sustainable development and climate change: practical...
TRANSCRIPT
UN General Assembly Thematic Debate On
Sustainable Development and Climate Change: Practical Solutions in the Energy-
Water Nexus
Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs Special Advisor to
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon Director of the Earth Institute
at Columbia University
16 May 2013
CO2 CONCENTRATION REACHES 400 PPM FOR FIRST TIME IN 3 MILLION YEARS
“ANTHROPOCENE”
Source: Rockström et al 2009a)
“PLANETARY BOUNDARIES”
MANHATTAN, HURRICANE SANDY, OCTOBER 29, 2012
BEIJING, JULY 21, 2012
BANGKOK OCTOBER 2011
INDIANA MAIZE AUGUST 2012
Homes are destroyed in Colorado Springs, June 2012
Fires Are Increasing World-‐Wide
Source: Westerling et al. 2006
Western US area burned
Wildfires in Western US have increased 4-‐fold in 30 years.
CHAD 2012
THE WORLD NEEDS TO DE-CARBONIZE THE ENERGY SYSTEM, THROUGH:
EFFICIENCY EXPANDED ELECTRIFICATION (EG AUTOS) LOW-CARBON ENERGY: RENEWABLES (SOLAR, WIND, HYDRO) SAFE NUCLEAR POWER CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE
THE NEW POTENTIAL OF RENEWABLE ENERGY COST OF SOLAR POWER DOWN BY 100X
FROM MDGS TO SDGs:
END EXTREME POVERTY IN ALL ITS FORMS BY 2030
TRANSITION TO LOW-‐CARBON ECONOMY, SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND SUSTAINABLE CITIES
SOCIALLY INCLUSIVE SOCIETIES: JOBS, GENDER, HUMAN RIGHTS, ACCESS TO PRIMARY HEALTH AND EDUCATION
PUBLIC AND CORPORATE GOOD GOVERNANCE: ACCOUNTABILITY, MONITORING, DEVELOPMENT AID, END TAX HAVENS, POLLUTERS PAY
THE NEW GLOBAL PROBLEM SOLVING:
THE U.N. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS NETWORK (UN SDSN):
TO FOSTER A GLOBAL NETWORK OF PROBLEM SOLVING, EMPOWER UNIVERSITIES, PROMOTE PUBLIC-‐PRIVATE SOLUTION INITIATIVES, AND ENCOURAGE BOLD FIRST MOVERS
The Pluses
Advanced Technologies Informa]on revolu]on Corporate SD Leadership Sustainable Development Goals
The Minuses
Popula]on Pressures Climate Change Land Grabs Lack of Planning Global lawlessness
A Sustainable Planet?