Another Apollo Mission
Next month, a new Millennium report will be published: The State of the Future 2009. It calls for efforts at the scale of the Apollo mission - efforts that are doable if we act upon them in time.
It's been 40 years since man landed on the moon
- in spite of all the disbelievers who considered that such a goal
would be impossible to achieve. Today, we are standing before an even
greater project: the transformation of our entire energy system and of
the understanding of our place on earth. A project that is immense in
its needed effort, in its urgency, and in its potential.
It seems that a report like "The State of The Future",
with 6,700 pages contributed by 2,700 experts, summarizing the state of
our future on this planet, should do the trick to get us moving at a
more adequate pace. 
It
clearly points out the current problems and how they will play out in
our future. Climate change is, of course, just one of many problems
endangering our livelihoods. But it affects all aspects of our life
through spread of diseases; reduced availability of food, water and
land; through deterioration of our ecosystems; and many other effects.
With that, climate change affects health, peace, and survival of
potentially billions of people. Climate change is thus at the core of
our problems; it can only be solved if we solve all the interrelated
global problems as well.
"The
stakes are high, as, without sustainable growth, "billions of people
will be condemned to poverty and much of civilisation will collapse".
Cited from The Independent
Maybe, hopefully, this report will finally give the stimulus for a
truly global effort at the scale of the Apollo mission: to build upon
the huge potential to solve the global crises, through better
communication over the internet, through the use of technologies that
are already available, through large-scale investments in renewable
energies.
Of course, the needed efforts will not be easy. But they are doable;
and they are definitely worth any effort each one of us is able to give.
It's time to talk and write less, and to act more. It shouldn't need
6,700 pages to do what is right. A few words should be enough, words
that help justify our efforts. Those words probably differ among people.
To me, the most important motivation is that my efforts are not only
for my personal gain, but also for that of all of humanity. To be a
tiny part of this effort and to be able to tell my kids later: "Oh
yeah, it took a lot of effort, it was hard; but I knew one day you
would ask, and I wanted to be able to give you the answer and the
future you deserve.", that is worth more than can be put into words.
It's an egoistic effort, but that is human nature, isn't it? Maybe,
actually, we all need to become more egoistic and take more care of
those parts of our life, that are most dear to us.
Maiken Winter
Source: The Independent.