Category Archives: Climate

Dialogue with Vandana Shiva at the Pioneers of Change Summit

On 16 March, I had a one-hour dialogue with Prof. Vandana Shiva from India – organised by Dr. Alfred Strigl (Vienna) and Alexandra Wandel (Director of the World Future Council). The conversation took place at the 7th Pioneers of Change Online Summit, and was themed “Future Visions & System Change – WHERE TO?”. A recording […] more…

The ProfsCast – Lectures For Future Edition

Joe Fensterle, Professor at the HSRW in Kleve, talks to Prof. Dr. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker about climate change and sustainability, the Wuppertal Institute, science communication, tradable CO2 budgets, and how important initiatives like FridaysForFuture are. 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…

Are We Any Closer to Saving the Planet Than Ten Years Ago?

The answer to this question should be yes and no. Yes, we are closer than ten years ago. During all of he 1990s, an irritatingly optimistic mindset was dominating the world. The very expression of ‘saving the planet’ would not have been politically correct in these days, because it sounds ‘pessimistic’. more…

Redirecting Technological Progress: Contribution to Bolsa Amazônia

The global environment is endangered. We are losing some fifty plant and animal species every day. The global climate is beginning to become hotter. Unpredictable changes may hit countries both in the temperate and tropical zones. Theoretically even the sea water table is unstable. 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…

The Decarbonization Challenge — U.S. and European Perspectives

This piece was written by a European and an American both deeply engaged in efforts to moderate global warming. We give a perspective on the present situation regarding climate change in Europe; a parallel perspective on the situation in the U.S.; and then close with a series of recommendations and policy opportunities. more…