Launch of RiREL in Taiwan
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The 0.9 version of RiREL was launched in Taiwan 15th of May.
The parts I worked on are in the PPT that can be found here.
Suzanne Pahlman did the presentation.
Reflections are only that, reflections, nothing more nothing less. Often these reflections are related to books I read, but occasionally also other things. These are often written very late, very fast, using notes from my mobile phone, so the grammar and spelling is horrible.
Latest
Postdoc position for Low Carbon City Development Index (LCCDI)
/Thanks to Steen Rasmussen, Professor and Center Director at University of Southern Denmark, someone will be given the historic opportunity to do a postdoc in the area of a low-carbon city development index (LCCDI). This work will focus on the full impact, positive and negative, including the impact beyond the borders of the city through import/export of embedded energy, as well as export of low-carbon solutions that help other parts of the world reduce their emissions.
See below for more information:
Project: Low Carbon City Index (LCCDI) [1]
Cities are realizing the urgency to confront the climate challenge. New ideas and innovations are being developed and implemented by cities everywhere. However, many roadblocks slow down the exchange of promising ideas and innovations among cities.
The Low Carbon City Dynamic Index grew out of an urgency to define a universal science-based measure for the CO2 balance in cities[2]. An operational and science-based index is highly desirable as a means of tracking the true CO2 emissions in a given region as well as a base for comparison and benchmarking between different cities. It is envisioned that the LCCDI could define a much-needed international standard.
As cities will increasingly house a greater fraction of the global population cities must also be part of the solution to the CO2 emission problem. Therefore the LCCDI is divided into five parts where three parts are focused on CO2 reduction solutions:
The index focus on solutions and will have five parts:
1. Urban profile (land use and actual carbon profile)
2. Urban trajectory (actual carbon history)
3. Investments for the future (high- or low-carbon investments)
4. Actual export of solutions (high- or low-carbon contribution/technology to the world)
5. Policy support/engagement (high- or low-carbon policy promotion)
Note that the CO2 accounting includes imports and exports. E.g. CO2 emissions from the production of goods produced elsewhere, but consumed in the city, are accounted for within the city.
The development of the index will follow a three-step plan.
Step 1: Compiling the index on a small group of 3-5 cities including: Sønderborg Denmark, London GB, Baoding China, utilizing (incomplete) database and established stakeholder network/contacts.
Step 2: Preparing a scientific paper on the index, linking up with additional key stakeholders, incl. progressive cities and related scientific and NGO index working groups, as well as graphical presentation material for stakeholder engagement.
Step 3: Institutionalization of the index (e.g. World Bank, Nordic Countries, WWF).
Budget:
Initiative for Science, Society and Policy could cover ~50% of a 1-year postdoc (or 100% for ~half a year postdoc) with a starting date ASAP. The academic task of the postdoc is to complete the practical implementation of the LCCI as outlined above through steps 1 and 2.
[1] Point of contact: Steen Rasmussen, Professor & Center Director, Fundamental Living Technology, SDU, http://www.sdu.dk/flint & Science Board, Initiative for Science, Society and Policy (ISSP), http://www.science-society-policy.org. The project will also be part of the NORTH STAR network, headed by Professor Mike Goodsite, see http://www.nord-star.info. Mike is also Science Board member at ISSP.
[2] LCCI originates in the ‘Copenhagen Declaration’, which was formulated in mid-2008 by stakeholders committed to helping cities improve their carbon performance. For a complete list of participants, see: John Bang (World Wildlife Foundation, Denmark) and Peter Rathje (ProjectZero, Denmark) “Low Carbon City Index, Concept Note”, Draft June 4, 2009, which has an implementation plan. The LCCI concept was further elaborated by Diana Mangalagiu (Reims Business School, France) and Britta Boyd (University of Southern Denmark), “Development of a Low Carbon City Index: the Issue of Accounting for Import/Export Emissions”, 2009 International Energy Workshop, Venice, Italy June 17th - 19th, 2009. The current form of the Index is mainly taken from Dennis Pamlin et al., (http://www.pamlin.net and http://lowcarbondeelopmentindex.net) where further inclusion of CO2 policies and solutions are introduced into the LCCI and is now called Low Carbon City Dynamics Index (LCCDI).
Article in China Daily: BASIC, BRICS and a transformative solutions agenda for climate change
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These are very interesting times. 2001, after the WTO meeting in Seattle, I developed a BRICS strategy for WWF. (including South Africa as the "S", something that confused a lot of people at that time).
Tom Crompton, who today works as Change Strategist at WWF-UK, and I worked hard and managed to get resources and a team together that over a number of years worked hard to establish a solution perspective and support for the emerging BRICS.
Among other things we published reports about the BRICS and the role of leading companies that started with the report "Chinese companies in the 21st Century", but more than anything else we tried to build bridges and introduce a "transformative change paradigm" to support a move beyond incremental improvements.
As the "BRICS" now is established as a group, that exists and play a key role to play in relation to all global challenges, it would be interesting to study the emergence of this group and the network that exist today to support a truly sustainable development.
Just a reflection after I saw the photo in China Daily from the BRICS meeting in Sanya, Hainan province. It reminded me of the "logo" we used for the project (see the reports).
Below is the article in China Daily, click the link to read it in China Daily :
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The countries vowed to support the Durban climate change conference in South Africa this December and another two global conferences on sustainable development and biodiversity to be held in Brazil and India in 2012.
Russia expressed its support at two previous summits, though it holds a different line on climate change than the BASIC countries.
Partly to capitalize on the consensus, top climate envoys of BASIC countries will meet next month to push forward a nearly "deadlocked" global climate change negotiation.
A senior Chinese climate diplomat from the National Development and Reform Commission said the meeting will be held in Durban, South Africa, in May before the UN holds its mid-year negotiations in Bonn, Germany, in mid-June.
"The bloc has already formed a coordination mechanism to meet prior to important global negotiations and conferences on climate change," said the diplomat, who declined to be named.
Dennis Pamlin, director of the Low Carbon Leaders Project, said the BASIC bloc has set an excellent example of a "united line" to push forward global climate negotiations, but it needs to expand to an even more open platform to engage other developing countries.
Pamlin said the leaders at the Sanya summit have not only expressed a desire to put more pressure on developed countries to abide by their binding responsibilities of greenhouse gas reduction, but also offered more ideas to cut carbon density in developing economies.
The ministers of BASIC countries will hold their seventh meeting in South Africa in May. It is expected that one or two meetings of the ministers will be organized before the global Durban climate change conference.
Pamlin said as the global negotiations now move away from the old Kyoto discussions to a discussion about the need to create an almost carbon-free world economy in less than 40 years, there is a need to focus on the countries that will change the most during this time.
"So the BASIC bloc should not be seen as a fixed structure as other countries, such as Mexico, Indonesia and South Korea, Nigeria and Egypt are all likely to play a very important role as we move towards 2050," said Pamlin.
However, the four countries have been faced with an "interesting challenge" to include Russia in the group as Russia has not played a very constructive role in the climate negotiations and has focused more on securing its role as a fossil fuel exporter.
"An innovation-promotion working group would be a good way for BASIC to include countries like Russia," Pamlin has suggested.
He suggested that the BASIC bloc should strengthen links to other G77 countries, especially the most vulnerable and poor, less developing countries.
Meanwhile, the BASIC bloc should invite companies from around the world to form an alliance and help develop a policy framework that can create jobs, improve innovation, reduce poverty, ensure food security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he said.
"Today too much focus is on the big polluters and how they can reduce their emissions on the margin. Now is the time to support the next generation of companies that can provide sustainable solutions for everyone on the planet, not just the rich," Pamlin said.
Guardian Blog: Mobile applications: a window of opportunity
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Below is a blog about transformative applications I wrote for the Guardian Sustainable Business blog
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This week Transformative-Applications.net was launched. It provides a platform for the presentation each quarter of 10 transformative applications that address some of the most pressing challenges in our society, and five initiatives that support their development and uptake.
We are facing a number of global challenges, such as an increase in CO2 emissions, urban poverty, ageing, growing income gaps and the accelerating depletion of natural resources. As these converge we will face unprecedented pressure and the need for rapid change. Mobile IT applications, now among the most powerful tools available, can help to deliver solutions.
Mobile apps enable people to connect to networks, get access to real-time data, understand complex situations through visualisation, and obtain direct feedback. This represents a historic opportunity to deliver solutions to our challenges that are fundamentally different from those we have today. Connected citizens who understand the impact of their actions, and see through propaganda and PR, could become global citizens with wider ethical boundaries and longer time horizons.
The transformative potential of apps includes increasing transparency and the ability to create new networks. These will allow us to do many things, such as:
See the whole value chain of a product
Apps can help us realise that there is a "story chain" behind products and that our choices are not between different labels, but between the different life stories involved in producing goods. Everyone will be able to see the consequences of their choices, and when the history behind products becomes visible it will be possible to connect directly with the people who produce the things we buy.
Support global citizens working together
Apps can help us create new trans-border networks to influence policy makers and business.
See into the future
We can make choices based not only on what companies and policy makers have done, but what they are planning to do. Apps can help us get real-time information about the investment plans of a company and information about their lobbying. We will be able to see different futures illustrated on a mobile screen and make choices based on these.
These are not future dreams, but possibilities that are already in use in applications today.
However, these apps are currently few in number and hard to find, as they are not developed in a vacuum and there is a lack of supporting initiatives. Without this support, mobile technology will only accelerate the current unsustainable trends. There is no middle ground here and we need to focus on the stakeholders who will influence the direction of the development, including:
- The developers of operating systems such as Apple, Google, RIM, HP and Microsoft. They control the markets and can promote transformative apps in the future.
- Operators such as Verizon, AT&T, China Mobile, Vodafone and Telenor. They influence the use of smartphones and can provide information to users about the possibilities.
- ICT companies, especially manufacturers of mobile devices such as Nokia, HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Apple, Motorola and HP, who can encourage the use of and even pre-install transformative apps.
- Governments, as they decide how to engage with citizens and what they require of the stakeholders on the market.
- All companies that interact with consumers, in fields including retail, energy, health, design and marketing, which can provide apps that allow users to be part of the solution.
Today, most of the above stakeholders are not doing much to support transformative applications, but some have seen it as a way to support the shifts needed in society, and they need support from new clusters and citizens who understand that "ethical consumption" is not enough. Political action is needed and a new generation of mobile applications can help deliver it.
Finally, and most importantly, the world of mobile apps development is still in its infancy and anyone, any organisation, any company, any network, that dares to think beyond the incremental, and about what is really needed, can make valuable contributions. If we act now we can create the underlying infrastructure and policy framework to support the development of many transformative applications.
