12 perguntas a Jakob von Uexküll

1. From your point of view, what are today's most pressing environmental problems?

In my opinion, climate breakdown is the most pressing environmental problem which is related to all the other major challenges, for example, biodiversity loss, oceans acidification, water and food security, and peace.

2. When looking at potential improvements in our environment, what gives you hope?

The problems are still growing faster than the solutions so the hope can only be that we implement what we know much faster from now on. The Paris Agreement is not binding and reaching its goals assumes unproven technologies. Nothing agreed --or even officially discussed--so far comes close to eliminating the likelihood of catastrophic climate breakdown. This would require, for example, globally binding carbon prices, rising quickly.

3. Is there a particular environmental policy reform you admire the most?

Feed-in tariffs to speed up the spread of renewable energies have worked quickly and effectively whenever they have not been reduced too quickly.

4. Which trend in environmental policy and politics do you consider an aberration?

In my eyes it's a failure to fully internalise costs. Fully internalising production costs would bankrupt most producers, unless accompanied by, for example, a shift to "green" taxes to create a new level playing field. It will be complex, as many costs are in the supply chains. But, above all, it will be politically very unpopular, as consumers will have to pay many costs hitherto externalised (at the expense of the environment and future generations).

5. Why environmental research?

In-depth research must inform advocacy as well as policy making. Legislators need to take decisions that are based on facts. Environmental research is therefore the basis for future-just policy making that protects the rights of future generations and life on planet Earth.

6. What are your experiences of the transfer of scientific insights into practice?

The scientific community speaks a different language and works at a different speed than policy or business stakeholders. One example is the IPCC report (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), which is fundamental to sound climate policy making. However, it only relies on peer-reviewed science, which does not reflect the actual reality of, for example, fast declining costs of renewable energy or the overestimated potential of carbon capture and storage (CCS). The latter is in reality far from being a market-ready or cost-effective solution.

7. Besides the one you're working in, what field of research in environmental sciences do you consider most exciting?

All practical policy research, focusing on the "how" to actually do what is necessary, is exciting. A key issue is generating sufficient finance for the massive and urgent energy, transport, construction, and so forth, transition, which the private and state sectors cannot provide in time--so how can we bring in Central Banks to create new funding, as they did to save the financial system? Such research is of course not strictly environmental science, but another example of the need for interconnected solutions.

8. Can you name any person or event that has had particular influence on your commitment to environmental issues?

I was inspired by Hermann Scheer, the visionary German politician who developed the feed-in tariff legislation and proposed the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). I was also influenced by Bill McKibben, leader of the anti-carbon campaign group 350.org. Another person who inspired me is the former editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, who initiated the successful climate divestment campaign which made even fossil companies call for carbon pricing!

9. What knowledge about the environment would you like to pass on to young people?

The environment is a very complex system. We tend to separate and reduce things to make it easier for us to understand. However, nature is interconnected and intertwined. Our actions must therefore be holistic. Furthermore, collaboration and communication is crucial--we cannot protect our environment within silos.

10. As a scientist who is concerned with sustainability problems, what contradictions are you faced with in everyday life?

I am a political, not a natural scientist. But I am aware that the Western way of life is not globally possible and therefore not sustainable.

11. What are you reading at the moment?

I'm reading the book Unprecedented Crime: Climate Science Denial and Game Changers for Survival by Peter D. Carter and Eliz abeth Woodworth. This book summarises the extent and immediacy of the climate emergency, including crimes of denial, breaches of trust, media collusion, corporate and bank crimes. It also highlights solutions including tax reforms, legal challenges, innovation (unfortunately putting too much faith in nuclear), market leadership, and civil resistance strategies.

12. Apart from the ones we've raised here, what is the most important question?

Can we build "ecocracies", that are democracies respecting ecological limits in time, or will natural laws enforce eco-dictatorships?

Jakob von Uexkull,

founder of the Right Livelihood Award and the World Future Council (WFC).

Born 1944 in Uppsala, Sweden. MA in politics, philosophy and economics from Christ Church, Oxford. Founder of the Right Livelihood Award (1980), often referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize. Cofounder( 1984) of The Other Economic Summit.1987 to 1989 member of the European Parliament.1998 to 2000 UNESCO Commission on Human Duties and Responsibilities. Founder of the World Future Council (WFC).

Awards: Erich-Fromm-Prize | Great Binding Prize for Environmental Protection | Time Magazine European Heroes Award | Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Grand Cross First Class.

Memberships: Patron Friends of the Earth International | Council of Governance of Transparency International | Global Commission to Fund the United Nations.

Selected publications: Zukunft Gestalten: JETZT (Europaische Verlagsanstalt, 2017) | Das sind wir unseren Kindern schuldig (Europaische Verlagsanstalt, 2007).

[c]2018 J. v. Uexkull; licensee oekom verlag. This is an article distributed under the terms of the Crea tive Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

JAKOB VON UEXKULL...

... was elected European Hero by Time Magazine in 2005--a beautiful and very fitting accolade for someone who is the embodiment of a future-safeguarding protagonist for subsequent generations.

Jakob studied philosophy, political science and economics at Oxford, while also acquiring a deep scientific expertise and way of thinking. This serves him well as he stands his ground in the face of scientists, engineers and economists, and even in rounds of hard-boiled critics. Especially when it comes to economists, it's often crucial to underline the laws of nature and the finiteness of the Earth with facts and scientific insight. It's not just Jakob's negotiating skills that make him stand out--it's also his deep-seated fearlessness. How else could he have mustered the courage to initiate the Right Livelihood Award and donate the entirety of his assets to this purpose? For almost 40 years now, this award has been honoring people, groups and organizations whose projects and initiatives make the world more peaceful and sustainable. To this end, Jakob seeks out the best role models and paragons from every continent, guided by his knowledge and optimism about the future as well as his intuition. We could live in a far better world if the wonderful projects and initiatives of mostly everyday people were to inspire millions of imitators.

It was also primarily Jakob's idea, together with Herbert Girardet, Hermann Scheer, Wangari Maathai, Vandana Shiva, Hans-Peter Durr and others, to found the World Future Council (WFC) in 2007. I'm grateful to be involved in the Council. We identify viable solutions for the future and develop political, social and ecological strategies and measures for a long-term sustainable world. The WFC is an effective instrument that we use in our global struggle for the regenerative transformation of energy, energy and resource efficiency, effective legislation regarding hunger and poverty reduction, for education, social justice, an ecological agricultural turnaround and understanding among nations. First and foremost, however, our most important action areas include the fight against violence toward children and women and the advocating of all measures aimed at helping children who are at risk of hunger, poverty, and destitution.

Jakob is a genius: early on, when doubters and critics of the shameless exploitation of the developing world and of nature were dismissed as unworldly fools, he took a resolute stance for social justice and equal opportunities, environmental conservation and the saving of resources, a reversal of predatory capitalist exploitation into an eco-social market economy, the preservation of the cultural diversity of states and regions along with the protection of ethnic groups and indigenous peoples. This is his credo, for which he doggedly and tenaciously fights to this day, in the face of established mainstream politics in industrial, emerging and developing countries. He asserts himself with the same intensity against the powerful interests of the business and financial elites and their compliant helpers from the academic fields of economics and finance, using simple yet clever means as well as his powerful global network of friends. Quite simply, he's a European hero.

Rolf Kreibich, Director of the Secretariat for Future Studies (SFZ), Founding Director of the IZT--Institute for Future Studies and Technology Assessment, Berlin