In 2009 we were
told that the bill for every year of delay to reach a global
agreement on energy and climate change is $500bn, on top of the staggering total of $10.5
trillion of investment needed [1]. Three years on that means that the increased global costs are of the order of another $1.5 trillion.
More pressing, a study also from 2009 states that “the…policies the UK
There are big problems ahead of us which cannot be ignored.
The author and “futurologist” Guy Hammond talking with Oxford
University
Challenge / Key
Drivers
|
Solutions for the
future
|
1.
Managing world population
|
Access to
contraception
|
2.
Solving the chaos caused by climate change
|
World government agreement
|
3.
Solving the energy crisis
|
The natural world:
the Sun, wind, tides, waves, hydro, geothermal, bioenergy
|
4.
Alleviation of poverty and the search for
peace
|
Ethical globalisation
|
5.
World health and life expectancy
|
A revolution in
medicine
|
6.
The speed of technology development
|
Machine intelligence
and morality
|
7.
Giving the “bottom billion” hope
|
Massive aid
|
This list, whilst interesting, unfortuantely gives us an excuse to say that I, as an individual, am powerless to make any significant difference the world's problems
We need to make it personal.
Mention to people that we can expect our
electricity bills to be inflated for the next 20 years (to pay for
low-carbon power generation); or that we need 30 nuclear power stations,
not the 10 recently announced (if we are to avoid plunging parts of the
country into darkness), most people have a strong opinions.
This is a sign of hope: people have opinions about
things they believe will affect them. Engage at that level, and maybe we will find a way that individuals can make a difference.
[2] “Climate Change: Have We Lost the
[3] “7 Keys to the Future”, Guy Hammond at
