Category Archives: Speeches

Speech at dinner with Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon

At the end of January I had the honour of being invited by the United Nations Association of Germany to give a short speech at a dinner with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon in Berlin. more…

Circular Economy, Cascade Use and Efficiency as Pillars of a Factor Five World

Here are the slides of my talk on “Circular Economy, Cascade Use and Efficiency as Pillars of a Factor Five World“ at the LCM 2011 – Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Management, on August 28–31 at the dahlem cube in Berlin. more…

The Ecological Mindset, Current and Future

Dinner Speech — Bren School Corporate Partners Summit — May 11, 2006 Tomorrow, we shall discuss the science, management and economics of catastrophes. After Katrina, this is one of the hot debates in this country and the world. I seem to observe some kind of a new mindset setting in and do hope that the Bren […] more…

Resource Productivity — Good for China, Good for the World

This title contrasts with the preoccupation with labour productivity during the last 200 years of technological progress. Labour productivity has been the melody of the first Industrial Revolution. It increased twentyfold or more during those 200 years. This has been the basis of prosperity and it is the main theme of China’s stunning economic progress. more…

Technology for Sustainable Development — Decisive for Future Markets

We live in a finite world. Ultimately, there is no way around production and consumption patterns that are sustainable. Ultimately, customers, engineers, managers and politicians will show a strict priority for the respect of nature and the environment. more…

A New Sense of Direction is Needed

I shall briefly offer some unconventional views on Japan and then move on to discuss the megatrend of globalisation which I see as the main reason for the massive neglect of the environment. I shall conclude with an attempt at establishing a new sense of direction for technology, civilisation and investments. more…

International Meeting on Environmental Fiscal Reform

Speech by Ernst von Weizsäcker, M. P., Athens, 9 November 2002 Let me at the outset distinguish two different tasks of environmental policy. One is pollution control which is predominantly a local and a national activity. The first twenty years of environmental policy in advanced industrial countries were almost exclusively devoted to pollution control and […] more…

Making Prices Work for the Environment

Let me at the outset distinguish two different tasks of environmental policy. One is pollution control which is predominantly a local and a national activity. The other task of environmental policy relates to global and long-term challenges such as climate change, biodiversity losses and unsustainable lifestyles. Prices can work for the environment in both arenas.  more…

Globalisation: Speech at the Koenigswinter Conference in Oxford, UK

Over 200 years ago, when Adam Smith set about forming his moral ideas of the free market, he made it clear that the wealth of nations requires a strong state, not a weak one! At least three conditions need to be granted by the state: External peace, a reliable legal frame, and a healthy infrastructure that benefits all competitors but would not be paid for by any individual actor. more…