30 Visions of Sustainability

RICHARD HEINBERG | JAMES GREYSON A New Historical Paradigm The Need for a Systemic Change HEINER BENKING | RAMON FOLCH A Complex Approach on Sustainability Analysis and Critique THE MAIN CHALLENGE OF OUR TIME STEPHEN MORSE | WILLIAM E.REES Indicators The Ecological Footprint ED GROARK | CHRIS MORAN Monitoring World Resources Mining and Sustainability MEASURING SUSTAINABILITY PEDRO SANCHEZ | MARIANO MARZO Present and Future of Food Fossil Fuels and Energy Trends MICHAEL BRAUNGART | SYLVIA LOREK Cradle to Cradle Dematerialization THE RESOURCES ISSUE #30 VISIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY OF #30 VISIONS MICHAEL SHUMAN | JOSEP MARIA GALÍ The Value of Local Economy Post-Consumerism JEROEN VAN DEN BERG | CARLO RATTI The Myth of Growth Smart Cities TOWARDS A NEW ECONOMY FEDERICO DEMARIA | WALTER STAHEL De-growth Circular Economy DIRK GLAESSER | ZULMA BOLIVAR BUILDING BETTER CITIES The Case of Tourism Cities in the Developing World SALVADOR RUEDA | ANTONIO LUCIO The Key to Urban Sustainability Transportation Management ANUPAMA KUNDOO | FRAUKE FISCHER INITIATIVES FOR CHANGE Architecture for the People Electromobility DIMITRI ROUSSOPOULOS | JORDI PIGEM Communities and Participation Rethinking Western Vision DOMINGO JIMÉNEZ BELTRÁN The Limits of National Policies VALUES FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD MARYLIN MEHLMAN | ARJEN HOEKSTRA International Action Water JORGE RIECHMANN The Philosophy of Limits OF VISIONS #30 SUSTAINABILITY 1 #30 VISIONS OF KNAUF 30 VISIONS ON SUSTAINABILITY SUS TAINABILITY ALBERT PUNSOLA —Idea and interviews SERGIO FERNÁNDEZ —Idea and coordination #30 VISIONS OF SUS TAINABILITY3 12 52 88 RICHARD HEINBERG WILLIAM E.REES ARJEN HOEKSTRA A New Historical Paradigm The Ecological Footprint Water 18 62 92 JAMES GREYSON ED GROARK MICHAEL BRAUNGART The Need for a Systemic Monitoring World Resources Cradle to Cradle Change 26 68 98 HEINER BENKING CHRIS MORAN SYLVIA LOREK A Complex Approach Mining and Sustainability Dematerialization on Sustainability 36 76 106 RAMON FOLCH PEDRO SANCHEZ MICHAEL SHUMAN Analysis and Critique Present and Future of Food The Value of Local Economy 44 82 114 STEPHEN MORSE MARIANO MARZO JEROEN VAN DEN BERG Indicators Fossil Fuels and Energy Trends The Myth of Growth KNAUF 30 VISIONS ON SUSTAINABILITY SUMARY 124 158 192 JOSEP MARIA GALÍ ZULMA BOLIVAR DIMITRI ROUSSOPOULOS Post-Consumerism Cities in the Developing World Communities and Participation 130 164 200 FEDERICO DEMARIA ANUPAMA KUNDOO DOMINGO JIMÉNEZ De-growth Architecture for the People BELTRÁN. The Limits of National Policies 136 170 206 WALTER STAHEL ANTONIO LUCIO MARYLIN MEHLMAN Circular Economy Transportation Management International Action 144 176 214 DIRK GLAESSER FRAUKE FISCHER JORDI PIGEM The Case of Tourism Electromobility Rethinking Western Vision 152 184 220 SALVADOR RUEDA CARLO RATTI JORGE RIECHMANN The Key to Urban Smart Cities The Philosophy of Limits Sustainability5 KNAUF 30 VISIONS ON SUSTAINABILITY PROLOGUE The concept of sustainability has come to be established throughout our lifetimes. With a simple internet search yielding over 100 million references, the word is used constantly by politicians, business people, experts and even the population itself. Despite the protestations of the term’s harshest critics, sustainability doesn’t have to constitute a backward step in our progress as a species. On the contrary, it instead represents a great challenge for the future, whereby economic and social development must be brought into harmony with the preservation of ecosystems and the resources they provide us with. Sustainability is linked to noble aspirations, such as the wish to leave future generations a better world, to improve quality of life for present generations, and to replace selfi shness with cooperation. Sustainability requires the will to arrive at a consensus, such as that shown in the latest Climate Change Conference held in Paris, in which an unprecedented universal agreement was reached on tackling the phenomenon. To really make strides in this direction, however, what are needed are not aspirations, but values. Ever since brothers Karl and Alfons Knauf opened their fi rst mining town in Germany in 1932, the history of our company has been based on values. Many things have changed since then, however one constant thread has been Knauf’s method of facing new challenges from a social perspective that takes the surrounding environment into consideration. Our challenge for the twenty-fi rst century is how to ensure that a company with over 26,000 employees, 150 factories and thousands of offi ces and warehouses can develop in the framework of sustainability. There is only one way we can begin to face such a complex challenge, and that is with one simple approach: the future will only be better if it is sustainable. ALEXANDER KNAUF 7 “Le véritable voyage de découverte ne consiste pas à chercher de nouveaux paysages, mais à avoir de nouveaux yeux.” The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust KNAUF 30 VISIONS ON SUSTAINABILITY PROLOGUE For centuries, revealed knowledge has provided humanity with an intelligible and perfect image of the world. The advent of modern society and the strength of critical thought has called into question ancient certitudes and transmitted a vision of reality which is highly complex, meaning that today we even refer to multiple realities whose sum and interconnections create the fabric of the world we live in. Exploding into public debate over the last 30 years, sustainability has been referred to as diffi cult to defi ne and lacking in precision. We believe this very ‘defect’ is in fact its greatest strength. The concept of sustainability is a tool that puts us in touch with reality’s distinct dimensions – or multiple realities – that are interconnected and developed in a complex system. Nowadays, it is no longer possible to imagine a world that is nothing short of a highly intricate web, and everyday life is the greatest proof of such connectedness. Even the most superfi cial of analyses would reveal our societies’ shared economic, social, political and environmental problems, with a mere cursory glance at the global oil situation an instant reminder. Over many months we have interviewed 30 experts in various fi elds of knowledge including science, economics, philosophy, technology, politics and management, with a focus on sustainability. Right from our earliest steps towards devising a work of this style, we believed that this would be the best way to reveal sustainability for what it is: an open and living concept profoundly interlinked with all of human activities. Because it is precisely human activities that are, by defi nition, limited in time and space, and if there is one word that most faithfully represents the essence of sustainability, it is the idea of limits. Imagine a slice of cake layered with sponge, cream and fruit. Even though some people would undoubtedly prefer one layer to another, most people would pick up their fork and break a piece off so as to taste all the layers at once. This is the spirit with which we would like you to savour our book, full as it is of intellects, that, despite their diff erences, come together to transmit a unique refl ection on how to build a better world. Bon Appétit! ALBERTO DE LUCA Managing Director Knauf GmbH Sucursal en España 9 KNAUF 30 VISIONS ON SUSTAINABILITY Sustainability is based on the idea that the environmental and social costs of development have certain limits. In order to enable future generations to live in the best possible conditions, human activities on the planet must take these limits into consideration. For this reason, sustainability may be considered to be the main challenge of our time. The main challenge of our time Richard Heinberg | James Greyson Heiner Benking | Ramon Folch 11 Richard Heinberg JOURNALIST, EDUCATOR AND ENERGY EXPERT BrilliantTod KNAUF 30 VISIONS ON SUSTAINABILITY A NEW HISTORICAL PARADIGM The awareness that civilization can cause irreparable damage to the planet is something new in history. This awareness brings a scheme of thought that questions many of the current principles and practices. Likewise, this new vision creates a sense of collective responsibility for the fate of humankind. “ We are reaching the limits to growth” Many times in history people have felt that they were What kind of scenarios do you envisage for humanity living through a process of critical change, and this with the decreasing availability of oil? Do you think is currently happening at the beginning of twenty-first a relatively smooth transition is possible? Or is century. But what would be the specific conflict the only way to move towards a new era? characteristics of this moment in time? Would it be RH. Of course a smooth transition would be the energy question? The unsustainability of the preferable, but that would require planning ahead production model? The emergence of a planetary to reduce the need for oil before actual scarcity. consciousness unable to overcome national Many people (myself included) have been loudly interests? What do you believe to be our greatest advocating a planned reduction in petroleum challenge as a species at this moment? consumption for many years now. But this did not fit RH. In many ways it is the same challenge humans with the priorities of policy makers, who prize have always faced: the ecological dilemma of continued short-term economic growth above population growth pressing against ecological limits. everything else, even if it has calamitous long-term However, today that dilemma has been magnified to consequences. We have run out of time for a planned an unprecedented and profoundly dangerous degree. transition. That means that markets will drive the With the energy from cheap fossil fuels we were able dynamics of the end of the oil age. We will likely see to expand agriculture, manufacturing, transport, price swings that will by turns destabilize national sanitation, and scientific research to support far economies and the oil industry itself.

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