Spirituality and Ecological Hope

Fostering Ecological Hope
Today from Margaret Swedish:

I read this interview in this morning’s NY Times Science section and thought it worth sharing. It is with Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Norwegian prime minister and an environmental advocate. You can read about her background in the introduction. The interview reveals her alarm at the lack of action in the international community in regard to our ecological crises since she oversaw the work of the Brundtland Commission back in the 1980s.

The reason for the interview is that Brundtland has been asked by UN Secratary General Ban Ki-moon to be one of three special envoys tasked to coax countries into taking action to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions that are causing our planet to heat up dangerously.

Reflecting on the resistance of countries like this one, especially this one, to reduce our carbon footprint and to invest in new technologies for poor countries so that they can develop without adding to our climate change crises, she says:

What kind of world is it if we think in traditional terms of competitive advantage, or being overrun by countries that are developing and competing with each of us, and at the same time we lose the future for our children due to our lack of action in a situation that is irreversible?

Good question. I am hoping for a different kind of world. Let’s help make one.

[tags] Gro Harlem Brundtland, Brundtland Commission, Ban Ki-moon, carbon footprint[/tags]