An Den Rat Für Forschung Und Technologieentwicklung Geschäftsstelle Pestalozzigasse 4/D1 A-1010 Wien

Zentrum für Globalen Wandel und Nachhaltigkeit

An den Rat für Forschung und Technologieentwicklung Geschäftsstelle Pestalozzigasse 4/D1 A-1010 Wien

Wien, 2009.06.15

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren!

Mit Freude habe ich die Korrespondenz verfolgt, die sich rund um die von Dr. Lindenthal und mir verfasste Stellungnahme zur Forschungsstrategie 2020 ergeben hat, lässt sich doch daraus ablei- ten, dass Sie an den Stellungnahmen inhaltlich interessiert sind. Dafür, dass die zeitliche Koordi- nation unsererseits nicht ganz geklappt hat – wir haben Ihnen unsere Stellungnahme später zuge- schickt, als manchen Kollegen oder z.B. dem ORF – möchte ich mich entschuldigen. Wir hatten die Kollegenschaft möglichst früh motivieren wollen, sich mit der Forschungsstrategie zu befas- sen, und/oder sich unserer Stellungnahme anzuschließen, und das musste naturgemäß passieren, bevor wir unsere Stellungnahme abschickten.

Sehr gerne würden wir unsere Überlegungen und unsere tiefe Sorge aber auch direkt mit den Mit- gliedern des Rates diskutieren – zumal unsere Intervention nicht von dem Bestreben getrieben ist, die eigenen Forschungsbereiche „abzusichern“, sondern von Sorge um die künftige globale Ent- wicklung, natürlich auch die Österreichs.

Ich bin gerade von einer hochkarätig besetzten Tagung in Deutschland zurückgekehrt und komme mir wie eine Reisende zwischen zwei Welten vor: Die Welt, in der es um Wettbewerb zwischen den Industrienationen, um technologischen Fortschritt und wirtschaftliche Vorteile geht, und die auch hinter der Forschungsstrategie 2020 steht, und die Welt, in der es um die Erarbeitung ge- meinsamer, globaler Lösungen geht, weil die Herausforderungen, vor denen die Menschheit steht, so enorm sind, dass sie mit nichts geringerem als einer immensen gemeinsamen weltweiten An- strengung unter Einbindung von Wissenschaft, Gesellschaft, Wirtschaft und Politik bewältigbar sind.

Es ist mir bewusst, dass diese Aussage Menschen, die sich nicht mit den globalen Herausforde- rungen des Klimawandels, der Energie- und der Ressourcenverknappung befasst haben, überzo- gen erscheinen, und es daher meinem Schreiben an Überzeugungskraft fehlen muss. Gestatten Sie mir deshalb, einige Zitate sehr glaubwürdiger Quellen anzufügen.

Im Oktober 2007 veröffentlichten 15 Nobellpreisträger das sogenannte Potsdam Memorandum (s. Anlagen), in dem zu lesen ist: „We are standing at a moment in history when a great transformation is needed to respond to the immense threat to our planet.“ und weiter: „There is overwhelming evidence that we need to tap all sources of ingenuity and cooperation to meet the environment & development challenges of the 21st century and beyond. This implies, in particular, that the

Peter-Jordanstraße 82, A-1190 Wien, Tel.: +43 1 476 54-5601, Fax: DW 5610, [email protected], http://www.wau.boku.ac.at/met.html

scientific community engages in a strategic alliance with the leaders, institutions and movements representing the worldwide civil society. In turn, governments, industries and private donors should commit to additional investments in the knowledge enterprise that is searching for sustainable solutions.” Es wird ein “Global Contract between Science and Society” gefordert, der ein “multi-nationales Innovationsprogramm über die Grundbedürfnisse der Menschen (Energie, Luft, Wasser, Nahrung, Gesundheit etc.) und eine „globale Initiative zur Förderung der Nachhal- tigkeitswissenschaften , -erziehung und -ausbildung“ fordert.

In ihrem heurigen Symposium beschrieben die Nobelpreisträger den notwendigen Beitrag der Wissenschaft folgendermaßen: "The solutions to the extraordinary environmental, economic and human crises of this century will not be found in the political arena alone. Stimulated by the manifesto of Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein, the first Pugwash gathering of 1957 united scientists of all political persuasions to discuss the threat posed to civilization by the advent of thermonuclear weapons. Global climate change represents a threat of similar proportions, and should be addressed in a similar manner. There should be an acceleration and integration of global sustainability studies, to encourage the active involvement of all scientists in these matters, championing the process of robust scientific study. All scientists should be urged to contribute to raising levels of public knowledge on these threats to civilization and engage in a massive education effort to popularize the principles in this Memorandum."

Das Memorandum schließt mit den Worten: "We know what needs to be done. We cannot wait until it is too late. We cannot wait until what we value most is lost."

Wir stehen gerne für eine Aussprache oder Diskussion zur Bedeutung und Dringlichkeit der Auf- nahme auch dieses Gedankengutes in die Forschungsstrategie zur Verfügung.

Mit besten Grüßen,

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Helga Kromp-Kolb

Peter-Jordanstraße 82, A-1190 Wien, Tel.: +43 1 476 54-5601, Fax: DW 5610, [email protected], http://www.wau.boku.ac.at/met.html

The St James’s Palace Memorandum “Action for a Low Carbon and Equitable Future” London, UK, 26 – 28 May 2009

The St James’s Palace Memorandum calls for a global deal on climate change that matches the scale and urgency of the human, ecological and economic crises facing the world today. It urges governments at all levels, as well as the scientific community, to join with business and civil society to seize hold of this historic opportunity to transform our carbon-intensive economies into sustainable and equitable systems. We must recognize the fierce urgency of now.

The Fierce Urgency of Now Climate risk avoidance, energy security, sustainable land use, population growth and equitable economic development constitute a key set of interacting challenges for humankind in the 21st century. The evidence is increasingly compelling for the range and scale of climate impacts that must be avoided, such as droughts, sea level rise and flooding leading to mass migration and conflict. The robust scientific process, by which this evidence has been gathered, should be used as a clear mandate to accelerate the actions that need to be taken. Political leaders cannot possibly ask for a more robust, evidence-based call for action.

In a time of financial and economic crisis, the participants of the St. James’s Palace Symposium emphasise that without directing current economic recovery resources wisely, and embarking on a path towards a low carbon economy, the world will have lost the opportunity to meet the global sustainability challenge. Decarbonising our economy offers a multitude of benefits, from addressing energy security to stimulating unprecedented technological innovation. A zero carbon economy is an ultimate necessity and must be seriously explored now.

Milestones of the Great Transformation Building on the Potsdam Memorandum and the recent advances in the scientific understanding of climate change, the participants of the St James’s Symposium identified as key requirements an effective and just global agreement on climate change, low-carbon energy infrastructure and tropical forest protection, conservation and restoration.

1) Delivering an effective and just global agreement on climate change Firm political leadership is now crucial. Leadership is primarily required from developed countries, acknowledging their historical responsibility as well as their financial and technological capacity. However, all countries will need to implement low carbon development strategies. In this spirit of trust, every country must act on the firm assumption that all others will also act.

A long-term commitment under the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is now urgently required. The global agreement in Copenhagen must include the following elements: • Acknowledging the compelling evidence of science we should confine the temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius to avoid unmanageable climate risks. This can only be achieved with a peak of global emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2015 and at least a 50% emission reduction by 2050 on a 1990 baseline. This in turn means that developed countries have to aim for a 25-40% reduction by 2020. A robust measure of assessing the necessary emission reductions is a total carbon budget, which should be accepted as the base for measuring the effectiveness of short-term (2020) and long-term (2050) targets; • The creation of carbon prices adopted across large parts of the global economy combined with measures to lower the price of low carbon energy, especially in developing countries. Funds raised should be used to provide the necessary financial support for adaptation; • The agreement must acknowledge the priority of developing countries to overcome poverty while ensuring sustainable development.

2) Delivering a low carbon energy infrastructure Decarbonising our society requires an increase in energy conservation and efficiency, and a revolution in our energy infrastructure now. The required technological innovations will not be achieved without an unprecedented partnership between government and business.

Actions in the following areas are needed: • Clear policy frameworks aimed at fostering innovation and the demonstration, scale up and roll out of low carbon technologies including globally coordinated investment frameworks, linked to economic recovery, with the emphasis on ‘green growth’; • Developed countries should commit to a significant increase in investments for research, development and deployment; • Technology sharing and financial support, through mechanisms such as globally supported feed-in-tariffs for renewable energy, are required to help developing countries leapfrog to a low carbon economy; • The establishment of “smart grids” – connecting renewable energy sources over large areas and implementing novel energy storage technologies.

3) Delivering tropical forest protection, conservation and restoration Tropical forests provide the ecosystem services essential for human well-being and poverty alleviation. In addition deforestation and forest degradation are substantially contributing to climate change and global biodiversity loss at the genetic, species and landscape level. Both locally and globally, protecting boreal and tropical forest cover is an essential tool for mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change. Without a solution to rainforest protection, there is no solution to tackling climate change.

An emergency package is needed now to provide substantial funding to tropical forest nations to help them halt deforestation and embark on alternative economic development paths, including: • Accelerating a long-term UNFCCC agreement on halting deforestation and on forest restoration, including innovative financing mechanisms from public and private sources; • Building capacity as well as mechanisms for verification and national governance structures that can support and reward the maintenance of rainforest regions. Developing countries need to take their own responsibility in tropical forest protection, conservation and restoration.

The Contribution of Science The solutions to the extraordinary environmental, economic and human crises of this century will not be found in the political arena alone. Stimulated by the manifesto of Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein, the first Pugwash gathering of 1957 united scientists of all political persuasions to discuss the threat posed to civilization by the advent of thermonuclear weapons. Global climate change represents a threat of similar proportions, and should be addressed in a similar manner. There should be an acceleration and integration of global sustainability studies, to encourage the active involvement of all scientists in these matters, championing the process of robust scientific study. All scientists should be urged to contribute to raising levels of public knowledge on these threats to civilization and engage in a massive education effort to popularize the principles in this Memorandum.

We know what needs to be done. We cannot wait until it is too late. We cannot wait until what we value most is lost.

The Nobel Laureate Symposium Series on Global Sustainability The Nobel Laureate Symposium Series on Global Sustainability was initiated in 2007 at Potsdam and continued by the St James’s Palace Symposium in spring 2009. This Symposium series unites Nobel Laureates of various disciplines, top-level representatives from politics and NGOs, and renowned experts on sustainability. In Potsdam, the participants called for a Great Transformation that would bring about the technical, economic, political and cultural changes required to meet the double challenge of environmental destabilization and persistent underdevelopment.

Potsdam Memorandum

Main Conclusions from the Symposium

„Global Sustainability: A Nobel Cause“, Potsdam, Germany, 8-10 Oct 2007

We are standing at a moment in history when a great transformation is needed to respond to the immense threat to our planet. This transformation must begin immediately and is strongly supported by all present at the Potsdam Nobel Laureates Symposium.

The Need for a Great Transformation

The world-wide socioeconomic acceleration after World War II has pushed our planet into an unprecedented situation: humanity is acting now as a quasi-geological force on a planetary scale that will qualitatively and irreversibly alter the natural Earth System mode of operation ― should business as usual be pursued. As outlined by the IPCC, anthropogenic global warming through greenhouse gas emissions is the foremost of an entire set of emerging development, security and environmental crises which require an integrated response. Yet climate protection ambitions appear to be on a collision course with the predominant growth paradigm that disconnects human welfare from the capacity of the Planet to sustain growth. Humanity is faced with the major challenge of making a drastic reduction in GHG emissions, which will require shifts in lifestyles in rich countries, while meeting urgent development and growth needs in the poorer countries, the home of the vast majority of humanity underlining the right to development. Ensuring that some 9 billion people can live a decent life requires, above all, access to affordable, sustainable and reliable energy services, which are currently based almost exclusively on fossil fuel resources and unsustainable use of traditional fuels. The issue of “carbon justice” and the urgency of the matter at hand require unprecedented cooperation and rapidity in response. Is there a “third way” between environmental destabilization and persisting underdevelopment? Yes, there is, but this way has to bring about, rapidly and ubiquitously, a thorough re-invention of our industrial metabolism ― the Great Transformation. This is an awesome challenge, yet we have one comparative advantage over all previous generations: an incredibly advanced system of knowledge production that can be harnessed, in principle, to co-generate that transformation together with courageous political leaders, enlightened business executives and civil society at large. Crucial Sustainability Challenges & Responses The whole gathering placed the challenge of climate change and energy security firmly in the context of sustainable development, supported the rights of developing countries to social and economic development, and took careful account of interactions between climate policy and the challenges of development in the short, medium and long-term. In so doing it expressed its strong support for the Millenium Development Goals and the concepts of broad-based and multi-dimensional development that they embody.

A range of actions in the areas of climate stabilization, energy security and sustainable development are considered necessary, in particular, these could include:

1. In order to achieve Climate Stabilization, a post-2012 regime should comprise the following key elements: • A global target such as the 2º C-limit relative to pre-industrial levels or the (largely equivalent) halving of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. A series of consistent short and medium- term emissions targets are also essential drive investment and technology and to reduce the need for greater action later. • Leadership role of industrialized countries both in regards to drastic emissions reductions and development of low/no-carbon technologies in order to give poor developing countries room for urgently needed economic growth within the boundaries of a global carbon contract. • Carbon justice. Striving for a long-term convergence to equal-per-capita emissions rights accomplished through a medium-term multi-stage approach accounting for differentiated national capacities. An important goal would be the reduction of total amount of GHG emissions which is the product of per capita consumption times population, where both factors are crucial. • The generation of a carbon price, for instance, through an international cap-and-trade system (of systems) based on auctioning permits. • The establishment of a powerful worldwide process supporting climate-friendly innovation, international cooperation of R&D institutions, combined with increased RD&D funding, integrating basic research as well, to facilitate technology transfer and cooperation. • Major contributions to a multinational funding system for enhancing adaptive capacities. • Scaled-up efforts to both reduce emissions from deforestation and accelerate ecologically appropriate reforestation by creating new incentives for communities and countries to preserve and increase their forests. • Ensure reductions of non-GHG gases.

2. Energy demand is projected to grow dramatically. Efficiency and a range of readily- available low carbon technologies are key to offset the growth for energy services. In order to attain Energy Security, consistent with environmental integrity, an international strategy should have the following foci: S • Systemic efficiency revolution and productivity increase including fuel switching, combined heat power and an energy saving lifestyle which is necessary but not sufficient. • Portfolio approach consisting of a systematic exploration of the economic and technological potential of all of the relevant mitigation options. • Design of investment strategies based on the portfolio approach, e.g., intelligent systems, grid infrastructure, storage technologies, demand-side measures, deployment of renewables such as solar that has huge potential already now. Upfront investments, in addition to carbon finance, are needed to support emerging technologies and increase their market share e.g. feed-in law. • Rapid implementation of demonstration projects for advanced solar energy and carbon capture and storage to foster ingenuity and drive down costs. • Stabilizing long-term expectations of investors at capital markets and establishing microcredit institutions in developing countries aimed at financing low-carbon technologies.

A Global Contract between Science and Society

There is overwhelming evidence that we need to tap all sources of ingenuity and cooperation to meet the environment & development challenges of the 21st century and beyond. This implies, in particular, that the scientific community engages in a strategic alliance with the leaders, institutions and movements representing the worldwide civil society. In turn, governments, industries and private donors should commit to additional investments in the knowledge enterprise that is searching for sustainable solutions. This new contract between science and society would embrace many elements, yet three of them are critically important. 1.A multi-national innovation program on the basic needs of human beings (energy, air, water, food, health etc.) that surpasses, in many respects, the national crash programs of the past (Manhattan, Sputnik, Apollo, Green Revolution etc.). 2. Removal of the persisting cognitive divides and barriers through a global communication system (ranging from international discourse fora to a truly worldwide web of digital information flow). Part of this would be the emerging “Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)” that could especially provide early warning about imminent natural or social sustainability crises. 3. A global initiative on the advancement of sustainability science, education and training. The best young minds, especially those of women, need to be motivated to engage in interdisciplinary problem-solving, based on ever enhanced disciplinary excellence. The ambition is to win over the next generation for laying the cognitive foundations for the well-being of the generations further down the line.

Participants 2007 [http://www.nobel-cause.de/participants]

Nobel Laureates

Prof. Zhores Alferov (Nobel Prize in Physics 2000), Russian Academy of Sciences & Foundation Alferov, Russia Prof. Murray Gell-Mann (Nobel Prize in Physics 1969), Santa Fe Institute Prof. David Gross (Nobel Prize in Physics 2004), University of California, Santa Barbara Prof. Theodor Hänsch (Nobel Prize in Physics 2005), Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich Prof. Alan Heeger (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2000), University of California, Santa Barbara Prof. Sir Antony Hewish (Nobel Prize in Physics 1974), University of Cambridge Prof. Klaus von Klitzing (Nobel Prize in Physics 1985), Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart Prof. Walter Kohn (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1998), University of California, Santa Barbara Prof. Wangari Muta Maathai (Nobel Prize in Peace 2004), Green Belt Movement Prof. Rudolph Marcus (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1992), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Prof. Sir James Mirrlees (Nobel Prize in Economics 1996), University of Cambridge and Chinese University, Hong Kong Prof. Mario Molina (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995), University of California, San Diego (revised) Prof. Carlo Rubbia (Nobel Prize in Physics 1984), CERN, Geneva Prof. Amartya Sen (Nobel Prize in Economics 1998), Harvard University Prof. Sir John Sulston (Nobel Prize in Physiology/ Medicine 2002), Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge

Confirmed Contributors

(Status: October 2, 2007) Dr. Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor

Matthias Platzeck, Minister President of Brandenburg

Sigmar Gabriel, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety

Dr. Annette Schavan, Federal Minister for Education and Research

Prof. Johanna Wanka, Minister for Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg Prof. Frieder Meyer-Krahmer, State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Prof. Markus Antonietti, Director, Max Planck Institute for Colloid and Boundary Layer Research, Potsdam

Prof. Carlo Carraro, Chairman, Department of Economics, University “Ca’ Foscari” of Venice

Dr. Peter Frey, editor in chief, Berlin studios of ZDF German television Prof. Mohamed Hassan, President, African Academy of Sciences and Executive Director, Academy of Sciences for the Developing World/ TWAS, Trieste Barbara Hendricks, opera singer, Honorary Ambassador For Life for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Founder of the Barbara Hendricks Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation Prof. Sir Brian Hoskins, Former Head of the Meteorological Department, University of Reading

Prof. Daniel Kammen, Director, Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL), University of California, Berkeley

Prof. Paul Klemperer, Edgeworth Professor of Economics, Oxford University

Jim Leape, Director General, World Wide Fund for Nature, Gland

Prof. Diana Liverman, Director of Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute

Prof. Joachim Luther, Former Director of Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), Advisor to the German Government on research and innovation

Ian McEwan, English novelist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Prof. Volker ter Meulen, Professor Emeritus, Institute for Virology and Immunology, University Würzburg; President of the German Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina, Halle/Saale Prof. Jürgen Mlynek, President, German Helmholtz Association, Berlin

Prof. Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Professor of Energy Economics at Vienna University of Technology

Dr. Sunita Narain, Director, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi

Prof. Michael Oppenheimer, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School and the Department of Geosciences at Princeton University

Prof. Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change); Director General, TERI, New Delhi

Prof. Kirit Parikh, Member, Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi; Professor Emeritus and Founding Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai

Prof. George Poste, Director, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University

Ambassador William C. Ramsay, Deputy Executive Director, International Energy Agency, Paris

Prof. Johan Rockström, Director, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

Dr. Karsten Sach, Director, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Berlin

Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Nairobi

Prof. Matthias Steinmetz, Director, Astrophysical Institute Potsdam (AIP)

Prof. Sir Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Professor and Director, India Observatory and Asia Research Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science

Prof. Klaus Töpfer, Former Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi

Prof. Robert Watson, Chief Scientist and Director for Sustainable Development at the World Bank

Prof. Carl Christian von Weizsäcker, Director emeritus of the Institute of Energy Economics at the University of Cologne; Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn

Prof. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, Dean, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara Prof. Geoffrey West, President, Santa Fe Institute

Anders Wijkman, Member of the European Parliament; Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science

Convenor Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK); Chief Climate Advisor to the German Government