scientifically based agreement which makes pos-
sible an attractive development for future genera-
tions. The discussions and workshops in Szczecin we-
re aimed towards looking at possibilities and formula-
ting concrete proposals and action plans, as well as
forming international project groups that keep the
processes going after the conference ended.
Information about the Maritime Academy of Szcze-
cin, the Swedish Institute, the Baltic University Pro-
gramme and Cemus can be found at their respective
websites: www.wsm.szczecin.pl; www.si.se;
www.balticuniv.uu.se; www.cemus.uu.se.

Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future 9

 In order to maintain rate and year after year global greenhou-
acceptable living se gas emissions are worse than even the
conditions, we need to worst-case scenarios of the IPCC.1 Go-
aim for a target of vernments have taken the first step: ack-
350ppm or less. nowledging the problem. Now they de-
sperately need to move on to concrete
actions to set a political framework that
delivers decreased emissions. Voicing
concern is not enough, and we are re-
minded of the words of Martin Luther
King Jr: Over the bleached bones and
jumbled residues of numerous civiliza-
tions are written the pathetic words: Too
late.2
Our whole society is saturated in
fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are everywhere.
In the food we eat and in the electricity
that powers our computers and lights
our apartments. Fossil fuels are powering
our transportation system, underlying
our personal mobility as well as trans-
ports of goods. Fossil fuels keep us warm
through the oil, coal and natural gas that
heat our houses. In fact, the welfare that
has been generated the last 150 years
since the Industrial Revolution has been
largely based on the exploitation of the
cheap and easily accessible fossil energy
sources of coal, oil and natural gas.3
Szczecin
Kyoto Bali 2008
1997 2007
10
Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future
Phasing out fossil fuels requires far
reaching structural changes in how our
societies generate welfare. Solutions that
can support a high level of human well-
being while at the same time emitting
little or none CO2 exist, but we have to
start using them. The fact that fossil fu-
els are a limited resource that is rapidly
approaching its peak production rate
makes this inevitable, but in order to
prevent runaway global warming we
need to take proactive action to radically
decrease our use of these energy sources
within the next decade.
Moreover, recent science suggests
that the current political target of a 450
ppm greenhouse gas concentration is
unrealistic if we wish to avoid triggering
self-reinforcing feedback processes that
will lead to runaway warming of the
planet. The UN Human Development
Report admits that the 450 ppm target
would only mean a 50/50 chance of avo-
iding runaway climate change. Accor-
ding to the latest science, a target of 350
ppm is more realistic if we want to
maintain acceptable living conditions.
If humanity wishes to preserve a planet
similar to that on which civilization de-
veloped and to which life on Earth is
Baltic Sea Region
Poznan
2008
Copenhagen
2009
adapted, paleoclimate evidence and on-
going climate change suggest that CO2
will need to be reduced from its current
385 ppm to at most 350 ppm, but likely
less than that, suggests a recent study
by NASA scientist James Hansen and
others. This means that emissions of
carbon dioxide need to be reduced by
90% globally by 2050, not 50% as sug-
gested by the IPCC.4
To meet this goal we need to secure
large reductions of emissions in rich co-
untries while at the same time doing
massive transfers of climate neutral
technologies to developing countries so
that they can lift their people out of
poverty without using fossil fuels. Gre-
enhouse Development Rights, developed
by the Stockholm Environmental Insti-
tute and the Heinrich Bll Stiftung, is
one proposed framework on how to sha-
re the emissions of greenhouse gases. It
shows that, given political will and pro-
active leadership, it is possible to combi-
ne large reductions of greenhouse gas
emissions with room for increased re-
source consumption for the poorest
countries.5
It is still possible to avoid catastroph-
ic climate change the building blocks
of an attractive, sustainable and fair fu-
ture are all around us and others will be
available in a few years time given the
proper funding but reaching it calls for
strong and coordinated leadership and a
new roadmap for the transition to susta-
inable development.
Ecosystems being pushed
beyond their limits
Just as alarming as the issue of climate
change is the increasing human pressure
on ecosystems. We are depleting our fish
stocks, running out of fresh water, pol-
Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future
luting our air and eroding our soils. A When a system is in
recent international study, the Millenni- overshoot there are only
um Ecosystem Assessment, which enga- two possible outcomes,
ged more than thousand scientists, in- either a controlled return
vestigated the health of some of the most to a stable system or
important life supporting systems on collapse.
this planet. The gloomy result was that
two thirds of these systems from tropi-
cal forests to agricultural soils, fisheries,
wetlands and fresh water resources are
being used above their capacity. Many
systems are being damaged and 60% of
ecosystem services globally have been
degraded.6 The extinction rate is 100 to
1000 times the normal background rate
and on average we are losing a distinct
plant or animal species every 20
minutes.7
At the same time as non-renewable
resources such as fossil fuels are being
used at an accelerating rate, the extrac-
tion rate of many of the Earths renewab-
le resources is too high and is pushing
ecosystems beyond their limits. To stop
destroying life supporting ecosystem
services and to sustain conditions for
attractive human lives in the future, we
need to decrease our impact on these
systems. We live in overshoot. When a
system is in overshoot there are only two
possible outomes, either a controlled
return to a stable system or collapse.
Solutions to climate change must enable
the transition back to a stable system.8
Poverty: Declaring a Global
Development Emergency
Adding to the complexity of these en-
vironmental challenges, which are in
large part due to over-extraction of natu-
ral resources and overuse of natural
sinks, are the large groups of people liv-
ing in poverty. While humanity as a
whole drastically needs to lower its con-
11
 Past and current sumption of natural resources in order to
development models maintain climate stability and life-sup-
have often generated porting ecosystems, large groups of pe-
human welfare at the ople desperately need access to develop-
expense of natural ment and to increase their material con-
systems. This needs to sumption in order rise from poverty.
change if we want to
In fact, progress on the Millennium
sustain human progress.
Development Goals a set of goals dec-
lared by the UN to eradicate for example
extreme poverty, hunger and preventable
diseases is so slow that world leaders
declared a development emergency in
January 2008. The World Bank estima-
tes that one in four (1.4 billion) people
live in extreme poverty, that there are
serious shortfalls in fighting hunger and
malnutrition, that half the world lacks
basic sanitation and that more than
190.000 children under five die from
disease every week. Malaria, a preventab-
le disease, kills one child every 30
seconds.9
The close connections between hu-
man development and environmental
sustainability have lately been stressed in
reports from the United Nations Deve-
lopment Programme and the World
Bank. The World Bank's Global Moni-
toring Report on the Millennium Deve-
lopment Goals states: Climate change
and loss and degradation of natural re-
sources have the potential to severely
reverse hard-earned development gains
of the past and constrain prospects for
the future.10
Tackling these serious challenges, and
creating conditions for poor people to
lift themselves from poverty, means ack-
nowledging that human welfare is de-
pendent on climate stability and healthy
ecosystems. Past and current develop-
ment models have often generated hu-
man welfare at the expense of natural
systems. This needs to change if we want
to sustain human progress. We need to
find ways of increasing human wellbeing
12
Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future
that at the same time make natural sy-
stems flourish.
The Baltic Sea Region
To change these interconnected trends
of climate change, strained ecosystems
and global poverty and to move on to
an attractive future that is sustainable
and available for everyone is the chal-
lenge of our generation. The Baltic Sea
Region has a special role to play in this
global process.
Firstly, both of the two main sum-
mits in the international process towards
a post-Kyoto climate regime will take
place in the Baltic Sea Region: in Poznan
in December 2008 and in Copenhagen
in December 2009. The summit in Co-
penhagen also takes place when Sweden
chairs the EU. The results (or lack of
results) from these two summits will
have a profound impact on the very
foundations for life for generations to
come. The citizens of the Baltic Sea Re-
gion have a special responsibility to ma-
ke sure that global leaders gathering in
Poznan and Copenhagen come up with
a framework that ensures a stable climate
and makes possible attractive lives for
current and coming generations.
The countries of the Baltic Sea Regi-
on can also draw on a long and success-
ful history of cooperation for a better
environment. In the region, institutions
and organizations such as the Helsinki
Commission, Baltic 21, the Council of
Baltic Sea States and, of course, the Bal-
tic University Programme, have decades
of experience in cooperation for sustai-
nable development. The countries of the
Baltic Sea Region should use this unique
base of experience of international co-
operation positive as well as less fruit-
ful experiences to make sure that the
current negotiations on global climate
policy are efficient and successful.
The Baltic Sea unites a diverse group
of countries, that all have their own uni-
que challenges when progressing to low-
carbon economies. Three of the ten lar-
gest cumulative emitters of CO2 in the
world are countries in the Baltic Sea Re-
gion, and much of the energy in-
frastructure depends on fossil fuels. Rus-
sias economy is heavily based on exports
of fossil fuels. Poland has one of the lar-
gest coal reserves in the world, and al-
most all of its electricity is produced
from this resource.
In Sweden, generating welfare is
connected to high levels of energy use
and resource consumption. Much of the
resource footprint is from imports of
consumer goods from other countries,
such as China, and when these are taken
into account Sweden's CO2 emissions
are in the order of 10 tonnes per
capita.11
The countries of the Baltic Sea Regi-
on may seem locked into an unsustai-
nable development path and the region,
as the rest of the world, certainly faces
many challenges when doing the neces-
sary reductions of CO2 emissions and
natural resource use. There are, however,
many brilliant initiatives that, given
proper stimulation and the necessary
institutional framework, would enable
the countries of the Baltic Sea Region to
move towards a development where pro-
gress on ecological issues goes hand in
hand with increased wellbeing and pro-
sperity.
Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future
Notes The countries of the
Baltic Sea Region need to
1. Sprat & Sutton, Climate Code Red (Mel- use their unique base of
bourne, 2008). experience in
2. King, Where do we go from here: chaos or international cooperation
community (Beacon Press, 1968) to make sure that the
3. Heinberg, Peak Everything - Waking Up to current negotiations on
the Century of Declines (Gabriola Island,
2007)
global climate policy are
4. Hansen, et. al., Target Atmospheric CO2:
efficient and successful.
Where Should Humanity Aim?, Open
Atmospheric Science Journal (vol. 2, 2008),
p. 217.
5. For an introduction to Greenhouse Deve-
lopment Rights, see for example Baer,
Athanasiou & Kartha, The Right to Deve-
lopment in a Climate Constrained World -
The Greenhouse Development Rights Fra-
mework (Berlin, 2007).
6. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Ecosy-
stems and Human Well-being: Synthesis (Wa-
shington, DC., 2005), p. 112.
7. ScienceDaily, Extinction Rate Across The
Globe Reaches Historical Proportions (10/
1, 2002). Retrieved 14/12 2008 from
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/
01/020109074801.htm
8. Meadows, Randers & Meadows, Limits to
Growth the 30 year update (London,
2005), p. 3.
9. World Bank, Global Monitoring Report
2008: MDGs and the Environment (Wa-
shington DC., 2008), p. 2.
10. Ibid., p. 1. See also UNDP, Human Deve-
lopment Report 2007/2008 - Fighting climate
change: Human solidarity in a divided world
(New York, 2007).
11. Naturvrdsverket (Swedish Environmental
Protection Agency), Konsumtionens kli-
matpverkan, Rapport 5903 (Stockholm,
2008), p. 12.
13
 Building blocks for the future

It is possible to turn these trends - of strained ecosystems, global war-

ming and poverty - and to move towards a future that is attractive, susta-
inable and fair, but it calls for an interrelated effort where progress must
be made on all fronts at once. Many of the building blocks of this future
are available already they are all around us if we just look for them.
Other pieces need to be further developed, requiring targeted efforts of
research, education and market signals.

It is possible to turn these The transition to a sustainable future
trends - strained will not happen spontaneously. Markets
ecosystems, global will likely not react quickly enough to
warming and poverty - stimulate the wave of innovation that is
and to move towards a needed, so governments need to take a
future that is attractive, proactive approach to guide develop-
sustainable and fair
ment in the proper direction via invest-
ments and market mechanisms.1
The journey towards this future starts
with a vision. At the conference in
Szczecin, we took the first steps towards
such a vision by discussing welfare and
wellbeing, identifying key areas that can
contribute towards a sustainable future
and coming up with concrete proposals
of components that would lead toward
that future. We worked with the areas of
education, innovation and investments,
citizenship, cities and lifestyle. To pa-
raphrase Albert Einstein, we cannot sol-
ve our problems with the same kind of
ideas that created them, and the confe-
rence participants were encouraged to
open up and to think outside the box.
The proposals that came out from
this process are just the beginning. They
span over different scales and time fra-
mes, and from structural change to tar-
geted solutions. Some seem more rea-
listic than others. Some can be imple-
mented today, while others need some
more time.
Many of the pieces of this vision may
seem unvisionary at first. Few of the
ideas presented here are completely new.
While some may see this as boring and
lame, for us this is a source of hope. It
means that we dont have to count on
solutions that dont yet exist. Of course
we should never stop envisioning com-
pletely new solutions, but whats exciting

14 Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future

in this vision is the systemized collection
of mostly existing solutions that we can
start using right away.
Important parts in this vision are:
Education at all levels, from pre-
school to universities need to work
with education for sustainable de-
velopment, providing the necessary
framework, tools and models that
are needed to understand and work
with the defining challenges of our
time. Education also needs to work
with values. We also need to target
already active professionals.
More locally produced goods, espe-
cially food, that decreases the need
for long transports.
Working out ways to share things
and therefore meeting human needs
while consuming less resources.
Labeling of goods that allows con-
sumers to make as informed choices
as possible.
The importance of media and the
defining impact it has on our values
and lifestyles was underlines several
times We need to work with media When a system is in
at all levels, from entertainment overshoot there are only
programmes to news dispatches and two possible solutions,
documentaries. either a controlled return
Increased use of public transporta- to a stable system or
tion. collapse.
Planning cities to be greener, inclu-
ding green zones, proper waste
recycling, effective public transpor-
tation and food production locali-
zed within or close to cities.
Increasing the use of energy effici-
ent buildings by both renovating
old buildings and making new
buildings efficient from the start.
Use of taxes, targeted subsidies and
other economic control instru-
ments to stimulate innovation and
investments in green technologies
Notes
1. UNDP, Human Development Report 2007/
2008 - Fighting climate change: Human
solidarity in a divided world (New York,
2007), p. 12.

A framework for analyzing solutions
Solutions for creating an attractive, sustainable and
fair future for everyone abound on many levels, from
changes in values and lifestyle patterns to new
technologies that enable us to meet human needs
using less energy and resources. When analyzing the
potential of these solutions for delivering sustainable
development, we need to look at the risks, costs,
time-frame and scale of the solutions, as well as their
efficiency, reach and who controls them.
The probability and magnitude of the risks associ-
ated with a solution affects whether we choose to
adopt a solution at all. Looking at their efficiency and
cost effectiveness brings up questions on whether
the need could be met in a cheaper or more effici-
ent way (ie. by using less money, time, resources and
energy). As our window of opportunity is rapidly
closing, the time-frame of the solution is essential. A
solution that we can start implementing today is mo-
re viable than one that we hope to have available in
fifteen years time. The scale of the solution affects
not only the risks associated to it, but also their avai-
lability. Large-scale solutions, which require substantial
initial investments, are not as likely as small-scale solu-
tions to be available to people in poor countries. The
reach of the solution is also important to keep in
mind. Will the solution take us the whole way to a
sustainable society, will it take us part of the way, or
will it only buy us time while we develop something
more far-reaching?

Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future 15

 Education
Education plays an important role in the work towards sustainable deve-
lopment and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is an emer-
ging field, which seeks to empower people to assume responsibility for
creating sustainability.
Education for sustainable There are a number of skills that that are
development brings us to central for ESD. Envisioning, the ability
questions about the to imagine a better future, helps people
contents of education, its to decide where they want to go and
form and organization. how to get there. Critical thinking and
reflection, the ability to question our
current belief systems and perspectives,
helps people examine economic, en-
vironmental, social and cultural structu-
res in the context of sustainable deve-
lopment.
Systems thinking which involves
looking at the whole system rather than
Costs?
Risks? Efficiency?
Who
Enough to get
Solutions benefits?
us there?
Who controls?
Time frame? Scale?
16
Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future
its parts and highlighting relationships
between the different phenomena ma-
kes it possible to analyze complex sy-
stems and find links and synergies when
looking for solutions to a problem.
Transdisciplinarity allows us to see our
cutting edge disciplinary knowledge in a
broader context.
Building partnerships promotes dia-
logues and teaches people how to work
together. Participation in decision-ma-
king helps empower people in their roles
as pupils, students and citizens.
Education for sustainable develop-
ment brings us to questions about the
contents of education (what we learn),
its form (how we learn) and organization
(how our education is organized and
who controls it).
Local education
For a sustainable future we need to work
with life-long learning. This means that
we must educate those who already have
graduated. Our idea is to have special
courses/meetings for people who want to
learn about these subjects. The courses
should be held at held at evening time at
local places. It should be easy to go there
(good connections), they should be free
of charge, and attractive (for example, a
popular movie connected to the subject
could be shown, coffee and cookies
could be served, someone could play
music and so on).
One possible actor that could arrange
these courses are local governments. As
because climate change affects for ex-
ample farmers, they would be interested
in learning more about this subject and
how they can contribute. The courses
should therefore be pointed to different
groups in society, for example farmers,
householders and consumers.
Education for teachers
All school levels should be involved in
the education for a sustainable develop-
ment process: elementary schools, high
schools, and universities. Teachers need
to get access to continuous education
and training on issues relating to sustai-
nable development. This will lead to
good ESD in all schools. This can be
done in many ways.
Cooperation between teachers and
companies should be established. Start a
cooperation between teachers and com-
panies or experts from companies to
schools, so teachers can get to know mo-
re about practical processes, new techno-
logies and economical perspectives on
production. Establish offices specializing
in collecting information and news
about sustainable development that can
be communicated to teachers, so that
Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future
teachers have up-to-date information. Courses should be
Pedagogical and ESD courses should pointed to different
also be available for teacher students groups in society, for
during their studies, so they can be more example farmers,
skilled in teaching processes. householders and
consumers.
Using tv-programmes to educate
children
Childrens TV-shows could be used to
educate children more than today. This
idea should be attractive for the children
because they like to learn by having fun.
Education should start from an early
age. Also it is important that there are
different programmes according to age.
This way of education is quite costly, but
the media companies have money and
power in todays world. Children are the
new generation and should benefit
because they will have more knowledge
to work with solutions in the future.
Education for companies
When working with education for susta-
inable development, already active pro-
fessionals need to be targeted. This
education could be arranged in many
ways. One idea would be to form a
committee in companies and elect a tea-
cher for the committee. This committee
would meet once or twice a month and
the participating companies will make a
presentation on sustainable develop-
ment. Here is also a market for good
sustainable development consultants to
assist in the companies work for sustai-
nable development.
17
 Innovation and investments

There needs to be a common understanding of the fact that the in-

frastructure (physical as well as social) we choose to invest in now will be
around for a long time it will continue to affect our societies for deca-
des to come. The fundamental role that innovations and investments
play in conceptualizing and building an attractive, sustainable and fair
future is increasingly getting attention in the global debate.

There needs to be a The Human Development Report 2008
common understanding notes that [c]urrent investment patterns
of the fact that the are putting in place a carbon intensive
infrastructure we invest in energy infrastructure, with coal playing a
now will be around for a dominant role and notes that the
long time. USD20 trillion that is projected to be
spent until 2030 to meet global energy
demand could either lock the world on
to an unsustainable trajectory or help
to decarbonize economic growth.1
There needs to be a common under-
standing of the fact that the infrastructu-
re (physical as well as social) we choose
to invest in now will be around for a
long time it will continue to affect our
societies for decades to come. In a clima-
te change context this is especially true,
since investments in energy systems
tends to be long term and of a large sca-
le.
The recent and ongoing global finan-
cial crisis is also a reminder that societi-
es, whether they aspire to be ecologically
sustainable or not, are in need of a stable
financial system. Climate change impo-
ses yet another challenge on the financial
system, because climate change in a fi-
nancial framework means increased fi-
nancial risk and uncertainty. Some of the
investments that today are considered to
be stable and risk free, may not be in a
longer time-frame. For example, how
will climate change and the end of avai-
lability of cheap oil affect returns on
investments in the energy sector?
Central questions in the discussion
about innovations, investments and sus-
tainable development are: What innova-
tions do we need to bring about sustai-
nable resource use? What are the invest-
ments that need to be made today, to
ensure a bright attractive future? How
can the financial system become a driver
of sustainability?
Environmental tax
Polluting companies and producers
should pay an environmental tax. This
tax would stimulate investments and
innovation in sustainable technologies. It
does not only have to be in the form of
money, but could also consist of real
actions such as offsets.

18 Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future

Change the structure of power
plants
Large investments are needed in order to
phase out old, ineffective and fossil fuel
based power plants. This one time in-
vestment would be expensive, but there
would be many gains, not the least to
the local environment and employment.
Building and housing
Invest in building houses with recycled
materials, which are well insulated and
take care of most of the energy that is
being used. For example, the heat from
our bodies, the heat from boiling water
and from taking a shower could be used
for heating the building. Also the water
should be reused. For example the water
pipes should be built in a way so that the
water we use when showering and taking
a bath can be used when flushing toilets,
instead of using new, clean water. Un-
derground cellars can be used to supply
the cold storage of food. This will save
energy because we wont need to refrige-
rate all the food.
Reality show
To increase awareness about climate
change we propose a reality TV-show.
Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future
People would be living on an island un- Large investments are
der glass, like in a greenhouse. First they needed in order to phase
live under the same conditions as we do out old, ineffective and
now and later on the conditions will be fossil fuel based power
similar to a warmer world with less avai- plants.
lable natural resources. They will be
running out of electricity and petrol. As
the temperature rises, the weather beco-
mes unstable. The participants can get
some advice on how to survive from sci-
entists, for example courses on how to
build a windmill. The name we suggest
is 2050.
New source of energy - dance
floor, sport energy
Life is movement. Everybody moves. We
can get energy from for example dance
floors and gyms. To realize this idea, we
need to rebuild floors in order to collect
the energy from them. We estimate that
this energy source is comparatively che-
ap compared to other energy sources.
Notes
1. UNDP, Human Development Report 2007/
2008 - Fighting climate change: Human
solidarity in a divided world (New York,
2007), p. 8.
19
 Cities

Worldchanging, a book and an online magazine focusing on solutions

for attractive and sustainable futures, has the following to say about citi-
es: We live on an urban planet. For the first time in history, a majority
of us live in cities. How we grow those cities, how we build neighbor-
hoods, how we provide housing, how we choose to get around, how well
we incorporate nature into the places we live - these are the challenges
that will largely determine our future.1

What are the main
characteristics of an
attractive, sustainable and
fair city and what are the
necessary human needs
that city planners need to
consider?
Looking at cities in the context of clima-
te change, poverty and strained ecosy-
stems brings up questions about urban
resource flows, segregation and spatial
planning. What are the main characteri-
stics of an attractive, sustainable and fair
city and what are the necessary human
needs that city planners need to consi-
der?
Local food production
In order to get food production closer to
cities we propose urban food production
needs to be stimulated. We suggest farms
in suburbs, growing vegetables on win-
dow beds instead of flowers and that
each school has its own garden to pro-
duce groceries.
Efficient use of existing gardens,
roofs and infrastructure should also be
encouraged and farms should be put
into city construction plans. There
should also be small shops in each dis-
trict. School children, retired people and
students could get involved in food pro-
duction, and this would also create em-
ployment opportunities.
Waste recycling
Cities need proper waste recycling. This
includes separation of waste and recyc-
ling. Multi-use containers made of natu-
ral materials should be promoted.
We also need a logistic system of was-
te transportation for industry, which
facilitates recycling. It is also important
to separate sewage from other waste
flows, so not to contaminate it. The nut-
rients in sewage should be used as a re-
source in plant production.
Green zones
Sustainable cities are impossible without
green zones. We propose that cities
should be integrated into nature as
much as possible. In new cities, districts
should be separated with green zones
(parks or forests). In old cities, green
zones could be made on roofs, between

20 Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future

roads and more trees and grass in public
areas like squares.
Technology in housing
Sustainable cities call for creative use of
technology, building materials and plan-
ning when building houses. Passive buil-
dings need little or no energy for hea-
ting. Buildings could be built from local
materials, for example bricks made from
soil, and located so that use of daylight is
maximized. Each building should have a
source of renewable energy, for example
a geothermal system or solar panels.
Cities can also be planned so that
they have many small centers (with post
offices, schools, sports centers, etc.), re-
ducing the need for transports within
the city. Districts can be divided by gre-
en areas so that the city get a smaller and
friendlier feeling.
Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future
Public transport Sustainable cities call for
creative use of
Cities need an eco-friendly means of technology, building
transport that is affordable and available materials and planning
when building houses.
for everyone. Use of bicycles, for examp-
le with bicycle ports (like in Copenha-
gen), should be facilitated. Services such
as delivery services for heavy goods, car
renting systems and good public trans-
port systems should eliminate the need
for private cars. In the cases when people
need access to a car on a regular basis,
car-sharing systems should be introdu-
ced.
Notes
1. Steffen (ed.), Worldchanging - a users guide
for the 21st century (New York, 2006), p.
255.
21
 Lifestyle

Reducing the human impact on Earth can essentially be made in three

ways: by changing lifestyles, improving the efficiency of technologies or
by changing the size of the population. While questions of population
size and technological efficiency certainly are important when it comes
to overall sustainability, huge differences in per capita natural resource
use suggest that lifestyle probably plays a larger role. Looking at lifestyle
in this context brings us back to the basic question of what we mean by a
good life and how we can live fulfilling lives in a resource efficient way.1

How can we use our We ask ourselves questions such as the
lifestyle as a strategy to following: What does it mean to live a
reach a sustainable future? good life on a planet with limited re-
sources, where many of us drastically
need to lower our resource consump-
tion? How can we use our lifestyle as a
strategy to reach a sustainable future?
Share n care
organize and control these sharing sy-
stems themselves, which offers a great
opportunity for people to learn to co-
operate and communicate better. This
could lead to greater understanding
among mankind and to a world with less
conflict. These solutions exist already. Its
just a matter of starting to use them on a
large scale.

Our vision is a future of sharing, where Promote locally produced food

people share their belongings and time
with each other. Thereby we will be able
to cut down our use of energy and mate-
rials, and put less pressure on the en-
vironment and ecosystems. Examples of
shared resources are cars by using car
pools and Internet communities, wa-
shing and cooking with your friends and
neighbors, and for example renting tools
instead of buying as well as sharing work
and helping your neighbors with tasks.
We need to share more to avoid over-
consumption. This will increase effici-
ency and decrease costs for society; it
will also benefit the direct environment
by less pollution. The shareholders can
Using locally produced food will cut
CO2 emissions caused by transports. By
using more local food you will also be
less influenced by other countries af-
fairs. It increases regional capability and
security. Many regions are growing only
one or a few different crops, so it may
take some time for some regions to
adapt and become more self-sufficient.
Local producers could benefit, and also
consumers that would get access to food
that is generally healthier, fresher and of
higher quality.

22 Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future

Schools in forests
Schools could use forests and nature
more extensively during spring, summer
and autumn and significant parts of le-
arning processes could be located outsi-
de.
Use international broadcasting
and other media to promote
sustainable development
An international broadcasting company
that focuses on TV-programmes and
advertisements on climate change and
sustainability issues should be set up.
This company would make the contents
available to national TV-channels. Some
of the peak time in private and state
channels should be devoted to sustaina-
bility issues. Popular media should also
be engaged and popular celebrities
should be seen living sustainable lives.
There should also be a TV-programme
with concrete actions that can be taken
now to increase both our wellbeing and
environmental sustainability.
Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future
Sufficient indicators to let Consumers need
consumers make informed dependable and
choices comparable information
about a products
The role of the consumer is important in environmental and social
working with lifestyle and sustainable impact in order to make
development. Consumers need depen- informed choices.
dable and comparable information
about a products environmental and
social impact in order to make informed
choices. Therefore, product labeling
which summarizes a products environ-
mental impact, for example CO2-emis-
sions, is important. This could be done
using for example the MIPS approach.
Economic signals, such as taxing en-
vironmentally inferiour products, should
also be used.
Notes
1. Jackson, The Challenge of Sustainable
Lifestyles, in Starke (ed.) State of the World
2008 Innovations for a Sustainable Eco-
nomy (New York and London, 2008), p. 45
23
 Citizenship

In the upcoming book Citizen renaissance Jules Pick and Robert Phillips
write: Climate Change is a threat of a global apocalypse of mankinds
own making. But it is only the canary in the coal mine and one of many
symptoms of an underlying set of problems, the cause of which is our
ecologically blind way of life. () At the same time, Climate Change has
awoken the suppressed conscience of the people. We have finally recog-
nized that as individuals, in families and in communities we now ha-
ve the ability ourselves as citizens, consumers and voters to effect genuine
change.

Solutions are no longer It goes on to recognize that [s]olutions
merely political abstracts.
The future of our planet
is in our hands and we
can do something about
it.
cars. This means that even the price
are no longer merely political abstracts.
The future of our planet is in our hands
and we can do something about it.1
The challenges connected to climate
change and sustainable development
brings up questions about our roles as
citizens. What does the link between
citizenship and climate change look like?
How can citizens affect climate change
and how does climate change affect our
societies? What are the challenges and
opportunities?
Promote sustainable
transportation
Public attention should be drawn to the
transportation problem in cities, and a
more efficient transportation system
should be put in place.
The first part of this system would be
a good public transportation system ba-
sed on buses, trains, metros and river
transports. Important is also to make it
attractive and competitive with private
must be competitive.
The second part would be better
conditions for riding bicycles. Cities
should be planned with separate bicycle
routes and decent parking spaces for
bikes in the centre.
Make people use the rights they
have
It is not enough to have rights - we
should use them. We need to put pressu-
re on the government using our rights
provided by the institution of citizens-
hip.
In every state there exists constitutio-
nal legislation or a constitution include
chapters concerning human and citizen
rights (for example the right to a clean
and safe environment). If a state doesnt
know about some violations, citizens
should bear in mind that the law pro-
tects them. We can influence politics;
governments have an opportunity to
determine environmental policy of the
country.

24 Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future

Using the rights we have includes:
Initiating adoption of appropriate
laws.
Public control of the implementa-
tion of these laws through NGO:s
and government authorities.
Governmental support of scientists.
A global marketing campaign to
increase environmental
awareness
Our goal is to make dealing with global
environmental issues including climate
change trendy. We therefore propose a
marketing campaign that is planned to
last for one year. It does not have any
serious risks or costs. A marketing com-
pany organizes it and governments
should support it. Our campaign con-
sists of:
anti-climate change anthem
eco-reality show
celebrities spreading the word
global concerts
Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future
good examples of how sustainabi- If people are more
lity can be implemented in our own directly involved in, for
lives example, energy
production, they will
rethink their needs.
Extreme ways
We believe that people will not under-
stand the problem and comply to certain
solutions without feeling the actual pain.
If people are more directly involved in,
for example, energy production, they
will rethink their needs.
The big issue is to make people un-
derstand that limitations to their own
economic freedom will in the longer run
benefit themselves, as well as future ge-
nerations. By influencing the govern-
ment, citizens could themselves introdu-
ce such measures.
Notes
1. Pick & Phillips, Citizen Renaissance,
online resource, retrieved 14/12 2008 from,
http://www.citizenrenaissance.com/the-boo
k/introduction/definitions/
25
 References
Baer, Athanasiou & Kartha, The Right to
Development in a Climate Constrained
World - The Greenhouse Development
Rights Framework (Berlin, 2007).
Hansen, et. al., Target Atmospheric
CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim?,
Open Atmospheric Science Journal (vol. 2,
2008), p. 217.
Heinberg, Peak Everything - Waking Up
to the Century of Declines (Gabriola Is-
land, 2007)
Jackson, The Challenge of Sustainable
Lifestyles, in Starke (ed.) State of the
World 2008 Innovations for a Sustai-
nable Economy (New York and London,
2008)
King, Where do we go from here: chaos or
community (Beacon Press, 1968)
Meadows, Randers & Meadows, Limits
to Growth the 30 year update (London,
2005)
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Eco-
systems and Human Well-being: Synthesis
(Washington, DC., 2005)
26
Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future
Naturvrdsverket (Swedish Environ-
mental Protection Agency), Konsum-
tionens klimatpverkan, Rapport 5903
(Stockholm, 2008), p. 12.
Pick & Phillips, Citizen Renaissance,
online resource, available at
www.citizenrenaissance.com
ScienceDaily, Extinction Rate Across
The Globe Reaches Historical Propor-
tions (10/1, 2002). Retrieved 14/12
2008 from
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20
02/01/020109074801.htm
Sprat & Sutton, Climate Code Red (Mel-
bourne, 2008)
Steffen (ed.), Worldchanging - a users
guide for the 21st century (New York,
2006)
UNDP, Human Development Report
2007/2008 - Fighting climate change:
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(New York, 2007)
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shington DC., 2008)
Uppsala Centre for Sustainable Development

2008

Towards an Attractive, Sustainable and Fair Future 27