SIEMENS

Big conferences, far-reaching goals, but few concrete results — ever since the Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, in December 2011, many skeptics have increasingly been asking whether big international summits really are the right means for making the world more sustainable. How can the next big event of this kind, Rio+20, be successful? Following protracted negotiations, the participants of the Durban conference drew up a road map for a global climate change treaty, which won’t go into effect until 2020. What’s more, it’s not yet certain whether the main emitters of greenhouse gases, China, the U.S., Russia, and India, will even sign the treaty. The summit’s structural weaknesses also became apparent. Young people, whose future was being negotiated in Durban, were hardly involved in the decision-making process. Because today’s young people will shape she world of tomorrow, Siemens has created a community called “Future Influencers” in order to encourage them to take the future into their own hands. The community encompasses about 30 young people from around the globe who are sharing their ideas on how to increase sustainability. Among them is Rashiq Fataar, 24, from Cape Town. Fataar, who works for an insurance company, writes about sustainability in his home town on the FutureCapeTown blog. One of the questions he asks on the blogis “Does a building really deserve a sustainabilityrating if it boasts ultra modern and energy-efficient air conditioning and lighting systems but is nearly impossible to reach by public transportation?” Even though Fataar thinks that the conferencein Durban did not accomplish enough, he expects Rio+20 to produce concrete results. “Those who are responsible won’t approach the issues as naively as they did in the past and wait for countries to act of their own accord. Instead, they will demand that communities commit themselves to sustainable measures”, he predicts. Fataar adds that nations have accumulated a lot of experience on how to make urban living more environmentally responsible and climate-friendly. Such best practices are also documented in the Siemens Green City Indexes for Germany, Europe, the United States and Canada, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. An overview of results will be presented at Rio+20.

Obvious Solutions. In many areas, huge amounts of energy could be saved with very little effort. For example, during the summit in Durbanthe conference tents were air-conditioned but the entrances were wide open, thus letting the heat back in. Many participants felt this was symbolic of the overall situation, in which obvious solutions are not consistently exploited. This applies to the use of renewable energy sources, highly efficient power plants, and better energy utilization in industry, buildings, and transportation systems. Klaus Töpfer, an environmentally oriented politician who is Founding Director of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam,believes that environmentally-friendly growth is achievable. Instead of issuing dire warnings, he says we need to convince countries of the benefits of sustainable development. “You can achieve independence from price fluctuations and shortages off ossil fuels by harnessing your own resources, such as geothermal energy in Kenya. These innovations will allow such countries to achieve energy independence, accelerate their national economic development, and have a positive impact on the climate,” Töpfer said in an interview with the German news magazine Der Spiegel. But reality on the ground is often quite different. Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, for instance, is blanketed by thick exhaust fumes and, as is often the case, it suffers from regular blackouts. In response, diesel generators are used to produce electricity. In Nigeria alone, 60 million people need to regularly use such machines. Hopes are therefore high that renewable sources of energy will be able to replace inefficient, expensive, and environmentally-harmful energy sources. Phenias Sadondo, a 25-year-old student, believes solar energy is the key to progress in Africa. Sadondo is a volunteer at Action 24, a youth organization that runs projects to combat the effects of climate change in his home country, Zimbabwe.“Two thirds of Africa’s economy is dependent on agriculture. That’s why climate change poses an immediate threat to us,” explains Sadondo, who drew attention in Durban to the challenges facing his generation.

Fighting Climate Change and Poverty. Two of the key topics to be addressed at Rio+20 are environmental protection and the fight against poverty. An Action 24 project in Norton, a town located about 40 kilometers west of Harare, Zimbabwe, demonstrates how to make progress in these areas. “We have set up a farm there for environmentally-friendly mushroom cultivation and hired young people who were previously unemployed,” Sadondo explains. Two other projects put solar energy to use. Inone, incubators for guinea fowl eggs are heated, while the other uses solar power to regulate the pressure of drip irrigation systems in horticultural projects in Zimbabwe. “It is becoming increasingly clear that technology is the key that will enable countries worldwide to adjust to climate change,” says Sadondo. At the conference in Rio, experts and politicians will discuss how the world’s population, especially the inhabitants of poor countries, can gain sustainable access to medical supplies, water, energy, education, and food. Many projects demonstrate what is already achievable. For example, in Kalwa, near Mumbai, India, a sewage treatment facility based on the use of plants recycles waste water from Siemens’ local campus. On an annual basis,the facility saves some 12 million liters of water and reduces costs by €4,500. What’s more, many cities already feature unmanned subways and hybrid buses that help to reduce traffic jams and offer inhabitants a quick and environmentally friendly commute to work. Solar power stations, wind turbines, and efficient gas turbine powerplants are already providing a sustainable supply of energy in many places. Even sea water desalination, a generally energy-intensive technology, can become much more energy efficient. Siemens researchers have built a pilot plant in Singapore that uses membranes and electrical fields to cut energy use in half. Fataar and Sadondo agree that we need to make use of existing options. “Siemens is showing that many existing technologies can help people achieve a better quality of life — but we must continue to put pressure on politicians to finally reach binding agreements,”says Fataar.