Green technology solution framework for the 21st century

1. Green Movement for solving Climate
Change in the 21st Century
Robert Brooks

2. Why Needed?
• Rapidly growing world population (est. 9 billion by end of
century)
• Exponential increase in greenhouse gas emissions (should not
exceed 450 ppm), currently at 393 ppm
• Natural disasters have increased fivefold since the 1970s
• Many ecosystems have been degraded or exploited beyond
limits
• World has lost 50% of wetlands since 1900
• More land was converted to cropland in the 30 years after 1950
than in the period 1700-1850
• Forest area has shrunk by about 40% over the past 300 years

3. Cont’d
• 25 countries have completely lost their forests and 29
countries have less than 10% forest cover
• The current species extinction rate is about 1,000 times
higher than the rates that prevailed over the planet’s
history
• The world has lost 50% of its mangrove forests since 1980
• Agriculture accounts for 70% of worldwide water use
• Dams contain four times more water today than in 1960
• There is now from 3 to 6 times more water in reservoirs
than in natural rivers

5. Amazon Deforestation
2010[4] 3,360,9
49
7,000 82.0% 739,051
2011[4] 3,354,7
11
6,238 81.8% 745,289

6. Energy Dilemma
• 2005 – fossil fuels accounted for 85% of global energy mix,
nuclear 6%, hydroelectricity 3%, biomass 4%; Modern
renewables less than 1%
• Global CO2 emissions have increased at an annual rate of
more than 3%
• Global emissions would need to be reduced by 50-80% by
2050 and turn negative in the second half of this century, in
order to stabilize CO2 concentrations to 450 ppmv
• 500 million richest people in the world (7% of population)
responsible for half of all greenhouse emissions
• Poorest 3.1 billion people are responsible for only 5-10% of
the total

7. Food Security
• Food prices climbing (corn, wheat, rice—doubling)
• Tens of millions more into poverty
• Reliance on biofuels (ethanol)
• Rising demands
• Shrinking in natural resources (land, water, biodiversity)
• Land—over-cultivation, overgrazing, deforestation, and inadequate
irrigation (climate change)
• Overreliance on fertilizers, chemicals, and water which have had
negative impacts environmentally
• Emergence of large supermarket chains—displacing traditional
wholesalers and small retail shops—due to strict quality standards

8. Human Harm from Natural Hazards
• 1970s—69 natural disasters recorded worldwide every year;
2000s—average increased to 350 per year
• Global warming major factor
• Developing countries more vulnerable
• Floods, storms, droughts, extreme temperatures
• Function of the availability of water will the most immediate
effect (developing countries)
• Prevention of disasters through investing in sustainable
development
• Investment in adaptation (protection, retreat, and
accommodation) must be urgent---global investment $32.6 to
$163.1 bill in 2030

9. Sustainable (Green) Development
• ‘Meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs’
• “[A]n attempt to stress environmental sustainability
and protection while pursuing sustainable
development”
• “Enhancing economic growth, social progress and
environmental stewardship can be seen as
complementary strategic objectives”

10. Objectives
• Reduction of resource and energy requirements
• Substitution of renewable (sun, wind, rain) for
non-renewable sources (coal, gas, oil)
• Substitution of biodegradables (paper) for non-
biodegradables (plastic) (urgent)
• Reduction of waste (pollution)
• Protection of biodiversity and ecosystems
• All are interrelated

11. Green Development

12. Green Technology
• Improved recycling and energy efficiency in buildings (thermal
insulation and new materials), production processes (new uses of
waste), agriculture (GM crops to mechanical irrigation and farming
techniques), transport, urban design
• Cleaner energy supply (wind, solar, geothermal, marine
energy, biomass, hydropower), End-use (electric/hybrid
cars), carbon capture and storage (CCS)
• More climate-resistant products and processes (higher yield
seeds), tools to understand and insure against climate risks with
improved early-warning system processes (sea-walls, drainage
capacity, forest and biodiversity management)
• Wealth creation through more sustainable production of plants and
livestock, more productive use of biodiversity (natural
cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, ecotourism), and ecosystem
protection

13. “Green Economy”
• Approach to achieving sustainable development
• Must break away from resource-intensive growth models
• Reduce carbon emissions and pollution
• Enhancing energy and resource efficiency
• Preventing the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services
• Develop efficient, clean and low environmental impact
technologies
• Maintenance and restoration of natural capital (land, soil,
forests, freshwater, oceans, marine resources, flora, fauna)
• Improving access to these resources also

14. Cont’d
• Greening of infrastructure (buildings, energy and transport
sectors) is urgent
• Also greening of agriculture and industry (mining, extractive
industries) is also crucial
• Overall, desire is to improve human well-being and social
equity
• Fundamental shift in the way we think and act
• Culture (sustainable tourism)
• Project a vision of a greener as well as a fairer economy and
society
• 50%-80% GHG emissions of 2000 levels by 2050, negative by
end of century

15. Helping the Poor
• Maintains growth and reduces emissions
• Generates revenue
• Retains biodiversity and ecosystem services
• Enhances energy and resource efficiency in the economy
• Ensures resilience to environmental (and other) risks through
developing adaptive capacities
• Access the relevant knowledge, technologies and green
markets
• Improved off-grid, green energy sources
• Creating green jobs (training)

16. Poor in Africa

17. What is needed?
• According to the UN, 2-2.5% of currently world gross product
(WGP) ($1.6 trillion) would need to be invested annually between
now and 2050 in order to shift development onto a path of green
growth
• “Feasible to combine fast [economic] growth with environmental
protection”
• This assumes that green technologies (solar, wind, hydro) can be
scaled up quickly and that their costs will not prove to be
prohibitive
• A major overhaul of existing production methods and consumption
habits will be needed worldwide
• Must be done very quickly (within the next four decades) due to the
severity of the environmental crisis

18. Investing in Social Capital
• Improving human well-being and equity are at the center of the
green economy
• Must build capacity in health, education, culture and employment
• Should fulfill basic needs in food, housing and mobility
• Protecting human rights (improve conditions of the poor,
discrimination, transparency and accountability, civil and political
rights, socioeconomic)
• Healthy and green household energy in developing countries
• Greening of health care facilities
• Healthy housing
• Health, agriculture, and the environment

19. Investing in Human Capital
• Raise people out of poverty
• Gender equality, poor, indigenous people, migrants, youth
• Innovation in education is key—building
knowledge, expertise, skills and values
• Green employment opportunities (infrastructure, agriculture)

20. Regulation
• Social norms, standards, and regulations
• Regulatory frameworks for more sustainable production
methods and goods
• Regulations can help provide enabling conditions and
incentives, establishing the required market signals and
certainty for business to make investment decisions to deploy
green technologies, accelerate green innovation and foster
cleaner technology development and diffusion
• International law including multilateral environmental
agreements
• Institutional strengthening and improved governance
• International standards

21. Role of Government
• They need to play a central role due to the fast pace needed
to implement
• Natural environment is a public good and consequently not
‘priced’ by the market
• Need to promote extensive R&D and diffusion
• Need to adjust, improve, or replace most of the existing
infrastructure and other investments from brown, fossil-fuel
based sources
• Strong technology policies will be required, along with active
industrial and educational policies for infrastructure and
production
• World’s poor also will need access to these resources as well

22. National Policies for Green
Development
• Active industrial policies are necessary for the adaptation and
diffusion of green technologies
• Policies should be designed to encourage interaction and
knowledge-sharing among domestic and international firms,
research institutes, universities, policymakers, and other
actors
• Others could encompass innovative sources of equity-linked
financing and long-horizon green country funds
• Competition with brown (fossil-fuel) based technologies
• Uncertainty, externalities, public goods, lack of investment
• Innovation process center of G-NIS (Green National
Innovation System)
• Education (Vocational Training)

23. International Cooperation
• Foci of many of the green technologies are regarded as public
goods
• Green technology will affect atmosphere, oceans, open-
capture fish stock, biodiversity and ecosystems
• Through international trade and investment, incomes and
consumption in one country are linked to the ecological
footprints left by the countries of production
• Cooperation must be stressed between developed and
developing countries

24. Cont’d

25. Sustainable Trade and Green Markets
• Trade—facilitates the opening of green markets for green
goods and services
• Will play a central role in the diffusion of green goods,
services, technologies and production methods among
countries
• Can also stimulate economic growth and diversification to
create jobs, raise income levels, improve living standards
• Expands development of markets for green goods and
services
• Trading system needs to be open, rules-based and non-
discriminatory

26. Cont‘d
• Green economy must create green markets that can raise
incomes and employment
• Governments should provide fiscal incentives, price and
investment support
• Environmentally related taxation, green government
procurement
• Must reorient production, investment and infrastructure
• More sustainable lifestyles and changes in consumption
patterns

27. Cont’d

28. Innovation and Technology
• Regulation and economic incentives are needed to
complement innovation in the marketplace
• Technological and social innovation are needed for a green
economy transition
• Technological innovation: product, process, organizational
• Good governance
• Level playing field, good business practices
• Increased acceptance and market share need to be scaled up
many-fold before green technology becomes the dominant
regime

29. Cont’d

30. Indicators of Transformation
• Integrated policy assessment framework (improved
accounting systems)
• Should organize thinking concerning different groups of
indicators
• Should draw on a range of existing frameworks and initiatives
• Flexibility
• Conceptual framework for a green economy: Green
investments, jobs, and sectors; Decoupling Impacts and
Resource Efficiency (environmental impacts of economic
activity); Aggregate Indicators of progress and well-being
• CO2 (Pollution) Levels
• Overall, transformation must contribute to reducing poverty
and enhancing social equality

31. Challenges
• Financing—especially for developing countries
• Can we implement green technology quick enough?
• Are people willing to implement changes into their personal
lives in order to change their personal lifestyles and habits?
• Will government have the resources or the political will to
make the changes necessary to stave off climate change?
• Are private businesses willing to sacrifice profits to save the
environment?
• Are nations willing to join forces and put aside politics to fight
global warming?
• Is current or future technology good enough to ease the
effects of global warming?

32. Conclusions
• Green economy can be an innovative pathway to sustainable
development
• Must be people-centered and invest in both human and social
capital
• Requires the reorienting of public policies supported by
improved IS for tracking and communicating progress
• Major focus is the transformation of the prevailing energy
and resource intensive economic structure
• Shift of policy and investment towards greening infrastructure
and emerging green economic sectors and also current brown
economic sectors

33. Cont’d
• Converge, align and integrate investments
• Mainstreaming of sustainable development
• Infrastructure is a good entry point toward a green economy
transformation
• Requires both a healthy, educated and informed workforce
with green jobs skills and consumers with awareness of
sustainable consumption
• Much focus will be on innovation and entrepreneurship
• Reorientation of public policy

34. Primary Source
• World Economic and Social Survey 2011
(United Nations)
• http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/pol
icy/wess/wess_current/2011wess.pdf