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The world's population has just tipped 7 billion having doubled in the last
40 years.
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But even if population growth begins to stabilize, there's still a big task ahead
in making sure that we can all access the basics of life including energy.
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In this report, the economist intelligence unit looks at why innovation and
education for sustainable development are vital tools for the future.
With almost the growth in energy consumption occurs in developing
countries, such as China and
India developed countries still consume much more energy per capita.
By 2035,
per capita demand in China will still be less than half of the United States.
What does this mean for our development path?
In our current development path is totally unsustainable and we know that.
And we know that we need to change our development paths towards something else,
something different.
Really if I was to put it in what really needs to happen,
we probably need a century of sustainability.
I mean, this is what we're talking about.
I mean, that's the kind of change that needs to take place.
In 2014 the UNESCO Decade of Education for Sustainable Development is concluded.
I think the main achievements have been that we
actually have had indicated that have put education for
sustainable development at the agenda in all nations in the world.
It's a good start for reaching out, but there is a huge need for educational
programs and we need to improve and enlarge and to reach out much better.
We need to educate in all levels.
We need to educate our kids.
We need to educate at the universities.
We need to educate people out working in different fields.
Education for sustainable development is not a subject area or
a discipline at the heart of education of sustainable development is
the idea to integrate learning about sustainable ability into all
forms of education from preschool to university.
We want to educate a new generation of sustainable citizens.
When we deal with the youngest, we have a lot of focus on playing,
but also giving respect for the nature and its resources.
And when they become 8th to 12th,
we will try to get into what is the real problem and
then we also work with them in terms of discussing
with them what kind of future do they want.
What are the most promising energy technologies to enable sustainable
development?
According to the International Energy Agency, renewables and nuclear power
will account for more than half of the energy capacity added through to 2035.
In order to meet the goals of sustainability,
we need new energy technologies.
I also think what we have seen for a number of years in the development of
wind, the development of solar is very interesting.
Small scale technologies where we can see rapid cost decrease and
also a relatively rapid market development.
I do not believe that they'll be one
a single technology that will solve everything.
Of course in very many parts of the world, concentrated solar power will
be able to play a much, much, much larger role and changed the energy system there.
What would I do believe in is that you take the local perspective and
then you take many different technologies and
add them together in a system, in a sustainable system.
But we shouldn't only talk about supply,
it's also very much about how we use energy.
There are a number of technologies related to a more efficient energy so
we need to focus on our supply and demand.
In some way, I think that the big businesses have a lot of resources.
And without them, we cannot move forward.
They are so powerful, but on the other hand, we also know that the market
orientation means that they would go for where they can earn the money best.
I believe that it is a shared responsibility.
Unfortunately, I do not see the government as particularly brave right now.
But then when I look at cities, I see cities like Berlin,
I see cities like Seoul, I see cities like Copenhagen,
really taking serious measurements to address this problem.
City governments or local governments unlike national governments are not
constrained in the same way.
They can move much faster and they can implement many different types of
legislation and some, which can be really important to maintaining sustainability.
And I think China and India who are developing very fast and
have very large populations and they are fully aware of the impacts and
the challenges that they're facing.
China is actually working heavily on sustainability and trying to build more
sustainable cities, trying to develop renewable energy technologies.
They're shifting towards electric vehicles as fast as they can.
The megacities we see are exploding all over the world.
It's a huge challenge, of course.
But in another way, you can say, if we should live sustainable with so
many people in the world, we need to do it in big cities and
I think that the challenge is to build these cities to be sustainable systems.
The way forward is not to scare people.
Sir Richard Branson, who we all know is of course a billionaire and
invests in many different industries,
said at a conference when he was talking about sustainability that
Martin Luther King didn't say I have a nightmare, he said I have a dream.
We're only gonna get people onboard if we can present possible futures and
visions that are just desirable and that are really exciting.
And I think we need people like Richard Branson and others in the business
community kind of step forward and bring that kind of innovative thinking and
that creativity, and that drive, and that ability to lead people.
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