Entries by Damian Cramer

World’s best biodiversity laws shortlisted for Future Policy Award 2010

Nagoya/Hamburg/Montreal, 21 October 2010 – For celebrating the world’s best biodiversity policies with the Future Policy Award 2010, ministers, decision-makers, media and donors will gather on 25 October at an official ceremony in Nagoya, Japan. The Future Policy Award, established by the World Future Council, honours laws with particularly positive effects on the living conditions of current and future generations. It is the first award to celebrate policies rather
than people on an international level. This year’s award gala is hosted by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, as part of the official programme of the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention.

Regenerative Cities

Creating regenerative cities primarily means one thing: initiating comprehensive political, financial and technological strategies for an environmentally restorative relationship between cities and the ecosystems from which they draw resources for their sustenance. Introducing “Agropolis”, “Petropolis” and “Ecopolis” this WFC brochure by WFC Honorary Councillor Herbert Girardet explains how such a healthy relationship can be built.

Crimes against Future Generations: A New Approach

This legal working paper discusses the creation of a new international crime: crimes against future generations. The initiative of creating crimes against future generations grew from discussions held by the Commission on Future Justice set up by the World Future Council (WFC) to develop new laws and policies in order to guarantee human security, ecological integrity and social equity in the interest of future generations.

IMF takes up World Future Council suggestion

The IMF Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has taken up a suggestion by the World Future Council (WFC) on how to finance climate security and climate justice in developing countries. A new multi-billion dollar “Green Fund” that could provide up to $100 billion a year was suggested by Strauss-Kahn at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Part of this fund should be financed through the issuance of additional Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), a reserve asset created by the IMF. The World Future Council proposed funding the development of renewable energies through new, interest-free SDRs at the World Climate Summit in Copenhagen last December and discussed this proposal with the IMF.

New Alliance established in Addis Ababa

Their aim is to speed up electrification and fight climate change at the same time: Representatives from various African countries today in Addis Ababa established the African Renewable Energy Alliance (AREA). In this Alliance, utilities, industry, policy-makers and the civil society will work together to boost the take-up of sustainable electrification and thermal power. Abel Didier Tella, Secretary General of union of African utilities UPDEA, which represents 54 private and public electricity producers and distributors in 43 African countries: “True exchange of information on new technologies as well as workable funding mechanisms for Renewable Energy is exactly what is needed. By creating this Alliance we expect to create an on-going exchange and to speed up Renewable Energy production in Africa”.

The Future Policy Award was celebrated for the first time

Hamburg, October 14, 2010. Since 1981, World Food Day is celebrated on October 16th of every year to raise awareness of the issues behind poverty and hunger. The facts are still shocking: According to the 2010 Global Hunger Index 925 million of the world’s population do not have access to sufficient food and drinking water. Consequently, every day 24.000
people die of hunger. To showcase and explain existing policies that can help solve this tragic global failure, on World Food Day 2010 the Hamburg-based World Future Council Foundation will launch a new ”Agriculture and Food” section on their policy solutions website www.futurepolicy.org.

Cultivating the Future: Food in the Age of Climate Change

In an age of climate change, policies for the secure supply of food to the world have to be a major priority for national governments and the international community. Security and sustainability of food supply is of the utmost importance for the wellbeing of an ever increasing world population, and for future generations.

Policies to Change the World

Policies to Change the World, Energy Sufficiency – Eight Policies towards the Sustainable Use of Energy, from the World Future Council, introduces the principle of energy sufficiency and explains why only efficiency and conservation can achieve the more ambitious energy reduction scenarios.

Rickmers donate EUR 1 million to World Future Council

As part of their “175 Years of Rickmers in Shipping” anniversary, Hamburg shipowners and businessmen Bertram and Erck Rickmers have donated one million euros to the World Future Council (WFC). “On the occasion of the family’s 175th anniversary we would like to pay tribute to the past and at the same to make a contribution to the future,” the brothers explained. “Consistent support of sustainable thinking and acting for the benefit of future generations is only possible at a global level. This is why we want to support the international work of the Hamburg-based World Future Council,” the Rickmers brothers added, detailing their reason for supporting the WFC. The cheque was presented to WFC founder and board chairman Jakob von Uexküll.