An den Rat für Forschung und Technologieentwicklung

An den Rat für Forschung und Technologieentwicklung

Zentrum für Globalen Wandel und Nachhaltigkeit
An den Rat für Forschung und Technologieentwicklung
Geschäftsstelle
Pestalozzigasse 4/D1
A-1010 Wien
Wien, 2009.06.15
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren!
Mit Freude habe ich die Korrespondenz verfolgt, die sich rund um die von Dr. Lindenthal und mir
verfasste Stellungnahme zur Forschungsstrategie 2020 ergeben hat, lässt sich doch daraus ableiten, dass Sie an den Stellungnahmen inhaltlich interessiert sind. Dafür, dass die zeitliche Koordination unsererseits nicht ganz geklappt hat – wir haben Ihnen unsere Stellungnahme später zugeschickt, als manchen Kollegen oder z.B. dem ORF – möchte ich mich entschuldigen. Wir hatten
die Kollegenschaft möglichst früh motivieren wollen, sich mit der Forschungsstrategie zu befassen, und/oder sich unserer Stellungnahme anzuschließen, und das musste naturgemäß passieren,
bevor wir unsere Stellungnahme abschickten.
Sehr gerne würden wir unsere Überlegungen und unsere tiefe Sorge aber auch direkt mit den Mitgliedern des Rates diskutieren – zumal unsere Intervention nicht von dem Bestreben getrieben ist,
die eigenen Forschungsbereiche „abzusichern“, sondern von Sorge um die künftige globale Entwicklung, natürlich auch die Österreichs.
Ich bin gerade von einer hochkarätig besetzten Tagung in Deutschland zurückgekehrt und komme
mir wie eine Reisende zwischen zwei Welten vor: Die Welt, in der es um Wettbewerb zwischen
den Industrienationen, um technologischen Fortschritt und wirtschaftliche Vorteile geht, und die
auch hinter der Forschungsstrategie 2020 steht, und die Welt, in der es um die Erarbeitung gemeinsamer, globaler Lösungen geht, weil die Herausforderungen, vor denen die Menschheit steht,
so enorm sind, dass sie mit nichts geringerem als einer immensen gemeinsamen weltweiten Anstrengung unter Einbindung von Wissenschaft, Gesellschaft, Wirtschaft und Politik bewältigbar
sind.
Es ist mir bewusst, dass diese Aussage Menschen, die sich nicht mit den globalen Herausforderungen des Klimawandels, der Energie- und der Ressourcenverknappung befasst haben, überzogen erscheinen, und es daher meinem Schreiben an Überzeugungskraft fehlen muss. Gestatten Sie
mir deshalb, einige Zitate sehr glaubwürdiger Quellen anzufügen.
Im Oktober 2007 veröffentlichten 15 Nobellpreisträger das sogenannte Potsdam Memorandum (s.
Anlagen), in dem zu lesen ist: „We are standing at a moment in history when a great transformation is needed to respond to the immense threat to our planet.“ und weiter: „There is overwhelming evidence that we need to tap all sources of ingenuity and cooperation to meet the environment
& development challenges of the 21st century and beyond. This implies, in particular, that the
Peter-Jordanstraße 82, A-1190 Wien, Tel.: +43 1 476 54-5601, Fax: DW 5610, helga.kromp-kolb@boku.ac.at, http://www.wau.boku.ac.at/met.html
scientific community engages in a strategic alliance with the leaders, institutions and movements
representing the worldwide civil society. In turn, governments, industries and private donors
should commit to additional investments in the knowledge enterprise that is searching for sustainable solutions.” Es wird ein “Global Contract between Science and Society” gefordert, der
ein “multi-nationales Innovationsprogramm über die Grundbedürfnisse der Menschen (Energie,
Luft, Wasser, Nahrung, Gesundheit etc.) und eine „globale Initiative zur Förderung der Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaften , -erziehung und -ausbildung“ fordert.
In ihrem heurigen Symposium beschrieben die Nobelpreisträger den notwendigen Beitrag der
Wissenschaft folgendermaßen: "The solutions to the extraordinary environmental, economic and
human crises of this century will not be found in the political arena alone. Stimulated by the manifesto of Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein, the first Pugwash gathering of 1957 united scientists of all political persuasions to discuss the threat posed to civilization by the advent of thermonuclear weapons. Global climate change represents a threat of similar proportions, and should be
addressed in a similar manner. There should be an acceleration and integration of global sustainability studies, to encourage the active involvement of all scientists in these matters, championing the process of robust scientific study. All scientists should be urged to contribute to raising
levels of public knowledge on these threats to civilization and engage in a massive education effort to popularize the principles in this Memorandum."
Das Memorandum schließt mit den Worten: "We know what needs to be done. We cannot wait
until it is too late. We cannot wait until what we value most is lost."
Wir stehen gerne für eine Aussprache oder Diskussion zur Bedeutung und Dringlichkeit der Aufnahme auch dieses Gedankengutes in die Forschungsstrategie zur Verfügung.
Mit besten Grüßen,
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Helga Kromp-Kolb
Peter-Jordanstraße 82, A-1190 Wien, Tel.: +43 1 476 54-5601, Fax: DW 5610, helga.kromp-kolb@boku.ac.at, http://www.wau.boku.ac.at/met.html
The St James’s Palace Memorandum
“Action for a Low Carbon and Equitable Future”
London, UK, 26 – 28 May 2009
The St James’s Palace Memorandum calls for a global deal on climate change that matches the scale and
urgency of the human, ecological and economic crises facing the world today. It urges governments at all
levels, as well as the scientific community, to join with business and civil society to seize hold of this historic
opportunity to transform our carbon-intensive economies into sustainable and equitable systems. We must
recognize the fierce urgency of now.
The Fierce Urgency of Now
Climate risk avoidance, energy security, sustainable land use, population growth and equitable economic development
constitute a key set of interacting challenges for humankind in the 21st century. The evidence is increasingly
compelling for the range and scale of climate impacts that must be avoided, such as droughts, sea level rise and flooding
leading to mass migration and conflict. The robust scientific process, by which this evidence has been gathered, should
be used as a clear mandate to accelerate the actions that need to be taken. Political leaders cannot possibly ask for a
more robust, evidence-based call for action.
In a time of financial and economic crisis, the participants of the St. James’s Palace Symposium emphasise that without
directing current economic recovery resources wisely, and embarking on a path towards a low carbon economy, the
world will have lost the opportunity to meet the global sustainability challenge. Decarbonising our economy offers a
multitude of benefits, from addressing energy security to stimulating unprecedented technological innovation. A zero
carbon economy is an ultimate necessity and must be seriously explored now.
Milestones of the Great Transformation
Building on the Potsdam Memorandum and the recent advances in the scientific understanding of climate change, the
participants of the St James’s Symposium identified as key requirements an effective and just global agreement on
climate change, low-carbon energy infrastructure and tropical forest protection, conservation and restoration.
1) Delivering an effective and just global agreement on climate change
Firm political leadership is now crucial. Leadership is primarily required from developed countries, acknowledging
their historical responsibility as well as their financial and technological capacity. However, all countries will need to
implement low carbon development strategies. In this spirit of trust, every country must act on the firm assumption that
all others will also act.
A long-term commitment under the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is now
urgently required. The global agreement in Copenhagen must include the following elements:
• Acknowledging the compelling evidence of science we should confine the temperature rise to 2 degrees
Celsius to avoid unmanageable climate risks. This can only be achieved with a peak of global emissions of all
greenhouse gases by 2015 and at least a 50% emission reduction by 2050 on a 1990 baseline. This in turn
means that developed countries have to aim for a 25-40% reduction by 2020. A robust measure of assessing
the necessary emission reductions is a total carbon budget, which should be accepted as the base for measuring
the effectiveness of short-term (2020) and long-term (2050) targets;
• The creation of carbon prices adopted across large parts of the global economy combined with measures to
lower the price of low carbon energy, especially in developing countries. Funds raised should be used to
provide the necessary financial support for adaptation;
• The agreement must acknowledge the priority of developing countries to overcome poverty while ensuring
sustainable development.
2) Delivering a low carbon energy infrastructure
Decarbonising our society requires an increase in energy conservation and efficiency, and a revolution in our energy
infrastructure now. The required technological innovations will not be achieved without an unprecedented partnership
between government and business.
Actions in the following areas are needed:
• Clear policy frameworks aimed at fostering innovation and the demonstration, scale up and roll out of low
carbon technologies including globally coordinated investment frameworks, linked to economic recovery, with
the emphasis on ‘green growth’;
• Developed countries should commit to a significant increase in investments for research, development and
deployment;
• Technology sharing and financial support, through mechanisms such as globally supported feed-in-tariffs for
renewable energy, are required to help developing countries leapfrog to a low carbon economy;
• The establishment of “smart grids” – connecting renewable energy sources over large areas and implementing
novel energy storage technologies.
3) Delivering tropical forest protection, conservation and restoration
Tropical forests provide the ecosystem services essential for human well-being and poverty alleviation. In addition
deforestation and forest degradation are substantially contributing to climate change and global biodiversity loss at the
genetic, species and landscape level. Both locally and globally, protecting boreal and tropical forest cover is an essential
tool for mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change. Without a solution to rainforest protection, there is no solution
to tackling climate change.
An emergency package is needed now to provide substantial funding to tropical forest nations to help them halt
deforestation and embark on alternative economic development paths, including:
• Accelerating a long-term UNFCCC agreement on halting deforestation and on forest restoration, including
innovative financing mechanisms from public and private sources;
• Building capacity as well as mechanisms for verification and national governance structures that can support
and reward the maintenance of rainforest regions. Developing countries need to take their own responsibility in
tropical forest protection, conservation and restoration.
The Contribution of Science
The solutions to the extraordinary environmental, economic and human crises of this century will not be found in the
political arena alone. Stimulated by the manifesto of Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein, the first Pugwash gathering
of 1957 united scientists of all political persuasions to discuss the threat posed to civilization by the advent of
thermonuclear weapons. Global climate change represents a threat of similar proportions, and should be addressed in a
similar manner. There should be an acceleration and integration of global sustainability studies, to encourage the active
involvement of all scientists in these matters, championing the process of robust scientific study. All scientists should be
urged to contribute to raising levels of public knowledge on these threats to civilization and engage in a massive
education effort to popularize the principles in this Memorandum.
We know what needs to be done. We cannot wait until it is too late.
We cannot wait until what we value most is lost.
The Nobel Laureate Symposium Series on Global Sustainability
The Nobel Laureate Symposium Series on Global Sustainability was initiated in 2007 at Potsdam and continued by the St James’s Palace Symposium
in spring 2009. This Symposium series unites Nobel Laureates of various disciplines, top-level representatives from politics and NGOs, and renowned
experts on sustainability. In Potsdam, the participants called for a Great Transformation that would bring about the technical, economic, political and
cultural changes required to meet the double challenge of environmental destabilization and persistent underdevelopment.
Potsdam Memorandum
Main Conclusions
from the Symposium
„Global Sustainability: A Nobel Cause“,
Potsdam, Germany, 8-10 Oct 2007
We are standing at a moment in history when a great transformation is needed to respond to the
immense threat to our planet. This transformation must begin immediately and is strongly
supported by all present at the Potsdam Nobel Laureates Symposium.
The Need for a Great Transformation
The world-wide socioeconomic acceleration after World War II has pushed our planet into an
unprecedented situation: humanity is acting now as a quasi-geological force on a planetary scale
that will qualitatively and irreversibly alter the natural Earth System mode of operation ― should
business as usual be pursued.
As outlined by the IPCC, anthropogenic global warming through greenhouse gas emissions is
the foremost of an entire set of emerging development, security and environmental crises which
require an integrated response. Yet climate protection ambitions appear to be on a collision
course with the predominant growth paradigm that disconnects human welfare from the capacity
of the Planet to sustain growth. Humanity is faced with the major challenge of making a drastic
reduction in GHG emissions, which will require shifts in lifestyles in rich countries, while
meeting urgent development and growth needs in the poorer countries, the home of the vast
majority of humanity underlining the right to development. Ensuring that some 9 billion people
can live a decent life requires, above all, access to affordable, sustainable and reliable energy
services, which are currently based almost exclusively on fossil fuel resources and unsustainable
use of traditional fuels. The issue of “carbon justice” and the urgency of the matter at hand
require unprecedented cooperation and rapidity in response.
Is there a “third way” between environmental destabilization and persisting underdevelopment?
Yes, there is, but this way has to bring about, rapidly and ubiquitously, a thorough re-invention
of our industrial metabolism ― the Great Transformation. This is an awesome challenge, yet we
have one comparative advantage over all previous generations: an incredibly advanced system of
knowledge production that can be harnessed, in principle, to co-generate that transformation
together with courageous political leaders, enlightened business executives and civil society at
large.
Crucial Sustainability Challenges & Responses
The whole gathering placed the challenge of climate change and energy security firmly in the
context of sustainable development, supported the rights of developing countries to social and
economic development, and took careful account of interactions between climate policy and
the challenges of development in the short, medium and long-term. In so doing it expressed its
strong support for the Millenium Development Goals and the concepts of broad-based and
multi-dimensional development that they embody.
A range of actions in the areas of climate stabilization, energy security and sustainable
development are considered necessary, in particular, these could include:
1. In order to achieve Climate Stabilization, a post-2012 regime should comprise the
following key elements:
• A global target such as the 2º C-limit relative to pre-industrial levels or the (largely
equivalent) halving of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. A series of
consistent short and medium- term emissions targets are also essential drive investment
and technology and to reduce the need for greater action later.
• Leadership role of industrialized countries both in regards to drastic emissions reductions
and development of low/no-carbon technologies in order to give poor developing
countries room for urgently needed economic growth within the boundaries of a global
carbon contract.
• Carbon justice. Striving for a long-term convergence to equal-per-capita emissions rights
accomplished through a medium-term multi-stage approach accounting for differentiated
national capacities. An important goal would be the reduction of total amount of GHG
emissions which is the product of per capita consumption times population, where both
factors are crucial.
• The generation of a carbon price, for instance, through an international cap-and-trade
system (of systems) based on auctioning permits.
• The establishment of a powerful worldwide process supporting climate-friendly
innovation, international cooperation of R&D institutions, combined with increased
RD&D funding, integrating basic research as well, to facilitate technology transfer and
cooperation.
• Major contributions to a multinational funding system for enhancing adaptive capacities.
• Scaled-up efforts to both reduce emissions from deforestation and accelerate ecologically
appropriate reforestation by creating new incentives for communities and countries to
preserve and increase their forests.
• Ensure reductions of non-GHG gases.
2. Energy demand is projected to grow dramatically. Efficiency and a range of readilyavailable low carbon technologies are key to offset the growth for energy services. In order
to attain Energy Security, consistent with environmental integrity, an international strategy
should have the following foci: S
• Systemic efficiency revolution and productivity increase including fuel switching,
combined heat power and an energy saving lifestyle which is necessary but not sufficient.
•
•
•
•
Portfolio approach consisting of a systematic exploration of the economic and
technological potential of all of the relevant mitigation options.
Design of investment strategies based on the portfolio approach, e.g., intelligent systems,
grid infrastructure, storage technologies, demand-side measures, deployment of
renewables such as solar that has huge potential already now. Upfront investments, in
addition to carbon finance, are needed to support emerging technologies and increase
their market share e.g. feed-in law.
Rapid implementation of demonstration projects for advanced solar energy and carbon
capture and storage to foster ingenuity and drive down costs.
Stabilizing long-term expectations of investors at capital markets and establishing
microcredit institutions in developing countries aimed at financing low-carbon
technologies.
A Global Contract between Science and Society
There is overwhelming evidence that we need to tap all sources of ingenuity and cooperation to
meet the environment & development challenges of the 21st century and beyond. This implies, in
particular, that the scientific community engages in a strategic alliance with the leaders,
institutions and movements representing the worldwide civil society. In turn, governments,
industries and private donors should commit to additional investments in the knowledge
enterprise that is searching for sustainable solutions.
This new contract between science and society would embrace many elements, yet three of them
are critically important.
1.A multi-national innovation program on the basic needs of human beings (energy, air, water,
food, health etc.) that surpasses, in many respects, the national crash programs of the past
(Manhattan, Sputnik, Apollo, Green Revolution etc.).
2. Removal of the persisting cognitive divides and barriers through a global communication
system (ranging from international discourse fora to a truly worldwide web of digital information
flow). Part of this would be the emerging “Global Earth Observation System of Systems
(GEOSS)” that could especially provide early warning about imminent natural or social
sustainability crises.
3. A global initiative on the advancement of sustainability science, education and training. The
best young minds, especially those of women, need to be motivated to engage in interdisciplinary
problem-solving, based on ever enhanced disciplinary excellence. The ambition is to win over
the next generation for laying the cognitive foundations for the well-being of the generations
further down the line.
Participants 2007
[http://www.nobel-cause.de/participants]
Nobel Laureates
Prof. Zhores Alferov (Nobel Prize in Physics 2000), Russian Academy of Sciences &
Foundation Alferov, Russia
Prof. Murray Gell-Mann (Nobel Prize in Physics 1969), Santa Fe Institute
Prof. David Gross (Nobel Prize in Physics 2004), University of California, Santa Barbara
Prof. Theodor Hänsch (Nobel Prize in Physics 2005), Ludwig Maximilians University,
Munich
Prof. Alan Heeger (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2000), University of California, Santa Barbara
Prof. Sir Antony Hewish (Nobel Prize in Physics 1974), University of Cambridge
Prof. Klaus von Klitzing (Nobel Prize in Physics 1985), Max Planck Institute for Solid State
Research, Stuttgart
Prof. Walter Kohn (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1998), University of California, Santa Barbara
Prof. Wangari Muta Maathai (Nobel Prize in Peace 2004), Green Belt Movement
Prof. Rudolph Marcus (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1992), California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena
Prof. Sir James Mirrlees (Nobel Prize in Economics 1996), University of Cambridge and
Chinese University, Hong Kong
Prof. Mario Molina (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995), University of California, San Diego
(revised)
Prof. Carlo Rubbia (Nobel Prize in Physics 1984), CERN, Geneva
Prof. Amartya Sen (Nobel Prize in Economics 1998), Harvard University
Prof. Sir John Sulston (Nobel Prize in Physiology/ Medicine 2002), Wellcome Trust Sanger
Institute, Cambridge
Confirmed Contributors
(Status: October 2, 2007)
Dr. Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor
Matthias Platzeck, Minister President of Brandenburg
Sigmar Gabriel, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear
Safety
Dr. Annette Schavan, Federal Minister for Education and Research
Prof. Johanna Wanka, Minister for Science, Research and Culture of the State of
Brandenburg
Prof. Frieder Meyer-Krahmer, State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Prof. Markus Antonietti, Director, Max Planck Institute for Colloid and Boundary Layer
Research, Potsdam
Prof. Carlo Carraro, Chairman, Department of Economics, University “Ca’ Foscari” of
Venice
Dr. Peter Frey, editor in chief, Berlin studios of ZDF German television
Prof. Mohamed Hassan, President, African Academy of Sciences and Executive Director,
Academy of Sciences for the Developing World/ TWAS, Trieste
Barbara Hendricks, opera singer, Honorary Ambassador For Life for the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees, Founder of the Barbara Hendricks Foundation for Peace
and Reconciliation
Prof. Sir Brian Hoskins, Former Head of the Meteorological Department, University of
Reading
Prof. Daniel Kammen, Director, Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL),
University of California, Berkeley
Prof. Paul Klemperer, Edgeworth Professor of Economics, Oxford University
Jim Leape, Director General, World Wide Fund for Nature, Gland
Prof. Diana Liverman, Director of Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute
Prof. Joachim Luther, Former Director of Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems
(ISE), Advisor to the German Government on research and innovation
Ian McEwan, English novelist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Fellow of the
Royal Society of Arts, and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Prof. Volker ter Meulen, Professor Emeritus, Institute for Virology and Immunology,
University Würzburg; President of the German Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina,
Halle/Saale
Prof. Jürgen Mlynek, President, German Helmholtz Association, Berlin
Prof. Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Professor of Energy Economics at Vienna University of
Technology
Dr. Sunita Narain, Director, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi
Prof. Michael Oppenheimer, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International
Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School and the Department of Geosciences at Princeton
University
Prof. Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change); Director General, TERI, New Delhi
Prof. Kirit Parikh, Member, Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi;
Professor Emeritus and Founding Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research
(IGIDR), Mumbai
Prof. George Poste, Director, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University
Ambassador William C. Ramsay, Deputy Executive Director, International Energy Agency,
Paris
Prof. Johan Rockström, Director, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)
Dr. Karsten Sach, Director, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and
Nuclear Safety, Berlin
Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP);
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Nairobi
Prof. Matthias Steinmetz, Director, Astrophysical Institute Potsdam (AIP)
Prof. Sir Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Professor and Director, India Observatory and Asia
Research Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science
Prof. Klaus Töpfer, Former Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), Nairobi
Prof. Robert Watson, Chief Scientist and Director for Sustainable Development at the World
Bank
Prof. Carl Christian von Weizsäcker, Director emeritus of the Institute of Energy
Economics at the University of Cologne; Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective
Goods, Bonn
Prof. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, Dean, Bren School of Environmental Science and
Management, University of California, Santa Barbara
Prof. Geoffrey West, President, Santa Fe Institute
Anders Wijkman, Member of the European Parliament; Member of the Royal Swedish
Academy of Science
Convenor
Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
(PIK); Chief Climate Advisor to the German Government