All for one and one for all

It's been a while... but a recent jump on to the Twitter bandwagon (follow me: SustainaT) and a short speech on World Environment Day in Karlskrona have given me an itch to share. I'll start with the text from last week's speech:


When I was thinking about World Environment Day, the thing that came to mind is “All for one and one for all.” Could there be a more simple expression that explains why the environment is such an important thing for us each to appreciate?

All for one and one for all. What every person does affects me. What I do affects everyone else. While this may not be true for all of human history, it becomes more and more true every second as we had 5 people to the global population every 2 seconds. Perhaps in the past we could say that it was “Some for one and one for some.” Living in tribes and clans with only local impacts, our actions did not impact the entire globe.

All for one and one for all. What every person does affects me. What I do affects everyone else. As we understand this, we continue the evolution of our species. Imagine Africa 150,000 years ago. Our ancestors there are naked apes sitting around admiring our opposable thumbs. Who at that time would have thought that one day we naked apes would dominate the world!?

Our brain power at that time allowed us to survive. We were not faster than those who preyed upon us. We were not faster than many of those we preyed upon. But we were often smarter than both predator and prey – and that allowed us to survive. We had the capacity to remember – to recall what DID happen. And we utilized our ability to remember in a new way: to anticipate – to predict – what WOULD happen. We had foresight!

All for one and... one for all!
Foresight!!

The combination of foresight and an opposable thumb allowed us to thrive: we could make tools and anticipate ways to use them effectively.

Today we can look around us and see that the very thing that put us at the top of the food chain – foresight – is the thing that we lack most in many of our operations. We solve one problem, but in solving the first problem, we create a new problem!

We live in a time when the amount of information and knowledge we have is growing dramatically – look at Wikipedia and other information deposits on the internet!

At the same time as our knowledge goes up, our tools overpower – think of the nuclear power plants that provide power for half of Sweden or the massive machines we use in mining!

As humans, together we have discovered amazing facts and we do amazing things. And as humans, we all partake in the benefits of our knowledge and our tools.

But too few of us use the one thing that allowed us to acquire that knowledge and those tools: foresight.

I say that because if we all DID use our gift for foresight, I think we would do things a bit different. If we used foresight, we would dramatically reduce our contribution to changing the climate. We would protect and nourish our soils – knowing that good soil is necessary to grow food. And in many areas of the world we would use water more carefully.

All for one and one for all. What every person does affects me. What I do affects everyone else.

Climate change is a particularly relevant topic right now, and it fits nicely with "All for one and one for all": The carbon I am responsible for goes into everyone else’s atmosphere. The carbon everyone else is responsible for goes into my atmosphere. Three weeks ago I was with Al Gore, David Suzuki, RK Pachauri, and hundreds of other people in the US. We were there to prepare for some big actions that are going on in the US regarding national policy to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

In typical fashion, the US has been waiting to jump in. Sweden – where people have been talking about climate change for over 100 years – has been working slowly and consistently to reduce carbon emissions for the last 2-3 decades. The US – at the national level – has not been doing so much (certainly many communities are doing things!) Now, however, the US is preparing to pass legislation that will reduce emissions 17% from 2005 to 2020 at the same time as raising at least US$4-5 billion to support reductions in carbon emissions in other places. The US has a long way to go to catch up with the good work that Sweden has done – but when the US starts to move, it moves quickly.

I talk about both Sweden and the US in part because I am most familiar with these two countries, but more because they are two countries that have very interesting responsibilities over the next 6 months with regard to climate.

What happens over the next 6 months? Representatives from all over the world will be meeting in Copenhagen – just down the train tracks from here – to negotiate the next climate protocol that will largely determine greenhouse gas emission targets for the next decade.

The US is important because it has been behind all the rest by not signing the Kyoto protocol. Sweden is important because it holds the Presidency of the EU starting in July. Together, they can greatly influence the world’s approach to carbon emissions: will it be some for one and one for some? Or will it be All for one and one for all?

I was in Nashville three weeks ago because I am one of 2000 people that go around talking about climate change in the US. Together, we 2000 people have given 50,000 presentations and have talked to 5 million people in the last two years. Finally people in the US are starting to understand. Of course, there are still some who say that humans are not affecting the climate. But there are fewer and fewer each day. And of course, we have a powerful ally on our side: REALITY!

Of course we should not forget that climate change is only one thing that affects the health of the environment around us. Other types of pollution and overuse of resources – there are many things that we need to take care of. Climate change is an extra important topic right now because of its connection to other issues like energy, food and water – so I hope you will do what you can to reduce your own carbon footprint AND to encourage your country to provide good leadership in Copenhagen in December.

As we’ve gone from the savannahs of Africa to all around the world – with hundreds of languages, thousands of cultures , millions of homes, and billions of smiles – let us remember that we still have only one earth. And when it comes to the environment, indeed it is true that we are All for one and one for all.