Biomimicry 2010

There's a feeling in my bones that 2010 is going to see a huge increase in activity in the use of biomimicry for problem solving, design and systems thinking. Three or four concurrent conversations are lining up major events in London, Wales and elsewhere.

If you're interested in this work and are not already in touch with me or other EcoSapiens team members, then drop me a line.

Many hands make light work.

Australians get beached

An interesting article cam in via Twitter about Oz's potentially vanishing beaches, with 3/4 million homes at risk of flooding in the next 90 years if sea levels continue to rise as expected.

The piece had some built-in irony, as is frequently found:

So, if carbon dioxide hit the levels predicted for between 2030 and 2060, we can wave goodbye to the world’s largest and most diverse marine ecosystem. And Australia can say cheerio to €3.2 billion in tourist revenues. (Worldwide, reefs are worth €220 billion.)

Just imagine losing the world's largest and most diverse marine ecosystem AND having a tourism industry affected. I have difficulty (maybe unreasonably) imaging a world where our ecosystems have collapsed and tourism is still important. Call me narrow minded, but I can't help but feel that other things might be more important.

The article goes on:

What should we do, then? The first thing is to try and live as carbon free lives as possible. The second thing is to try and understand what the world will lose, by diving the reef.

If you’re lucky enough to go for option two (remembering of course to plant enough trees to cover the carbon cost of your flight), I’d definitely recommend Pro Dive in Cairns. They have a really professional set up, great instructors and a fantastic cook on their boats. And if that weren’t enough, this year they were awarded the Advance Ecotourism Certification from Ecotourism Australia for their liveaboard trips to the reef. If you do dive in while the reef’s still alive, I promise you’ll develop a passion for keeping it that way.

There's still some way to go...

Stand up and be counted

It's a shame how many people whine about their MPs. Whilst there may be many that have abused their privilege on expenses, the majority do what they do to make a difference. Here's what my MP, Stephen Crabb had to say about 10:10

Thanks for your email regarding the 10:10 climate change campaign debate in the House of Commons yesterday.

I am pleased to inform you that I did vote in favour of the motion as I believe that that the imperative for acting on climate change is more pressing than ever and we must set real goals if we are to make significant reductions in carbon emissions. You may be aware that I have also, personally, signed up to the pledge. See: http://www.stephencrabb.com/press/pressdetails.aspx?ID=255 for further information.

Eat your way down

Seeing Nick Stern's name attached to a 'go vegetarian' headline caught my eye on the Guardian web site today, not so much for the content, which covers a story that we've known about for years, but beacause it was written by an economist. His forecast of the £3,000,000,000 A YEAR cost to the UK of supporting developing countries' fight against the impact of climate change was one good reason for shifting our diet to one that's low (or zero) in meat and high in vegetables. Human rights and environmental justice are stronger measures of course, but without £££ attached to them, don't get the same headlines. Highlights from the Guardian are:

"Farmed ruminant animals, including cattle and sheep, are thought to be responsible for up to a quarter of "man-made" methane emissions worldwide.

Stern, whose 2006 Stern Review warned that countries needed to spend 1% of their GDP to stop greenhouse gases rising to dangerous levels, said a successful deal at the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December would massively increase the cost of producing meat.

People's concerns about climate change would lead to meat eating becoming unacceptable, he predicted.

"I think it's important that people think about what they are doing and that includes what they are eating," he told the Times. "I am 61 now and attitudes towards drinking and driving have changed radically since I was a student. People change their notion of what is responsible. They will increasingly ask about the carbon content of their food."

Stern, a former chief economist at the World Bank and now IG Patel Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, also warned that helping developing countries to cope with the adverse effects of global warming would cost British taxpayers about £3bn a year by 2015"

Finding the missing link

Adam Corner wrote a useful article in the Guardian today entitled "Pyschology is the missing link in the climate change debate", going on to say "From 10:10 to the government's Act On CO2 campaign, it is now widely accepted that tackling climate change will require tackling behaviour change too. But until now, a key piece has been missing from the puzzle – psychology. The study of human behaviour has been conspicuous by its absence from the climate change debate."

I agree with his views, and what amazes me is how long it's taken for talk of pscyhology to get to the table on this topic. Clues to finding the answer why the time delay is measurable in decades lies in the title - it's a climate change debate that's been largely led by scientists and environmentalists, rather than business people, marketeers, entrepreneurs, or, god forbid, psychologists. With a fair wind, there will, in a short time, be a move away from dominace of single-discipline, slanted views of the world to more holisitic, 'Triple Top Line' design lens that a) starts with intended outcome, b) connects the knowledge and action needed to bring operational, environmental and social results, concurrently.