Blog archive

Climate Christmas Week 52 (25th December 2007)

On Sunday the bookmakers were offering odds of 9/1 for a white Christmas in London. To win would require official observation of one flake of snow during the 24hrs of 25th December. The Bookmakers know what they are doing of course. They have access to expert meteorologists who are now very good at forecasting the weather out to five days. They can be confident that they will not have to pay out.

Climate predictions are different to short-term weather forecasts, and hugely more complex. Our scientists are building computer models that include all the known variables of atmospheric dynamics as well the ocean currents. This is not just the surface flows but three-dimensional currents as water flows under the deep ocean and rises again in other places. Not only are the models getting more complex, but the computer power to process them is also increasing as we put the world’s largest supercomputers onto the task. Whether the scientists can accurately predict the affects that we are having we will find out over the decades ahead.

I will be curious to know, in my old age, what the final climate bill will be for the lifestyle we live today. However, I would rather that we were not running the experiment. We have but one Earth. To be driving it towards possible destruction is not sensible. If we trash our home, we cannot move next door or down the street. We, or our descendants, will have to live in the mess we create. I do not like the look of the wrapping of the present we will hand to our grandchildren 50 years from now.

Here in Finland, there is always a white Christmas. There was an exception back in 1972 when the grass still showed green on Christmas day. Back then at least the temperatures were below freezing; this year it is a balmy +6 degrees Centigrade. Perhaps 2007 is just another exceptional year, an aberration after which we will return to cold winters. But 2006 was also a short warm winter here in Helsinki metropolitan area, with just 5 weeks of skiing.

The changing climate is a worry. But far more worrying is our reaction to it. For example, we allow taxes on aviation fuel to remain low despite the vast increase in emissions accompanying the rapid growth in air transportation. There are British families who fly across from the UK to Lapland for day trips, in the lead up to Christmas, to see Father Christmas. Such activity hastens the day when there will be no snow in Lapland in December. At least this year there is thin layer of snow (much less than usual). Further south, we have to make the snow to build ski tracks, using snow cannons. These use energy, which here in Finland may come from renewable sources, but it is sucking out energy from our total energy budget that still includes a lot of fossil fuel. If we do not change our ways soon, and we want to continue to have white Christmases in the future, we will need snow cannons on every street corner!

Energy-intensive mitigation measures to counter the effects of climate change is the start of a dangerous cycle of self-destruction. Ski resorts in the Alps will have to spend increasing sums on snow production (using energy) to stay in business whilst the glaciers continue their retreat.

We must stop tinkering with our life-support systems and get on with adopting sustainable policies and behaviours. The climate is changing, and will continue to change from all the prior emissions. We should not be adding more emissions, to exasperate the problem, in a fruitless attempt to deal with the immediate symptoms.

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The Downside of the Bali Deal Week 51 (18th December 2007)

After some late night sessions and EU and US brinkmanship a deal was agreed at Bali. We now have a roadmap for negotiations towards a successor treaty to Kyoto. It took five years to negotiate Kyoto, and even then, the US failed to ratify it. This roadmap is for agreement within two years. Some commentators view this as impossibly ambitious. Within the narrow confines of what our current leaders believe is necessary and possible, this may be so. From the perspective of planet Earth and the future for world civilization, the Bali deal does not offer much hope.

The headlines that there has been a deal in Bali will allow those with only a passing interest (most of humanity) to file climate change away in the pending tray. We have the roadmap, and by use of it, we can claim that the problem of climate change will be solved. Our leaders are now free to move onto what they see as more pressing issues such as how to continue growing the economy and securing access to supplies of yet more oil and gas.

We could regard Bali in the light of ‘anything is better than nothing’. This would be wrong. The impression that we are at last doing something is what comes across the world’s TV screens. In fact we are doing nothing substantive. Agreement in Bali can be used as a smokescreen for further inaction.

The world needs real action and leaders who can initiate it. Despite the very best intentions of the officials concerned, our global institutions cannot solve the problems that the world faces. We need to find another way to a future that does not rely on burning fossil fuels. We should look to the Scandinavian countries, particularly Sweden, for signs of real progress. The UK, too, is talking about massive change, although translating the rhetoric into action will not be easy.

During the negotiations over the roadmap, the EU and the US were at loggerheads over the issue of explicit targets. The EU threatened to boycott next year’s US meeting on Climate Change if there were no explicit targets but finally backed down in the face of US intransigence. Many people in the world (and the US) find it hard to understand why President Bush is playing such a prominent wrecking role in attempts to find a solution. We will have to wait another year, until there is a new US president, before we find out if the US is willing to take a more positive position.

Whilst the world waits, the need for a shift to a society that respects the health of the planet is becoming ever more urgent. It is possible, feasible and desirable. There are also enormous opportunities for business in delivering the future we need. But until the attitude of society changes, and our political leaders react to that change, business will be held back from driving through the necessary changes. The downside of the Bali deal is that it provides an excuse for society to put off real change for a few years longer.

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City Skiing - Week 50 (11th December 2007)

Negotiations over a successor treaty to Kyoto have passed the half-way point. This was marked on Saturday by demonstrations in many cities across the globe. The aim was to show popular support for action and to give the delegates added impetus in their work.

Here in Helsinki, protesters gathered in Senate Square before ‘skiing’ to Lasipalatsi. At this time of year Finland has always been in the grip of winter snow.

This year, in southern Finland, the early snow has melted and it is raining, not snowing. People cannot remember when there has been such mild weather so close to Christmas.

Saturday’s ‘skiers’ wore their skis to walk along the rain-soaked pavements of Helsinki. Their skis looked like older models so their owners may not object to the damage they will have caused. However if the delegates in Bali don’t succeed then Finns in the south of the country will have no use for skis in the decades ahead. This may not matter much.

A Finnish friend of mine has switched to distance running instead of skiing in preparation for the future. Other peoples and countries will have far more serious adaptation challenges to overcome.

© Peter McManners 2007

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Breathing Life into the Kyoto Protocol - Week 49 (3rd December 2007)

Listening to this morning’s radio news, I heard a report that Australia’s new Prime Minister had chosen as his first action in office to sign the instrument of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. It only requires the next US president, following the elections in November 2008, to do the same to breathe new life into the treaty.

The action by Kevin Rudd is a clear statement of intent and signals a sea change in world opinion. He has acted before his government officials have had any opportunity to dissuade him. He made it clear in his election campaign that he intended to sign the treaty, and Australians have voted him into office. The UN procedures now require that there is a 90-day period before Australia becomes a full member of the Kyoto Protocol.

This is good news for Australia, and for the world. However it is not a cause for celebration, yet. The Kyoto Protocol will achieve very little. The targets it contains are not sufficiently ambitious; there are no binding penalties; and two of the world’s fastest growing sources of emissions, China and India, are not included.

As the world leaders gather in Bali today to discuss a roadmap for the successor treaty to Kyoto, there will now be another world leader calling for increasing the pace of change. But do our leaders fully understand the urgency to act and the huge breadth of change that will be required right across society? I hope that they do. This could be the start of a process to negotiate a new treaty with real teeth: tough targets and effective compliance measures.

© Peter McManners 2007

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Water, Charity, Spin and Deceit - Week 48 (27th November 2007)

Living in the current unsustainable world there are numerous examples of ridiculous activities. But there are also welcome signs that there is a willingness to change. It is unfortunate that there are some companies seeking to perpetuate unsustainable practices by giving them a green makeover and exploiting our growing desire to see improvements.

I flew back from Britain last week on a low-cost airline. Such a journey illustrates many of the worst aspects of the modern world, including of course flying at a price far too low in comparison with its environmental impact. At least the airline refrained from making any claim to being environmentally friendly. On this journey the issue that caught my attention was the bottle of water I bought at the airport.

Bottled water consumes huge amounts of energy, making the bottles, transporting them (across Europe or even across the world) and then disposing of the empty bottle. The main customers are in the affluent countries with clean public water supplies. This is an absurd situation and ripe corrective action through regulations or taxes.

Security regulations prevented me from carrying my own water bottle, which I could have filled from the tap at home. There was also no easy way to find free drinking water from a tap once through security. I can see the commercial sense in ensuring that there is a captive market so that all passengers have to buy bottled water. The battle is then, which brand will sell.

My attention was drawn to one brand that claimed that all profits would go to support the provision of clean water in Africa. If I am forced to buy bottled water I should be glad that the profits are going to a good cause. However this is giving the bottled water a green image that is not deserved. Using charitable donations to spin a better image for a brand whilst the product is so unsound is to my mind a deceit.

I bought a bottle and wondered how much of my pound would end up helping in Africa. I suspect very little. I would rather hope that there would be a tap of clean drinking water just after airport security to fill the trusted old drinking bottle that I have had for many years.

© Peter McManners 2007

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Organic Moose Meat Week 46 (13th November 2007)

Moose are an integral part of the Finnish countryside. Enough forest and natural habitat remains to support them. They roam around without restriction and generally do not cause a problem. However the Moose Hunting started here on the last Saturday of September and carries on until 15th December.

Moose are shy creatures that try to keep out of Man’s way. Not surprising when the hunters are out looking for them! Moose tend to move around at night and crossing roads is a hazard they face. Moose are also a hazard for the motorist with a number of people killed each year after crashing their cars into one. If you do get up close to a moose you get to see how huge they are. I would not like to crash into one.

Finland therefore has high moose fences along many stretches of forest road and underpasses designed for them to use to cross. It might be cheaper to simply eradicate the moose; but I am glad that this is not the approach adopted.

The annual moose hunt is controlled by licences for a set number of animals to be killed. The quota is set to keep the population within a sustainable limit. Landowners generally support the hunt and get a share of the meat of any moose killed on their land. The meat is also healthy and delicious. I suppose it would count as organic.

This is an example of how we should share our world with nature: humankind and nature working together. We may not all choose hunting as our sport, or want to eat moose meat; but managing nature in a sustainable way should be an integral aspect of our lives.

Meanwhile the moose out there have another month to survive if they want to be around for the spring rutting!

© Peter McManners 2007

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The World Through a different Lens - Week 44 (30th October 2007)

Over the last three years, living in Finland, I have developed an alternative view of the future. I have considered the whole complex mesh of modern society and, within my own mind, redesigned it. I now look at the world through a different lens. In observing the real world in which we live I can overlay an image of how it could be.

The last ten days has been a hectic series of back-to-back commitments (hence no blog entry last week). I have had numerous occasions to compare reality with my image of a better world. As I travelled to London, I observed the whole urban infrastructure of a great city running on old 20th century technology. I am impatient for the changes we must make so that our cities are fit for the 21st century.

My reason for being in London was to present my paper: Cities for People: Removing Cars from Urban Life. The conference I was attending at The London School of Economics (LSE) was on the future for urban living focussed primarily on developing nations. I received a polite response from my audience. A representative from the World Bank whispered to me quietly saying, “You are very brave”. If there had been time, I would like to have discussed further what he really meant.

When I use my lens to look at the developed world I see a vision of the car demoted from master to servant. When I look at the underdeveloped world I also see communities without cars. The advice I offer to the developed world is being listened to and I am slowly winning converts. My advice to the underdeveloped world is far harder for them to accept. Until we in the developed world start to make the sweeping changes required, I will seem like a hypocrite.

I hope that the developing world will realise that the model of car-centric urban design is obsolescent. They have the chance to bounce past our mistakes to build their cities around people not cars. But there is little reason for them to believe my words when the western cities they admire are dominated by a show of wealth epitomised by the car.

© Peter McManners 2007

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Climate Wars Week 42 (16th October 2007)

The speculation over who would be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize had included former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. He has been pursuing the quiet, impartial and robust diplomacy for which Finland has become renowned. He played a large part in bringing peace to Indonesia and is trying now to resolve a peaceful future for Kosovo.

It was not to be. The Nobel Peace Prize this year went to the scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore. Together this group has been instrumental in making the world realise that Climate Change matters. The scientists have gathered the proof that Climate Change is happening and that human activity is the most likely cause.

Al Gore has been telling the world that we must do something about it. And the world has listened. With good reason, climate change will lead to war if we cannot deal with it. The war in Dharfur is one example, but there will be others as people fight for survival as coastal regions are submerged and once fertile land reverts to desert. Al Gore and the scientists are an odd choice for the Nobel Peace Prize; but they have done an excellent job of raising the profile of climate change. This is stage one, we now need action.

On the same day that I heard about the Nobel Peace Prize, I also listened to another disconnected piece of news coming over a US radio station that broadcasts here in Finland at certain times of day. This was bemoaning the length of time that Americans waste commuting to work. According to this news piece, each American spends on average of 9 full days a year behind the wheel of their car simply travelling to work.

This clearly is a waste of time; but what struck me was the deduction that was being made. The newsreader explained that the problem was that the highway building programme had failed to keep pace with the speed of the expansion of urban sprawl. The implication was more roads with greater capacity. This would be one way to reduce commuting times. But, had no one in America paused to think a little deeper about a reaction to Al Gore’s call for action?

Will it be possible to persuade Americans that urban sprawl itself might be the problem? Commuting times can be reduced by building and living in more compact communities – communities in which we reclaim the space currently dedicated to cars. This is one way to make real progress towards reducing our negative affect on the Earth’s climate.

© Peter McManners 2007

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Car-Free Cities – The Reality Week 41 (9^th October 2007)

I have now finished and submitted my paper titled: ‘Cities for People: Removing Cars from Urban Life’. I will be presenting it at a conference in London in two week’s time.

Having put to one side my treatise that argues we must drive the car out of urban life, I have some time to reflect. I remember an incident from earlier in my career that illustrates the barriers we must overcome.

At the time, I was running an IT procurement project. The initial contract was relatively small, about £500k. But this was first stage of a much bigger project.

One company interested in bidding was a small start-up company. I agreed to meet the MD and he arrived for our meeting by bicycle. He explained that it was just as quick through the traffic as driving. The building security people gave me a wry smile as they showed him up.

The joke about the chap who arrived to discuss bidding for the contract – by bicycle - was passed around the office. When I said to colleagues that I thought he had some good ideas and that I felt he might be able to submit a good proposal, my colleagues thought I was joking. They could not accept that he might be a serious contender.

Over the next couple of years, I watched with interest as this innovative small company grew. The technology was the same technology which we had discussed. But now he had learnt to get the image right. He always arrived in smart company car. This was what was expected of him in order to be taken seriously.

I hope that over the years ahead our attitudes will change. It will become normal for people to arrive by bicycle – even for our leaders and well paid top executives. Meanwhile I will admire those people who buck modern fashion and set the new trend – to be seen arriving by bicycle.

© Peter McManners 2007

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Climate Change – After the Meetings Week 40 (2 October 2007)

I have watched with interest the meetings on Climate Change. Through last week a lot of well crafted words have been spoken. I admire what some of the world’s most talented word smiths can achieve. They make my blog look very mundane in comparison. Besides the words, we have to wonder what has really been achieved.

The UN secretary general’s meeting was - as might be expected of the UN – a safe step on the road to discussing a successor to the Kyoto protocol. The UN has to work through agreement. UN agreements can only reflect the urgency with which world leaders are willing to act. If our leaders are unwilling to force the pace, and to accept substantive change to the world economy, then there is not much power Ban Ki-moon can wield over them.

The Bush meeting had more potential. Before the meeting, there were accusations that this was a delaying tactic by the US president. By announcing an initiative of his own, climate change could be booted off into the long grass. This, his critics said, would ensure that it would not come back to bite him before his term in office expired. President Bush’s action could also be seen as a convenient way to deflect attention from his unwillingness to embrace the Kyoto targets. However the US wields considerable bi-lateral influence across the world. A US president really trying to push action over climate change could change attitudes almost over night. That is why the meeting between the big emitters covering over 80% of the world economy had such potential. Unconstrained by UN protocol, there was the potential for blunt talking and the brokering of real action.

Much of the Bush meeting was behind closed doors so we cannot know what went on, but reading the reports of the meeting, any hope that the Bush initiative might be better than the accusations of the critics, looks naive. Instead of bold new proposals to break the deadlock there seems to have been little more than words. The proposal for a new fund to help developing nations to move to clean energy technologies is welcome, but here in Europe this received little coverage. The words appeared to be the same old rhetoric for which Bush will become infamous. His speech was a denial of binding action any time soon. Whilst the US provides such a poor example to the world, there is little hope of concerted world action. I believe that the US has the capability to turn world attitudes, but we will have to await a different president before we find out.

Climate Change looks to be parked out in the long grass for the next year with a lame duck US president for company.

© Peter McManners 2007

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Climate Change – The Big Guns are Talking Week 39 (25 September 2007)

On Saturday, Helsinki organised a car-free day. All bus fares were reduced to 1€ and the centre of town around the area of Esplande was made car-free. We travelled in by bus and walked around the various displays. Despite the rain, this was a very good insight into how our cities can be, if we were not so wedded to the car.

This week we have also been reminded of the carbon emissions from our vehicle fleet. More than 80 heads of state gather at the United Nations in New York to discuss climate change and what to do about it. The meeting called by Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general is a precursor to the meeting to be held in Bali this December to discuss what will replace the Kyoto protocol. This is an important meeting. I am reminded of the world’s rapid and effective response to the Ozone hole - once the imminent danger was brought home to the world’s leaders.

The world community can take pride in successfully tackling the problem of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). These man-made compounds cause damage to the ozone layer, which protects us from the full strength of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Following the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole in late 1985, governments recognized the need for strong measures to reduce the production and consumption of CFCs. The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer came into force on 1 January 1989. This was a good result. However the problem of CO2 emissions does not appear to be so urgent, so the world does not go into crisis management mode.

The current and previous US presidents are also getting involved with climate change. Mr Bush, who has refused to ratify the Kyoto protocol, is hosting his own meeting later in the week. He has invited 16 of the biggest carbon emitting countries including China, India, Brazil and Indonesia. Mr Clinton for his part is emphasising the commercial opportunities of moving to a low carbon economy exploiting new technologies such as solar panels and hydrogen-fuelled cars. Both Bush and Clinton seem to be playing down the scale of the problem. I agree with Mr Clinton that there are huge commercial opportunities from low carbon technologies, but it is wrong to hide the enormous disruption that weaning the world off fossil fuels will require.

I hope that this week’s meetings lead to substantive action. If they do, our leaders can be proud.

© Peter McManners 2007

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Car-Free Cities – A Ray of Hope - Week 38 (18 September 2007)

I have been working writing a paper advocating car-free cities. Whilst drafting it, I am aware that I am going against the momentum of modern society. World-wide car production in 2006 was 6% up on 2005, approaching 50 million units (based on preliminary figures published by the World Watch Institute). I also noticed that although efficiency figures are improving, the demand for larger and heavier vehicles is increasing. In the US, the 2006 vehicle fleet includes the heaviest vehicles in three decades. Our fixation on cars, leading to cities built around their needs, continues.

This week, I came across an IT consultant, who gave me a ray of hope that we may be able to demote the car to a less exalted position in our society. He has chosen to live in central Helsinki. He has also chosen to get rid of his car. Shops and social facilities are within an easy walk and good public transport options close by. To get to his employers office, in another part of town, he uses the bus. To get to customer sites, he works out a route which uses trains, buses and taxis.

This person is not an environmentalist or green activist. He has not had his driving license taking away for committing a serious traffic offence. He is well paid and can easily afford a car. He has simply chosen a better lifestyle for himself, one which does not include owning a car. In Finland, such a choice is possible. The public transport is of high quality and incredibly reliable. Buses leave exactly when they should and arrive according to the timetable.

It is reassuring that there are people who choose to reject a car-centred lifestyle. If we designed our city infrastructure around people instead of cars, many more people might choose to live car-less in a city no longer dominated by the car.

© Peter McManners 2007

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Which Priority–Trade or the Environment? Week 37 (11 September 2007)

This past week the World Economic Forum (WEF) was meeting in Dalian in China. The choice of venue is pertinent. In 2007, China is a growing economic force. Its economy is booming with exports exceeding imports by a huge margin. Imbalances are building up within the world monetary system. China is the major creditor, and the US as the major debtor.

The opportunities that China offers International companies are huge. First, the country provides a cheap place to manufacture products. Second, there is a growing market to sell into, as purchasing power rises. Finnish companies are no exception. Around two hundred Finnish companies and roughly 70 Finnish-owned production plants presently operate in China.

On Tuesday, 4 September in Beijing, The Finnish president, Tarja Halonen, stopped at the site of the new National Theatre, for which Kone Corporation is supplying escalators. She was also reported visiting the Konecranes factory in Dalian and being met by a Chinese dragon on arrival. Such visits, made together with a high-level delegation of business people, are a requirement for the leaders of all western countries. China is not to be ignored. The business opportunities are huge.

If we expand our perspective from pure economics to looking at the whole of world society and the world’s natural systems, then we see a different picture. China’s rapid growth is transforming it from a largely rural based economy to industrial powerhouse. Without significant reserves of oil or gas, China is turning to its vast coal reserves to fuel its industrialisation. A new coal-fired power station is being built each week. There are also concerns being voiced about lax enforcement of environmental regulations and a lack of social protection for workers.

President Halonen discussed a number of issues with the Chinese leader, Premier Wen, ranging from cooperation for energy and environmental technology to social welfare, occupational safety and health and cultural exchange. These are ways to try to influence change, but we should reflect whether accepting the economic benefit of doing business with China is right, whilst the negative outcomes for the environment are becoming increasing serious. In the West, we are in effect turning a blind eye to the consequences of securing our economies.

© Peter McManners 2007

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Building Roads Fit for Bicycles Week 36 (4 September 2007)

Over the last year I have been observing the construction of a new roundabout. Every few weeks I have needed to go through the area by either bicycle or car, and have watched it take shape. Each time there has been yet another diversion as the next phase of construction begins.

Earlier in my career I was an engineer, so I watch with fascination as the work progresses. Every time another piece of Finnish granite encountered, holes are bored in it, charges are laid and the traffic halted briefly whilst the muffled crump of the explosion sounds. Despite the rock, I would have thought that this should have been a relatively easy engineering task. But the work has taken a long time.

The obvious purpose of the roundabout is to speed the flow of traffic through what was a busy junction. Construction to achieve this aim would be simple. We would need little more than a bulldozer (or two), some explosive and tarmac laying machinery. For a neat job we could finish it with lines of kerb stones. This is not how it has been. A huge amount of construction effort (and presumably money) has gone into building a complete network of cycle tracks going under the roads. The cycles do not have to stop for traffic at any point. These are not just narrow tunnels under the road as an afterthought. The cycle ways are well landscaped, pleasant and safe to use.

As a cyclist I get the impression that the aim of the construction work has been to remove cars out of my way. If all countries were to put effort into building and maintaining an integrated cycle network, then we might find more people attracted out of their cars and onto bicycles. We would have less need for yet more car infrastructure (and generate less fumes and emit less carbon) if we were to align our thinking with the Finnish way.

I understand people’s reluctance in many developed countries to using their bicycles (I was run over by a car in the UK 12 years ago, and nearly killed). But if we set the right policy priorities in favour of cyclists, it is the right prerequisite to bending public opinion away from slavery to the car.

© Peter McManners 2007

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Finland’s New Nuclear Power Station Week 35 (28 August 2007)

For a country with such a good record of environmental stewardship, it is surprising that Finland has decided to build another nuclear power station (its fifth). In other ways it is not surprising at all. Finland has a cold climate and needs more energy than it can easily provide from within its own borders. It does not have significant reserves of fossil fuels so relies on imports, particularly oil. In addition the country has obligations under the Kyoto protocol and a requirement to comply with EU measures to reach the Kyoto targets. In this context, nuclear power seems to be a good choice.

Here in Finland the potential dangers of nuclear power seem to be well under control. The country has sound governance, so we can be sure that the nuclear material will be well protected from getting into the hands of those who might use it for weapons or for terrorism. Finland has stable granite geology, so long-term storage deep underground should be safe. Finnish construction standards are some of the best in the world, so we should expect the power station to be structurally sound. Of all the places in the world to build a nuclear power station, Finland must be one of the best.

The operation of nuclear power stations does not emit carbon. But, in our rush to fix the evident problem of climate change, we seem to have forgotten the risks. We still have some restrictions on eating certain fish, and on the collection of some mushrooms, as a legacy of the nuclear fall-out from the Chernobyl accident of 1986.

Can all countries control their nuclear power industries to the high standards applied by Finland? Is the lead being provided by Finland going to encourage other countries to follow suite? Are we indirectly increasing the risk of another Chernobyl somewhere in the world?

Ludicrous Temperature Control Week 34 (21 August 2007)

A short walk from where we live there is a large shopping centre. It has three levels of shops and other services. The wide central boulevard is enclosed by a glass ceiling and the whole complex is insulated from the vagaries of the weather. Summer or winter, rain or shine, it will always remain at a constant comfortable temperature.

I walked there today on a crisp summer morning. Over night there had been a clear open sky which had dropped the temperature to below normal indoor temperature – but not cold. I found it to be a welcome relief, as later in the day it was expected to get uncomfortably hot. At home we had had the windows open to let in the cool morning air. We then closed the windows as the sun got warmer and closed some of the blinds. We do not have (or want) air conditioning, so this is how we behave. It is not difficult.

As I approached the shopping centre, and the double set of doors which control entry, I was hit by a blast of hot air. Into the gap between the inner and outer doors, was being pumped heated air. This would ensure that even one whiff of the ‘cold’ air outside would not intrude into the shopping mall. This is normal practice in the modern commercial world but I paused to wonder why.

An inner and an outer door for entrances of buildings (particularly in very cold climates like Finland) act as an airlock (or heat lock). It will hold a temperature midway between the outside and the inside. A little heat will be lost when the outer door is opened, but not too much. To provide additional heating inside the porch area undermines the whole purpose and is ludicrous.

As energy gets more expensive, and we realise we have to live within the sustainable supplies available to us, we will think rather more carefully. We will stop designing sealed shopping centres that are kept warm/cool by larger energy-hungry equipment. We will become much cleverer in controlling ventilation and using (or blocking) heat from the sun.

At the end of this morning’s walk I would rather have found the doors of the shopping centre standing wide open, and the windows in the roof also open, to let in the cool morning air. Yes, this would have dropped the temperature below that set on the thermostat, but a little cooler would be fine. Later in the day such action would have reduced the need to use energy for cooling. Sun blinds which can move across the glass ceiling could further reduce the need for mechanical cooling. We could even eliminate the need for air conditioning altogether if we accept that it is normal that indoor summer temperatures should be somewhat higher on the few days when it climbs above 30 degrees C.

In any case, and in all weathers, we should not be heating the porches of our shops and buildings, pumping heat needlessly into the street. Especially on a lovely cool summer morning!

Fighting For Indigenous People Week 33 (14 August 2007)

The decade 1994 - 2004 was designated by the UN as the Decade of the World's Indigenous People. During those 10 years, August 9th was the International Day of the World's Indigenous People. The decade has expired, and with it the designation of a particular day for the world to focus on the situation faced by indigenous people. Native Americans, Australia’s Aborigines and the Saami people (native to the north of Finland) are all examples. As we travel and interbreed, such generic and cultural types may disappear altogether.

Before they are confined permanently to history we should reflect on the loss we will suffer, and the lessons we can learn.

When discussing issues of importance, Native Americans would take into account the effect of the decision seven generations into the future. If we took that approach today, how much easier we would find it to be to build a sustainable world. We would pass up the option of some of the short-term economic gains available; but we do that already. We do not spend all our salary or wage as soon as we get it. We keep some for later in the week, or later in the year or to save for our retirement. We should be looking at the resources of the world in the same way; to ensure that our descendents seven generations into the future can also live safe and fulfilling lives.

The Aborigines of Australia lived for ten thousands of years on the dry continent. They learned to live within its constraints. Modern Australians are running one of the biggest deficits in the world between consumption and the ecological capacity of their continent. Perhaps they should be consulting with the Aborigines – those who have still retained the knowledge - before they too are all integrated into the ways of the modern world.

The Saami people are spread through Arctic Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia. Their traditions of reindeer herding are still practised in Finland supported by rules and regulations which allow this traditional way of life to continue. They have lived in the cold Arctic before the introduction of fossil fuel. We might want to borrow some of their expertise – although their use of skidoos and helicopters may not be the sustainable solutions we seek!

The 9^th August is no longer the International Day of the World's Indigenous People. The date maybe forgotten, but I hope that the people that it used to represent, are not.

The Fight for the North Pole Week 32 (9 August 2007)

During last week we have watched from Helsinki with bemusement at the Russian antics in planting a flag at the North Pole. Not a flag in the conventional sense, but a titanium flag placed into the sea bed by the robotic arm of a small deep sea submarine.

The issue of who owns or controls the Arctic is important of course. As the world warms, and the ice recedes, new possibilities open up. The Canadian Prime Minister joined the bandwagon with a trip to the far north to proclaim Canada’s intention to expand its activities in the area. Europe too has added its voice, with the Danes laying claim to their share due to Iceland’s close proximity. Who owns what is open for discussion. Unlike the Antarctic, which is governed by a clear-cut treaty, the Arctic comes under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Under this, countries can claim an economic zone up to 200 nautical miles (370km) from their coast. This is clear, but a murky area lies further offshore. If countries can prove that their own continental shelf continues beyond this point, they can also lay claim to it. The Lomosov Ridge stretches from Russia to Greenland and, despite its Russian sounding name, Denmark and Canada join Russia in making claims over it.

The North Pole should be of interest because of our concern over the threat to the flora and fauna of the Arctic. For example, it may not be many years before the only polar bears we have are caged in zoos. Mankind’s thirst for fossil fuel is forcing climate change which will eventually melt the Arctic. We should be considering how to eliminate fossil fuels and rescue the Arctic before it is too late. But we do quite the reverse. The reason the Arctic is of such interest, is the large reserves of oil and gas thought to be trapped underneath; which will become more accessible (easier and cheaper to extract) when the ice has gone. It is as if we want to accelerate the changes. If we come across the victim of a mugging lying bleeding in the street, do we hope that they will die quickly so we can reach inside their pocket to steal the contents of their wallet without being witnessed? Of course not; but the unseemly scramble for the arctic is not so different.

It is depressing that many commentators have focussed on the strength of the competing claims, and which country will gain the most economic benefit. Fortunately there is a lighter side to this particular incident of Russian flag placing. One would think that this should be a carefully orchestrated piece of propaganda. So when a 13-year old Finnish boy spotted that a publicity photo, emanating from the Russian branch of Reuters, was in fact an underwater scene for the film Titanic, we have to raise a smile.

Here in Finland, there is another reason why people smile. The high tech submarine so publicly launched to reinforce the Russian claim, and played across the TV networks of the world, is Finnish engineering built by Oceanics, a subsidiary of the Finnish forest, metals, and shipbuilding concern Rauma-Repola.

Sleepy Head Day Week 31 (31 July 2007)

Here in Finland, 27^th July is Sleepyhead Day. Its historic origins date from the Middle Ages. In a pre-planned, theatrical event, a person asleep in a bed on the harbour side is woken, pulled out of bed and thrown into the sea. A strange event but maybe this is what we all need.

It is fortunate that in the developed world we have the choice to lounge about in bed. If we want to continue to draw a large salary then we will have to get up and about and off to work, on five days out of seven. But this is not a driving need to get up to scavenge for the next meal in order to survive. If we have a limited desire for material wealth, then we can enjoy our sedentary life of leisure, without disruption, by avoiding work altogether.

We expect that our society will provide a minimum of food and shelter as a right without the need for us to lift a finger. In our increasingly automated world, there will be less and less need for us do any physical activity. We can drive to work, the shops, to the cinema. We may have to stroll a short way from the car park but moving walkways and escalators will reduce the burden this will have on our bodies. The best image for me of the intrusion of automation into our modern world comes from somewhere in America - although I forget the precise context. The picture is dominated by the entrance to a large gym surrounded by advertising to encourage people to visit - to improve their health and reduce their weight. Below the entrance is the car park. Connecting the two is an escalator, reducing the need to exert any effort to get into the gym! Perhaps the ultimate gym machines will be ones we can sit, on or be strapped to, which operate and move our bodies without the need from any effort from us.

In other societies in our world there are people who have to get up and walk miles to the nearest water source to collect water for the family to drink. In other more affluent areas the people have bicycles to get from one place to another. Physical activity is required to survive. Being a couch potato is not an option.

Why have we chosen to invest our economic strength in removing physical activity from our everyday lives? We have given over much of the space within cities to our machines. Pedestrians have to suffer the fumes and cyclists are in danger. This is our choice, but worse, we present it as progress, so that people living in weak economies want to follow our example.

All of us in the developed world need waking up from our complacency. We are happy to laze around, let our waists expand and our hearts clog up with cholesterol. Wake up! Our lives can be healthier, our impact on the environment less and the informal opportunities to interact with other people improved. We in the developed world are fortunate in having the choice; it is strange that we squander it in this way.

Basking in the Gulf Stream Week 30 (24 July 2007)

Today I went running in the park near to our home. It is not a park in the sense that someone from many other large western cities would recognise. This park, within the city limits of Espoo (one the three cities comprising Helsinki Capital region), is kept as a natural forest. It is full of native vegetation and wildlife. We went there to pick blueberries over the weekend and the mushroom gathering season will begin soon. It is intersected by paths used for walking, running and cycling. In the winter some tracks are designated for skiing. Some people – like me today – are out for exercise, others are crossing the area to get home from the office.

It was raining whilst I was running, but I did not feel cold. It is late July and a humid balmy summer evening. At these high latitudes at this time of year it does not get fully dark. Perhaps today with the heavy cloud cover then it will seem dark as we go through midnight. It occurred to me as I ran, that these long days will continue every July for the next thousand or million years. It would take a nuclear war of such ferocity and intensity that the explosions alter the tilt of the Earth to alter this fact. I trust that mankind will not make such a huge mistake, so we will always have long summer days here in Finland, and long winter nights. These are facts we cannot alter. But the climate is under threat.

My ability to run out in the forest wearing only shorts, as we lead into autumn, may be under threat. Not that that should matter much to anyone but me. However all of us here in northern Europe are basking in the Gulf Stream – the ocean current which brings warm water up from the Gulf of Mexico keeping our climate much warmer than it would otherwise be. Without it, our climate would be more like that of Newfoundland.

Some scientists speculate that the melting of the Greenland icecap could release such quantities of fresh water into the northern Atlantic that it would impede the return flow of the Gulf Stream. Whilst the planet as a whole is warming, northern Europe – and Scandinavia in particular – could be gripped by ice for much of the year, destroying agricultural capacity and making it very hard to survive without complete reliance on supplies from outside.

As Scandinavia became uninhabitable where would the population go? Perhaps they would migrate to Britain, which would be less severely affected. Certainly the UK would be badly in need of Scandinavian expertise in building well insulated buildings. But Britain is a small and crowded island; would there be a welcome for millions more people?

The film ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ is fiction. If the Gulf Stream were to shut down it would take more than a year or two, but it could happen over the decades ahead. We are pushing hard at the systems of planet Earth with all the industrial might we have. We will find out if this fiction is to become a reality. Whether I can go running wearing shorts is irrelevant; but if Europe has to handle the migration of millions as society in Scandinavia becomes unsustainable, that would be dire indeed.

Off to the Mökki (Summer Cottage) Week 29 (17 July 2007)

In Finland, the country closes down in July. The midsummer celebrations signal mass exodus away from the city of Helsinki and into the forest and around the edges of lakes. The destination is the family summer cottage, or ‘mökki’.
These mökki are often held within the family and passed down from one generation to the next. The grand parents might now find the Spartan conditions a little too much for a long stay but they remember well the times they had as small children playing in the forest and swimming in ‘their’ lake. They also remember the long late sunny evenings when as parents they could relax as the children amused themselves out and about in the nature.

My first visit to a mökki was 15 year ago as I first discovered the delights of Finland. We had arrived by invitation to a particular parking space at the end of a track in the forest. There we phoned our hosts. Shortly afterwards a rowing boat arrived with our host – who normally works in the Parliament House in Helsinki – looking very casual and relaxed in shorts and sandals, with a week’s growth of stubble on his chin.

The sauna had been lit and we were ushered over to use it. My question over my lack of a swimming costume raised amusement. We swam in the lake and back into the sauna and back into the lake. Meanwhile some fish caught earlier in the day were being prepared and the wine we had brought was being chilled in the ‘fridge’. This was a small underground cupboard with a thick layer of rocks and soil on top using the natural cooling effect of the ground.

I noticed that the mökki had a small solar panel to power a short-wave radio but otherwise no evident signs of the modern world. No electricity or running water. The small hut containing the dry toilet needed courage to use it but it was perfectly hygienic.

Late that evening, after a good dinner, as the sun was dropping low on the horizon, we were encouraged to stay. I was given the rowing boat and an aiming mark across the lake to another small cottage. There we stayed. The next morning I cleared my head by diving into the lake. The water was so clean that you could drink it. It was a day and a night in a natural paradise.

These weeks away living in the nature seem to be a vital contribution to safeguarding Finnish psychology. It not only recharges the batteries ready for another long hard winter but is a very tactile and direct engagement with the natural world. If all of us city dwellers were to spend a month each year communing with nature, admiring its raw beauty and experiencing first-hand the pleasure and feeling of freedom that it brings, we might care rather more to preserve it.

Bio Gas for Breakfast Week 28 (10^th July 2007)

As I walk back from an invigorating morning swim, in the clear and cold waters of what is advertised as Sweden’s largest mountain lake, I wonder how we are to fuel our increasing transportation needs.

On the way back to our accommodation – looking forward to breakfast I walk past a new biogas filling station. The payment system and controls look like a petrol station but the nozzle is for gas. I haven’t yet spotted anyone with a car with the special fitting to take the nozzle. Still, something has to come first. There is little incentive to buy a car that will run on Bio Gas unless there is somewhere to refuel it. As the infrastructure is built and extended then we can hope that such cars will become common place.

This is an example, here in Sweden, of real progress towards sustainable transportation, based on renewable energy. These are credible alternatives to fossil fuels such as petrol and diesel.

But such sources will be limited in the total capacity they can provide, so we will still have to re-examine our car-based culture – even if it is to be running on biogas.

A Sustainable Fridge in Sweden Week 27 (3 July 2007)

Our holiday in Sweden continues. Sweden is one place above Finland in this year’s environmental stewardship rankings – second only to New Zealand. Modern Sweden is doing well, but it also has a heritage it can draw on from its own history. There are lessons we can take from a historic context and work into our modern world.

We arrived in a small place and found a living museum. A whole small community dressed for, and play-acting, 18^th century rural life. It was geared up to make money from tourists, of course, and to draw them into the town. But it was arranged to give a very realistic insight into life 200 years ago. The characters remained in role all the time they were in the village. We were asked to help out with the chores in the houses and to join in with activities on the farm. Carrying water into the house from a well outside was not perhaps an example of a way in which we would wish to manage our modern water supply. But the way that food was kept fresh did get me thinking.

The lady of the farm house took us to a cellar, outside the house and down a short flight of steps. The entrance was protected by two doors and on the roof was a thick layer of earth. The natural temperature of the ground a meter of two beneath the surface does not change very much from season to season. This cellar would remain cool in the summer and stay above freezing in the winter – even the bitter cold of Sweden. We were shown the cheeses and preserves which were kept there for months at a time.

In our modern world we keep our fridges and freezers inside our centrally heated and air conditioned buildings. In the summer we use energy to pump heat out of the fridge and into the kitchen and then use yet more energy to extract the heat from the kitchen to the outside. If we would build our houses with cellars with well insulated roofs and doors - and tolerate the inconvenience of going down into it – then we could keep our food at a safe cool temperature without using energy. You could not have a more energy efficient fridge than that!

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A Morning in Sweden Week 26 (26^th June 2007)

The McManners family is on holiday. We awake in a small house in central Sweden, close by a railway line. It used to be home to the signalman who would go out to change the points and control the road crossing. His job is now obsolete; replaced by automation, and his house is now an annex to the local youth hostel. It is simply furnished and cheap for us to rent. We also get a grandstand view of the few trains which use the line.

A freight train packed with raw cut tree trunks goes along the line in one direction. The day before we had noticed another load of cut trees going the other way. I wonder why. Loads of timber are presumably crisscrossing as sawmills chase the cheapest timber, with the costs of transportation a low overhead. In a world of transportation, fuelled by cheap fossil fuel, there is little economic incentive to minimise the distance that goods and commodities are shifted. When the costs of transportation rise to a realistic level – because we decide they should, or because reserves of fossil fuel are depleted forcing up prices - then we will put much more effort into reducing the need for transportation as well as maximising its efficiency. Meanwhile we continue to focus on expanding our transport infrastructure to match rising demand.

Sweden, like all countries, will also have to reduce demand to match the amount of sustainable energy available. Transporting increasing quantities of all manner of stuff across our countries, and around the world, without stopping to think if it is really necessary will have to stop. Not only would this be the sustainable solution but in a world where transportation has a full and true cost, it would make economic sense.

Sustainable Energy Week 25 (19^th June 2007)

The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy will take place in London on June 21st. Eight UK green energy companies and a host of international contenders - from Tanzania to Peru - have made the list of finalists.

Former US Vice President Al Gore – presenter of the documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ will be one the awards' presenters and the evening's keynote speaker.

Wood Energy is one of the UK finalists and favourite to win. Wood is a completely sustainable fuel source. As trees grow they combine sunlight with carbon dioxide to make wood. This can be used for energy – or even better serve an intermediate purpose as paper or in construction before being burnt to release the stored energy. In the UK, the potential to make an impact on the imbalance between energy demand and sustainable sources is limited. The UK is a densely populated Island, hungry for energy, and has limited areas of forestry.

In Finland, wood ‘waste’ from the forestry provides 20% of current energy needs. It is a cold country and needs considerable energy to keep buildings warm in the winter. However it is also a sparsely populated country with vast areas of forest. To see what a mature infrastructure for exploiting wood energy looks like, come over to visit Finland.

After note: Congratulations to Wood Energy for winning first prize.

A viewpoint on a Sustainable World Week 24 (12 June 2007)

Helsinki celebrates her anniversary on June 12 with a welcome for all comers. Starting from 8.00 am in the morning, the 6000 first visitors to the Railway Square are offered free morning coffee and traditional Helsinki Day rhubarb tart.

I have been made welcome here in Finland since summer 2004. Drawn here initially by family connections and my love of cross-country skiing, I have become intrigued by Finland’s standing in the world. Finland regularly appears at the top of world rankings for competitiveness (second behind Switzerland 2006-7). It also occupies one of the top places for environmental stewardship (third behind New Zealand and Sweden in 2006). How can a country be both competitive within the world economy and protect its natural heritage?

Finland shows that a society which balances its economic aspirations with protection of the environment is possible. It is not a perfect society, but other countries looking in from elsewhere in the developed world can learn from Finland. In this blog I will be looking for examples of ingrained habits, processes, policies and behaviours of the developed world that will have to change.

Today is Helsinki Day; it is also the day I start my blog focussing on building a Sustainable World.


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