Sören Andersson

Once you know the facts about the precarious situation humanity and life on this planet has arrived to when it comes to Resource scarcity, Social inequality and Climate Change, there is No Way Back! The situation will not disappear by itself, the facts are building quickly and thanks to media and internet, knowledge is increasing rapidly both in the business world and in Public.

Your stance, actions and decisions will be Judged based on the known facts.
Delaying or avoiding to take action when the facts are available is inexcusable!

…and there is really no point delving into why we have ended up where we are. It will not change the current situation. Creating scapegoats will not solve the situation either.

Fact #1 – We are grossly overusing Planetary resources!

According to WWF:s Living Planet Report 2016, the global capacity for renewable resources is 1,7 Global hectares (Gh) per capita. The global average consumption is 2,8 Gh (164%) and almost half of all countries on the planet are today above or well above that average level.
This means that we are overusing the planet at 164% of its capacity while simultaneously doing everything we can to grow/increase this level and also to promote it to countries that have not yet reached this already unsustainable level of consumption…

Comparing the Living Planet report 2016 with the previous from 2014 shows an increased resource depletion, going from a 153% global average in 2014 to 164% in 2016 regardless of promised efforts and while more scientific facts are continuously being published…[!?]

When we know that western lifestyles and level of consumption is vastly exceeding the capacity of what the planet can sustainably support, all efforts that further increase consumption without simultaneously addressing this rapidly increasing depletion is an ethically highly questionable act.

This is of course also relevant when we [successfully] try to minimize inequality by lifting the “less fortunate” to a higher level of lifestyle. If we fail to adress the environmental footprint at the same time, we are actively pushing more and more people into an even more unsustainable lifestyle, creating all kinds of “Lock-In effects” while speeding up depletion even more…

(I’m not in any way advocating that we shouldn’t continue to fight poverty or reduce inequality. It is an absolute necessity if we want a sustainable society. But since the average consumption level already is way above what our planet can sustain, we need to simultaneously reduce consumption, starting in the “high-consuming end”…)

Fact #2 – Climate-Change is happening right now!

Click picture for most recent graph

This years extremely high temperatures in the arctic have triggered a massive decline in sea-ice. Less ice equals less reflection of solar radiation, which equals increased heating of the planet. Higher temperature in the atmosphere and in the sea entails less ice – a vicious self-inducing circle. This winter shows an unprecedented decline, making the scientific community nervous that we are getting very close to a tipping-point which cannot be reversed – making our future even more daunting…

The facts show that every ton of CO₂ being emitted to the atmosphere roughly equals the depletion of 3 m² of Global Sea ice, which means that a “Christmas-vacation” by plane from Sweden to Thailand for a family of four equals the depletion of approx. 70 m² of ice. Telling your kids, on the plane, how much you Love them, becomes an act of hypocrisy
…because you know that the flight is actively reducing your children’s chance to live a good future life!

So – How do we react on the facts?

Let’s take a look at some of the most common reactions… and the Best one.

Continue reading →

…I always thought it spelled DEMOCRACY, but apparently it spells “DEMOCRAZY“…

I am quite fond of a system where all people have an equal opportunity to get their voice heard, a system of government in which all the people of a state or polity are involved in making decisions about its affairs – Democracy.

But for quite some time now Democracy is deeply threatened by various forms of dictatorship, oligarchy, populism and last but definitely not least, Capitalism.

Democracy – at its best…!

Recently we all experienced what Democracy can achieve, when the wast majority of countries on this planet through negotiations agreed; first on a set of Global Goals for Sustainable Development and then the Paris Agreement, a global agreement on the reduction of Climate Change.

“For the People by the People!“

These agreements where made by countries from all over the world, representing all different political systems, all different ethnicities and all religious communities, united in the belief that together we can solve the challenges ahead.

However, the basic and unchangeable rule of Democracy – “One Human = One Vote” – is more and more being distorted to “One Dollar/Euro = One vote“, by organisations, corporations and wealthy people.

This Sell-out of Democracy comes in many shapes and is not seldom disguised as “top-level” Economic forums or hidden in secretive “Free” Trade agreements…  Continue reading →