Professor Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, 69, is a physicist and biologist. He has served as a professor at German universities, as director of the UN Center for Science and Technology in New York, as president of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, and as a member of the German Bundestag for the SPD. Most recently, Professor von Weizsäcker was dean of the Donald Bren School for Environmental Science and Management at the University of California in Santa Barbara. He is considered a leading force behind the concept of sustainable development.
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Siemens believes that investing in climate protection could promote growth. Others disagree. Is this something we can afford only when the economy is strong?
Weizsäcker: That's the impression being given now by some. This thinking has its roots in the regulation of pollutant emissions, where only the rich countries could afford environmental protection. But in the case of climate protection, the problems are mostly caused by the rich. They use more energy, eat more meat and fly more. The economic crisis offers a great opportunity to reverse this course and create jobs at the same time. In Europe and Japan, that's already understood. Now it seems that this idea is being accepted in the U.S. as well.
Do you expect the U.S. to take a leading role in climate protection?
Weizsäcker: Obama can't change the U.S. overnight. But the country is more receptive to climate protection than commonly thought. Some states have been involved for years, and many companies are far ahead of the politicians, too. Now the federal government is following suit. Obama's rescue plan for the auto industry puts a lot of emphasis on the environment. That's a big step in the right direction.
Why does Europe have an edge here?
Weizsäcker: In Europe, people earn a good living from environmental protection and energy efficiency. That's where the future lies, in my view; that's becoming the rhythm of technological progress. Energy and water are scarce. We should learn to use both three times, five times, ten times more efficiently, and especially the end user. Then it's fine if energy and water get more expensive. Japan showed how to do this in the '80s, when electricity and gasoline were very expensive. After its modernization programs, the country was twice as efficient as Australia or the U.S. at the time of the Kyoto Conference in 1997, providing twice as much prosperity per kilowatt-hour.
Is higher energy efficiency the key in the fight against climate change?
Weizsäcker: Yes. Today, we can conjure up ten times more light from a kilowatt-hour than just a few years ago. Buildings can be kept warm with a tenth of the heating energy used back then. The whole country could become five times more energy efficient with simple measures. But as long as energy is cheap, that doesn't happen. We could make energy more expensive in small steps through taxes or emissions certificates, in parallel with increasing energy efficiency. That's fair in social terms and makes efficiency more profitable. Investors could make long-term plans. Habits will change, possibly even our relationship to the automobile. There might be more car-sharing instead of ownership, for example.
Raw materials' prices are falling because of the crisis. Couldn't that cause countries such as China to become less concerned with energy efficiency?
Weizsäcker: Yes, low prices are encouraging waste again. But the Chinese are on their toes, and they've made energy efficiency a national objective in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan.
How do you rate the economic stimulus programs as they relate to climate protection?
Weizsäcker: The German government and the U.S. are acting pretty sensibly. The focus is on rescuing the credit institutions. At the same time, Obama is pushing the auto industry toward more efficiency, and he wants to spend billions on renewable energies. Environmental considerations can help overcome the disorientation of the economy.
Are you optimistic about the future?
Weizsäcker: We'll manage, assuming that key countries, such as the U.S. and China, have the courage to adopt a climate-friendly course. I believe that we're moving toward a new, long-term Kondratiev wave — with a paradigm shift toward more energy efficiency and the associated innovations and investments. I like to compare our current infrastructure and products with the dinosaurs. Our cars, houses and appliances are wasteful and outdated. The coming society will be more efficient and more elegant than today's. In that society, for example, people will use computers that don't waste energy and are as efficient as the human brain. That won't entail a drop in the quality of life. On the contrary, I see us entering a new epoch of advanced civilization.