Presented at LKY School of Public Policy – Public Policy for Sustainability

Forward Asia-Pacific Consulting PTE, LTD

www.creatingpositivefutures.net

Ecosphere 87 Beach Road #06-01, Singapore 189695

+65 8406 2275

The only thing certain is change.

The future =

Population growth +

Resource depletion +

Security and conflict +

Climate change

Population growth:

7-9bn on a planet that should

safely support 2bn

Economic and lifestyle ambition

to live like the West– with a

footprint to match.

There will be 219,000

people at the dinner table

tonight who were not there

last night—many of them

with empty plates. (Earth

Policy Institute)

Resource depletion:

More people, competing for less

―stuff‖.

Especially critical: energy and

water (note the relationship).

Other key resources (e.g. trace

minerals) also declining in supply.

Half the world’s people live in

countries where water tables

are falling as aquifers are

being depleted. Since 70

percent of world water use is

for irrigation, water shortages

translate into food shortages.

(Earth Policy Institute)

Security and

conflict:

More security issues globally.

Countries increasingly scrambling

for resources (ie China, Korea, US)

Numerous flashpoints for conflict.

(Iraq, Sudan, Rwanda)

Virtually all of the top 20

countries considered to be

“failing states” are

depleting their natural

assets—forests,

grasslands, soils, and

aquifers—to sustain their

rapidly growing populations.

(Earth Policy Institute)

Climate change:

It will impact every aspect

of human life.

Temperature changes, erratic

weather, droughts, sea level rise…

They’re game changers at a

difficult point in human evolution.

Winter temperatures in the

Arctic, including Alaska,

western Canada, and

eastern Russia, have

climbed by 4–7 degrees

Fahrenheit over the last

half-century. This record rise

in temperature in the Arctic

region could lead to

changes in climate patterns

that will affect the entire

planet. (Earth Policy

Institute)

Cleantech: the silver bullet?

... or did technology start the mess

we currently have?

If we do not mind history,

we are destined to repeat it.

So how are we defining

―cleantech‖?

Cleantech is a term used to

describe products or services that

improve operational performance,

productivity, or efficiency while

reducing costs, inputs, energy

consumption, waste, or pollution.(wikipedia)

It’s about humans, not just technology.

Fixing human software

(behaviour, attitudes, beliefs)

is

more important

than making more hardware.

Technology, like money, is a

means to an end.

Solve first for human behaviour.

Design technology

holistically as part of

a system.

Design for numerous outcomes.

Design for local conditions.

There are no silver bullet

solutions to our problems.

There is no ―one-size fits all.‖

There are no global ―killer apps.‖

There are plenty of clichés and

bad ideas.

Want help?

Some global cleantech best practice examples

Chido Govero

Orphan in Zimbabwe

Pioneered growing

mushrooms on

agricultural waste to

feed her family

Turned into an export

industry

Inspired and trained

others in Africa, South

America, and India

Jack Sim

Successful Singaporean

business-man

Chose to tackle

sanitation issues in

developing countries

rather than ―retire‖

Founded World Toilet

Organisation (WTO)

and drew resources

worldwide for the cause

Singh Intrachooto

Thai architect,designer,

professor, owner of

Osisu

Designs furniture,

products, and buildings

using recycled

industrial and

agricultural waste

Highly successful and

internationally

renowned

Majora Carter

American economics

consultant, concerned

citizen and activist

Founded Sustainable

South Bronx and

pioneered numerous

green initiatives locally

Reactivated the

neighbourhood, created

jobs, cleaned up

environment

Dr. Willie Smits

Dutch conservationist and

entrepreneur living in

Borneo

Pioneered combined

sustainable forest farming,

rainforest creation project,

orangutan habitat, and eco-

tourism venture: Samboja

Lestari

Also founded Masarang

Foundation which among

other things helped pioneer

converting sugar palm to

ethanol

Tom Szaky

American ―eco-capitalist‖

Created the startup

Terracycle, a company that

makes consumer products

out of post-consumer

products

First started by bottling

worm fertiliser in reused

plastic drink bottles

Has expanded to numerous

other product lines; has

many emulators worldwide

What’s going on locally?

What can you as a professional do?

Anticipate the wider

implications of technology.

Some policy concerns:

-How might emergent technology have effects (both positive

and negative) across environmental, social, and economic

criteria?

-How can technology obsolescence be planned for, and

materials be harvested for recycling or reuse? (rather than

mountains of E-waste)

-How might technology impact cities, regions, and countries

unexpectedly? (e.g. think nuclear as a ―clean‖ option in Japan)

-How might technology influence evolution of human culture?

-What risks should be anticipated?

-What safeguards might need to be in place?

-What left-field problems might arise? (e.g. CFCs/ozone hole)

-Is there a way to tackle an issue with a low-tech solution?

(e.g. an electric robot lawn mower vs. a sheep)

Focus on adaptation.

Experiment and take risks.

Follow your passion & your gut.

View problems as opportunities.

Think broadly and influence people.

Learn globally.

You never change anything by

fighting the existing reality. To

change something, build a new

model that makes the old model

obsolete.

-- Buckminster Fuller

Tomorrow doesn’t have to be

another yesterday.

Contact

Chris Tobias

Managing Director/Lead Strategist

Forward Asia-Pacific Consulting PTE, LTD

www.creatingpositivefutures.net

Ecosphere 87 Beach Road #06-01,

Singapore 189695

Phone: +65 8406 2275

E-mail: chris@forward.net.nz

Twitter: FWDTHNKG