Great Victory for the Blue Whale, Chile, and Human Kind

Great news article regarding a protected marine area in Chile that has just been approved.

Blue whale conservation gets a boost

You Are What You Eat

Interesting study about food quality in different countries.
This is a leap towards awareness with regards to famine and obesity - two sides of the same coin.

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what-we-do/good-enough-to-eat

Sustainable Living: Conscious Consumption

With increased awareness on sustainability issues, we are looking more closely at the things we buy. We are more and more aware of materials used in production that are harmful not only to our natural environments, but even to us humans. Bio or Eco labelling are becoming increasingly common across the globe in order to provide a more sustainable alternative. 

There are various labels and brands now that certify specific ecological or social conditions. These are very important, not just as an indicator to us as the consumer, but also as an awareness campaign amongst consumers, producers and sellers worldwide. These brands are spreading and creating a very positive influence on the various parties in production as well as the consumers.  However, that said, there are limits to these.

Firstly, there are many different brands, but most of these tend to focus on either ecological/biological issues OR social issues. While I am of the firm belief that they are interconnected and not separable, few combine the two categories. Therefore you must choose if you care about the future of our natural planet or of the people in it. This can be a difficult choice to make.

Another issue is that in order to create an official label, you will have to set official standards. Official standards must in turn have specific definitions and delimitations. If we take a specific example; just because something is marked Bio or Eco doesn't mean that no pesticides were used. The use of pesticides is clearly delimited and regulated, but still possible. This doesn't mean that we should just ignore ecological branding because it is useless anyway, but we should be aware that it is not completely pesticide-free. 

There are plenty of scientific or non-scientific literature out there discussing the pros and cons of this so I will not go further into the details of that, but suffice to say that things are complex and imperfect even if you chose all your purchases carefully after branding. There is room for improvement. However, we can still assume that the majority of the goods labelled with sustainability indicators are better from and environmental and social standpoint than the generic goods we buy.

The way I see it, the most important result of sustainability branding is awareness. Consumers are seeing a difference and given the chance to choose. Even those who are not interested in sustainability issues (though in my opinion we all should be) will be exposed to this information in they daily tasks. It might not change the behavior of those who do not particularly foster these opinions, but it creates an awareness and spread of information.

As they say of most problematic situations; recognition of the problem is the first step to recovery. 

Sustainable Living: Public Transport

The amount of energy consumed per person per km is significantly reduced if you take public transport compared to a private car. This effect is multiplied if it is a public transport vehicle using alternative fuels or electricity. In addition, it is often cheaper than owning a car. The further your daily travelling distance, the cheaper it gets. In certain countries the price will be more or less equal, but this is not taking into account the investment in acquiring a private vehicle nor the maintenance entailed. In many cases the government will subsidize public transport, making it even more profitable.

Public transportation can save 340 million gallons of fuel and 37 million metric tonns of CO2. Even those who do not use the public transportation system benefit from it as it greatly reduces congestion and therefore also travel time. Public transportation also reduces energy consumption and the general air quality.

Despite its reputation, it can actually help reduce stress. Instead of being stuck in traffic, you can use your travel time to relax, talk to a friend, read or listen to music.

 

Sustainable Business: Corporate Sustainable Responsibility

Businesses are realizing the need for sustainability policies. I'd like to think they establish these out of personal convictions or out of the goodness of their hearts, but the fact remains that business is based on supply and demand. Maybe some of the pioneers had a ideological reason for establishing the first businesses with social and/or environmental policies, but the truth is that there now is financial gain to be found in this.

Consumers are clearly becoming preferential to products that have been produced in a sustainable manner. While the financial aspects such as pricing are still very important, we can see that there are very few companies are now lacking corporate social responsibility policies.

In Sweden I remember quite a few public scandals caused by companies that were behaving in an immoral way. In this example it was focused more on the social rather than the environmental aspects, but there are certainly examples of every sort in most countries. A big scandal in Sweden was related to the international clothes chain, H&M. Evidence of sweat shops and child workers was presented in the media. This occurred not at H&M but at their supplier, but the public did not care and put the full resposibility in the arms of the clothes chain. H&M have since put in great efforts to repair their image and have improved greatly. They are now the proud owners of a CSR policy called "Conscious".

While the business sector almost by definition is creasing our natural resources (how else can they create a supply to consumer demand?), there is a positive trend to try to rectify or even reverse this. However, we must be careful not to fa ll in the trap of labelling and marketing. We must have mechanisms in place to regulate this type of CSR branding to make sure it is more than just words.

Case Study: Iron Extraction in Kiruna - Relocating a City

Kiruna, a city in northern Sweden was founded around the iron industry. The city has been literally founded on the mining industry and it has been its major source of income.

However, more recently a new iron ore has been found just under the city. As extensive mining has a already taken place, the state is concerned about risk of collapse. What have they decided is the best solution to the problem? Let's move the city!

Years of debate have slowed down this project. The local inhabitants are used to being dependenton this  industry and consider this an important project. However, they are unhappy with the prospect of moving their city to the location reserved for them. There is widespread recognition of an "historical trauma", but the plans will go ahead.

It is not yet clear who will pick up the tab for this lavish project, which will have to be a collaboration between all local partners. There are the obvious costs of the move, but there is also talk of paying indemnities to the local inhabitants.

What is surprising is the lack of discussion of the ecological consequences of this. Sustainability is considered only with regard to the well being of the local inhabitants, but there is alarmingly little debate about the pollution this will cause in the area. Just because there has always been extensive iron mining in this area, doesn't mean that further extension doesn't have further ecological impact.

It's interesting to see that a country such as Sweden, which prides itself on "being green" and climate awareness, forgets this as soon as there is money to be made. Another thing to consider is that this awareness is clustering in metropolitan areas and that a small city in the north, such as Kiruna, is more concerned with their financial sustainability than anything else. We're not even talking about extreme poverty in this case, as the large majority has food, a roof over their head and a generally comfortable lifestyle. Does poverty make unsustainable? Is money more important than our natural and social environments?

We can make all the money in the world, but if we continue to destroy our planet, none of us will have anywhere to live.

Sustainable Business: Consumer Awareness and Demand

Many argue that it is costly to be socially or environmentally sustainable, particularly for businesses, but consumers are becoming more and more aware. As we are witnessing the results of global climate change more intensively in our daily lives, we are starting to become more aware and more active in this area. It is a shame, but we really do believe it when we see it. Despite scientific evidence, we react much more strongly to real life experience.

Scientists have researched this for many years and climate science has been referring to our period as the "anthropocene" for a reason; this is a time of such abnormal climatic change that it must be due to human intervention. Though this research has multiplied over time, there are still many non-believers out there. Various conferences between nations have started to discuss this issue, which in turn have provided more financial support for science in this area. Where is this coming from?

The Climate Conference in Durban 2011 was a turning point as it received more publicity and debated a few controversial topics. The most controversial discussion was probably that of climate refugees. Many of the smaller pacific islands such as Kiribati will be flooded if global warming continues at the rate it is currently going and continuously increasing the global ocean levels. They requested refugee status, seeking refuge in neighboring Australia and New Zealand. This is a very controversial issue as it would require not only recognizing human induced climate change and the resulting rise in sea levels, but also that this poses a real threat to civilisations. It will involve creating and recognizing a new category of refugee; a climate refugee. This is turn will have new political consequences.

While I'd like to believe people are interested in science and up to date on the latest politics, I believe the biggest influence in climate awareness has been that of the daily life. For one, this conference brought attention to the fact that normal people will be impacted by this. People could lose not only quality of life, but even their homes and even countries. No matter that we are talking about relatively small countries in both area and population, the gravity of this situation has shocked people to awareness.

Not only does climate change threaten this specific area, we are seeing the effects of this more and more across the globe. While there is no certain proof yet of the connection to tectonic events such as earth quakes and tsunamis, there is already a suspicion that this is related. It is relatively certain however, that the climatic catastrophes of hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes and typhoons are becoming more and more frequent as well as more powerful. Droughts and floods are also becoming more frequent and more severe. This is an eye opener for us all and forcing us to rethink our habits and lifestyles. It is costing us too much to continue in the same manner

Consumers are starting to think more about sustainability issues and business is reflecting this. It is more common for businesses to have a sustainability policy of some sort as sustainability is becoming more profitable, resulting in a better market for conscious consumers. This is not infallible as many aspects are still lacking or insufficient, but it is a general positive trend that is making sustainable production more profitable and more common.

Carbon Footprint of Nations

Visit their website Carbon Footprint of Nations

Learn About Tableau

Dicy Dishes: Horsemeat Lasagne

The horsemeat found in some premade lasagne was probably the biggest food scandal of the year. Many were shocked and it has made it clearer than ever that we don't really know what is in the food we buy, particularly prepared food.

There have been many documentaries and reportages on the ingredients in our food and how we are increasingly being fooled to buy things that are not as they seem. Horsemeat instead of beef, adding oil or water  - sometimes simply air - to push down the costs as far as possible and to lure the buyer to buy something for double its worth.

The horsemeat scandal turned out to be partially accidental as the trickery was done in an early stage by a supplier, meaning no one knew further down the line. Or at least so they claim. Assuming this is true, it is all the more frightening. We are importing food from unknown sources and there are so many suppliers and producers along the way that we no longer know what is in the end product.

I read an interesting article "Risky Meals" on how we import more food and become less self sufficient. Meanwhile, the countries experiencing insuffiency restrict their exports as they try to continue to nourish their people. There is a clear problem of distribution of resources, particularly food products. These are being redistributed through all kinds of imports and exports, but without any substantial monitoring and supervision. While there are more and more laws and policies regulating these exchanges, this remains an issue difficult to oversee.

The article is calling for a mapping where food comes from and where it goes. This could bring insight in the strong and weak points in our production versus consumption habits. Hopefully it can also cut out many unnecessary transports and provide incentive to improve local production. One thing is certain, if we continue down this same road, the export and import networks will only extend and become more complex and less transparent.