SustainabiliTank: Vienna October 25, 2012 – IIASA at 40 and the “Worlds Within Reach” – Conference Day 2; Public Lecture 1 of an Austrian Academy of Science and IIASA cooperation marked the clear demise of the Kyoto Protocol and suggestions for systems of “clubs” to be put in its place.

Vienna October 25, 2012 – IIASA at 40 and the “Worlds Within Reach” – Conference Day 2; Public Lecture 1 of an Austrian Academy of Science and IIASA cooperation marked the clear demise of the Kyoto Protocol and suggestions for systems of “clubs” to be put in its place.

Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 25th, 2012
by Pincas Jawetz (PJ@SustainabiliTank.com)

Based on reporting from Vienna by Irith Jawetz, I will attempt a first, and very sketchy, review of what was a very rich day at the Hofburg Conference, followed by a get together and evening presentations at the Academy of Science.

The day started under the baton of Professor Pavel Kabat, Director/CEO of IIASA who in his opening remarks said that one can watch the presentations on Livestream and Youtube and introduced Jill Jaeger, an Independent Scholar and former Deputy Director of IIASA who summarized Day 1.

She said there was a range of challenges facing the world such as Climate Change, water supply, food security and many more. We live in an era of traumatic changes and a change system is hard to manage, There are many system failures / economic, social, ecological and many changes need to be made in regards to problems brought upon by pollution and congestion. Change is needed. Cooperation between science centers and cooperation with Governance is needed as well as education, especially in the field of science. We have to engage people in those transformations, and there is also a need to bring citizens from all over the world together.

We have to change from thinking local to thinking global. No goal will be achieved in isolation. The global challenge for the 21 Centuty will be to connect science and policy. There needs to be a cooperation and trust between science and policy makers.

As for education, we need to breach the gap between knowledge and action. We need to adapt systems which will provide incentives to scientists and listen to what they have to say.

—

Session 5 - Eliminating the Unacceptable Social Ills of the 21st Century – Poverty and Equity – was the first new session of the day. The moderator was a member of the British House of Lords and a former Head of the Royal Society

Shonalali Pachauri from IIASA spoke on the Deprivation and Inequalities in multiple dimensions.

Joanne Linnerooth Bayer continued on the same subject but spoke of Poverty and Disaster Risk Management.

Disaster burden is greater in Developing countries, Climate Change will continue and the poor will suffer the most.

What is needed is large benefits for risk reduction in developing countries.
Most International assistance is given after disasters and sometimes even this aid comes too late.

What should be done is switching priorities from post disaster to pre disaster insurance…
Farmers who deal with flood and drought will be better served with pre disaster aid than post disaster.

Lidia Britto. Director, Division of Science Policy and Sustainable Development UNESCO spoke of Science and Technology for Poverty Eradication.

She said that quality science education is essential, collaboration with everyone is important,
We must reach to everyone in every region and get their input, good technology, good scientific governance, and basically take action.

Ogulade R. Davidson, Proessor at the University of Sierra Leone said that his country is suffering from poverty, has no reliable source of supply of energy and is a poverty trap. People have no cash to purchase energy thus there is low production – It is a vicious circle. The country needs financial intermediation, a reduction in transportation costs, subsidies, grants, creation of guarantees and the introduction of an investment scheme. The country needs after-skills schools, technology selection, contractors, operation & mantenance, construction and installation.

Martin Perry, Visiting Professor. Grantham Institute and Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College spoke of Climate Change: The challenge for Adaptation,
and said we need transformation. Poor people suffer and will suffer the most from Climate Change. In order to reduce poverty increasing equity is essential.
He said: We would always like to know more, but we know enough to act now.

Youba Sokona, Former coordinator of African Climate Policy Center (ACPC) was last to speak and also spoke about poverty as a top priority.

—–

From Session 6 New Concepts in Science Supporting Development most impressive was the presentation of Soogil Young, Chairman, Presidential Committee on Green Growth, Republic of South Korea.

He said that Korea declared and defined Green Growth and has an agenda for Green Growth.
They address Climate Chage by replacing entire energy with renewables.
Since 2008 green industries have emerged and South Korea pushed the Climate Change into the agenda for the G20 meeting in Seoul in 2010.
South Korea contributed to the Rio + 20 outcome, and it launches green technology .

Diane Liverman, University of Arizona, connected climate change to migration.
Climate Change’s impact on crops’ yield may force increased emigration of Mexicans to the United States in the next 70 years.

—–

Session 7 was all technical with lots of charts.

The last two sessions were about the role of System Analysis in Supporting Global Transformations and the role IIASA plays in this field.
For 40 years IIASA has spearheaded the development of innovative approaches that are geared to meet the challenge..

——

——-

After the last panel the meeting moved to the Austrian Academy of Sciences. First there was a cocktail reception, where the participants could finally meet in a relaxed atmosphere and exchange views. It was a social hour.

Since no liquor was served during the Conference at the Hofburg, not even at Lunch, people enjoyed a glass of champagne, a glass of red or white wine, or a glass of beer.

Then we moved to the Festsaal of the Academy, which is a beautiful big room with a glorious painting on the ceiling.

Dr. Helmut Denk, President of the Academy greeted everyone and noted the close cooperation between IIASA and the Academy. Both the Academy and IIASA have similar goals, to spread scientific innovation, scientific research. global research in the fields of energy, climate change. water, aging, etc.

There is a good partnership between the Academy and IIASA.

Then came the presentations:

Professor William Nordhaus, Professor of Economics, Yale University, USA: “Maastricht and Kyoto: A Tale of Two Treaties”
Professor Carlo Rubbia, Nobel Prize, Physics, and Scientific Director, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies e.V., Potsdam, Germany: “Can we maintain sustainability for the future of humankind?”

Obviously – these two presentations turned into the highlights of the day.

Prof. Nordhaus in his conclusion said, that “clubs” will do better then treaties – so he is basically in favor of the “clubs.”

Clubs are formed by a well defined number of participants who are well organized. The Kyoto Protocol is, in his opinion, a failed club, a very badly designed club, no one wants to join, everybody wants to leave. We need a Climate Club to which countries want to belong.

How does it work? You link participants with International trade. Countries who do not join would be subject to sanctions.”

As for Prof. Rubbia, I understand from the report that he used a lot of data – so I will wait rather until I will get the actual presentation to decide if he indeed allows for a future to humankind – this is obviously dependent on if we manage to maintain Sustainability. At present it seems that he presented the evidence we are looking for to strengthen the opinion created at RIO 2012 that it is the Sustainability bridge to future generations, rather then the Sustainable Development idea, that has the potential to allow the continuation of life on earth. Plain development leads us in no time to the requirement of settling an additional planet – and as this is not feasible, so is our future dim.

—————-

Tomorrow there is Day 3 – the last day – of the conference and it will happen in Laxenburg in the buildings of the Palace that are occupied by IIASA.

THE FULL PROGRAM OF DAY 2 FOLLOWS:
DAY TWO, 25 OCTOBER 2012 – HOFBURG
25 OCTOBER 2012
7:45-8:45	Registration (Josefsplatz)
9:00-9:30	Summary of Day One Moderator: Pavel Kabat, Director/CEO, IIASA Presentation: Jill Jäger, Independent Scholar and Former Deputy Director, IIASA
9:30-10:45	Session 5: Eliminating the Unacceptable Social Ills of the 21st Century—Poverty and Equity Deep inequalities exist in different societies, for example, food poverty, inequality in health and education access, energy poverty, and the additional, often unexpected threats that are borne by those in society most vulnerable to disease and natural disasters. This panel will challenge current thinking on what defines poverty and equity, what opportunities genuinely exist for alleviating poverty and, drawing on the tools of systems analysis, what new, visionary ideas can be offered to regional, national and international bodies to help avert further poverty and build resilience in the communities that are most at risk. Moderator: Martin Rees of Ludlow, Member, UK’s House of Lords and the UK’s Astronomer Royal, and Former President of the Royal Society Framing Presentation: Shonali Pachauri, Senior Research Scholar, Energy (ENE) Program, IIASA Deprivations and Inequalities in Multiple Dimensions: Electricity Access for Improving Human Well-being Joanne Linnerooth-Bayer, Leader, Risk, Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) Program, IIASA Deprivations and Inequalities in Multiple Dimensions: Poverty and Disaster Risk Management Panel Presentations: Lidia Brito, Director, Division of Science Policy and Sustainable Development, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Science and Technology for Poverty Eradication Ogunlade Davidson, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Sierra Leone; Former Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Sierra Leone; and and IIASA Scientific Advisory Committee Member Reducing Energy Poverty Through Increased Energy Access Martin Parry, Visiting Professor, Grantham Institute and Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College Climate Change: The Challenge for Adaptation Youba Sokona, Former Coordinator, African Climate Policy Center (ACPC), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and Co-Chair, Working Group III, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) The Impacts of Climate Change on Africa’s Effort to Pull its Population Out of Poverty Rapporteur: Anne Goujon, Research Scholar, World Population (POP) Program, IIASA
10:45-11:15	Coffee Break
11:15-12:45	Session 6: New Concepts in Science Supporting Development Rapid economic growth in many regions makes it imperative to rethink conventional concepts of development. Strategies of “grow now, clean up later” are clearly unfeasible, as evidenced by the overutilization and degradation of essential ecosystem services (such as the regulation of the global carbon cycle, provision of freshwater, or maintenance of biodiversity). Following on from the “sustainable development” paradigm of the 1990s, “green growth” which respects planetary boundaries, has now been embraced as the next opportunity for achieving environmentally sound development. However, progress toward the desired goals is yet to be realized. The green growth paradigm requires a change in the way we think about global, national and personal development: development that must now be based on the concept of a fully integrated, holistic approach. Moderator: Johan Rockström, Professor, Water Systems and Global Sustainability; Director, Stockholm Resilience Centre and Stockholm University Framing Presentation: Michael Obersteiner, Leader, Ecosystems Services And Management (ESM) Program, IIASA From Noble Global Goals to Confused Local Strategies: Solutions to a Wicked Development Problem Narasimha Rao, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Energy (ENE) Program, IIASA Sustainable Development Pathways: Foundations and Frontiers Panel Presentations: Dirk Messner, Director, German Development Institute (DIE) Social Contract for Sustainability Soogil Young, Chairman, Presidential Committee on Green Growth, Republic of Korea Korea’s Green Growth Strategy as an Approach to Green Transformation William Colglazier, Science and Technology Adviser to the US Secretary of State Science, Development, and Innovative Societies Diana Liverman, Co-director, Institute of the Environment at The University of Arizona and a Regents Professor, School of Geography and Development Social Science Approaches to Evaluating Sustainable Development Rapporteur: Florian Kraxner, Deputy Leader, Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program, IIASA
12:45-14:00	Lunch and Poster session (Breakout Activities: Posters, research tools, publications, and much more will be on display throughout the conference)
ALTERNATIVE WORLDS—NEW CONCEPTS AND NEW UNDERSTANDING This session will focus on new and innovative insights into the concepts and mechanisms that define and often constrain our actions. For this purpose it is necessary to reflect on, and possibly re-define, ultimate goals like development, equity and well-being. The session will explore the alternative, more sustainable, and more just worlds that could emerge from transformational change across various levels. It reflects on the discussions from Rio+20 and will identify essential challenges for future policy-making.
14:00-15:15	Session 7: Addressing the Challenges Concurrently—Science and Technology for Sustainable Development Systems analysis provides a lens through which the many interlinked drivers and potential consequences of social, economic, environmental and political change can be identified, and actions or policies formulated, to avert or moderate some of their unacceptable or unwanted impacts. This requires in-depth understanding and analyses of interactions, both within and between the research areas presented in the previous three sessions. Moreover, the spatial and temporal dynamics of each challenge need to be considered so that synergies and unintended consequences can be anticipated and interventions optimized. Moderator: Detlof von Winterfeldt, Former IIASA Director and Professor, University of Southern California and Centennial Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science Framing Presentation: William C. Clark, Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy and Human Development, Harvard University Sustainability Science: Its Origins, Evolution and Challenges David McCollum, Research Scholar, Energy (ENE) Program, IIASA Toward an Integrated Approach to Energy Sustainability Panel Presentations: Ralph L. Keeney, Professor of Decision Sciences, Duke University Risks, Multiple Objectives, and Policy Analysis Andrew Johnson, Group Executive, Environment, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and IIASA Council Member Decision Support in Natural Resource Management Karl Sigmund, Senior Research Scholar, Evolution and Ecology (EEP) Program, IIASA and Professor, University of Vienna Emergence of the Social Contract Rapporteur: Stefan Hochrainer-Stigler, Research Scholar, Risk Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) Program, IIASA
15:15-15:45	Coffee Break
15:45-16:45	The Role of Systems Analysis in Supporting Global Transformations Overview lecture and panel Understanding and managing the complex systems that underlie consequential changes around the globe requires a plurality of tools. For 40 years, IIASA has spearheaded the development of innovative approaches that, together, are geared to meet this challenge. The resultant portfolio combines depth with breadth: novel methods of analysis and newly available datasets enable unprecedented insights into interactions and dependences, while integrative assessments and the study of complementary models help discern grand lines of development and reveal unexpected opportunities and risks. Moderator: Pavel Kabat, Director/CEO, IIASA Speakers and Panelists: Simon Levin, Professor, Princeton University and Former Chair, IIASA Council Arkady Kryazhimskiy, Leader, Advanced Systems Analysis (ASA) Program, IIASA Ulf Dieckmann, Leader, Evolution and Ecology (EEP) Program, IIASA Buzz Holling, Former IIASA Director and Emeritus Eminent Scholar and Professor in Ecological Sciences, University of Florida Janusz Kindler, Professor, Warsaw University of Technology Rapporteur: Daniela Weber, Research Assistant, World Population (POP) Program, IIASA
16:45-17:45	Session 8: Worlds within Reach – The Way Forward An interactive session to discuss what “future worlds” are possible, and what obstacles must be overcome to make these worlds a reality. Moderator: Guy Brasseur, Director, Climate Service Center, Germany Panel Presentations: Pavel Kabat, Director/CEO, IIASA Systems Science for Policy Support Steven Wilson, Executive Director, International Council for Science (ICSU) Future Earth Frances Seymour, Adviser, Packard Foundation and Former Director General, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Forest Resources and Sustainability Peter Lemke, Professor, Alfred Wegener Institute and Chair, IIASA Council IIASA’s Role in Meeting Global Challenges Rapporteur: Chris Heyes, Senior Research Scholar, Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) Program, IIASA
18:00	Adjourn
	Followed at the Festsaal of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 1010 Vienna, Dr. Ignaz-Seipel-Platz 2 by the: IIASA/OeAW Public Lecture Series, Lecture 1 The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Austrian Academy of Sciences have recently established a joint public lecture series on scientific topics of mutual interest, aimed at a broad academic audience, decision makers and the public. The First Event in the Series follows tonight. The program of the evening will be as follows: 18:30-19:30 Cocktail Reception 19:30-20:30 Welcome by Professor Helmut Denk, President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and Professor Pavel Kabat, Director/CEO of IIASA Professor William Nordhaus, Professor of Economics, Yale University, USA: “Maastricht and Kyoto: A Tale of Two Treaties” Professor Carlo Rubbia, Nobel Prize, Physics, and Scientific Director, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies e.V., Potsdam, Germany: “Can we maintain sustainability for the future of humankind?” Closing by Professor Pavel Kabat The Public Letures will take place at Festsaal of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 1010 Vienna, Dr. Ignaz-Seipel-Platz 2. View the map