Appropriately, “Race for Sustainability” is being launched at this year’s National Energy Efficiency Conference and among other prominent people quoted and/or profiled  the book is Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s Minister for the Environment and Water Resources:, who said earlier this year: “Energy efficiency is, at this point of time, the only game in town. Given that every joule, every kilowatt hour, is drawn from imported energy, we have to conserve and be as efficient as possible.” In the introduction to the book, Ken Hickson says “There’s a sense of urgency about all this. It’s a race against time. It’s a race the world is in danger of losing.” Read More

Introducing the Race for Sustainability

There’s a sense of urgency about all this. It’s a race against time. It’s a race the world is in danger of losing.

We’re on about the urgent need to fix the world’s unhealthy dependency on fossil fuels, which contribute most of the deadly greenhouse gas emissions damaging the atmosphere and bringing about unheard of changes to our climate.

The science is in. Without exception, the world’s international agencies — the United Nations, the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, the International Energy Agency, among others — recognise the gravity of the global problem and call for more to be done to deal with its ramifications.

As long as we continue to dig up and burn fossil fuels; as long as we continue to destroy and burn rainforests; as long as we continue to make, drive, consume, waste products and resources, we stay on the path to destruction.

Dramatic, yes. Painful, yes. But how else will we understand how real is the global problem if we do not hear it the way it is.

But this is not all doom and gloom. In this book — as well as in my previous encyclopaedic eff ort “Th e ABC of Carbon” — I go out of my way to write about the issues and the opportunities.

This book is made up mostly of what I have talked about and written about over the last year or so.

You will also meet some great men and women who are profiled because they have something significant to say. I’ve met them and talked to them so I know they are well and truly off the starting blocks in this race.

This book has been written and produced in Singapore and much of its attention has been on events happening in Asia. But its focus and reach is truly global.

There are many governments who are doing more than we give them credit for. Singapore is among the most committed.

Likewise, most of the leading corporations around the world are taking serious, deliberate and meaningful steps on the sustainability journey.

We report the wise words of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). We hear from Sir Richard Branson and the Carbon War Room. One of the world’s most remarkable visionaries, Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, makes a welcome appearance.

Leaders and visionaries, yes, but also men and women who are prepared to take a stand and to continue to contribute positively through their own organisations or in society at large.

We deal with energy efficiency a lot because we realise it is so important and can make such a difference. Waste management and air pollution both figure prominently.

We look at moves to a cleaner energy future in Asia. We see what’s happening as buildings turn green inside and out.

We see how the events industry is becoming sustainable in a big way. If the London Olympics can set the highest sustainability mark — and produce a new global gold standard — any event of any size or scale can do it.

That very much means that events like the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Singapore — a night race and arguably the most energy-inefficient event in the world — can also be measured and managed in a sustainable fashion.

This motor racing event — talking and writing about it — prompted this book’s title. But the scope and scale of it all goes beyond that topic to cover all things of concern in the sustainability landscape.

We’re said it before — and we won’t hesitate to repeat it — that sustainability is made up of four E’s: Energy, Economy, Environment and Ethics. This goes beyond the “triple bottom line” of John Elkingham — people, planet and profit — with the three pillars being economic, social and ecological.

We don’t think that achieves the sustainable balance that we need for our world, our countries, our companies, or our communities. Energy must be part of the equation. It is a critical pillar. So is Ethics. Not to devalue the importance of “people”, but to us an ethical approach to all we do is essential.

Whether we talk about corporate social responsibility or the even bigger picture of sustainability, we must place equal importance on energy, economy, ethics and the environment.

We hope the book’s contents will reach to people in all walks of life and business. We do want people to wake up to what’s happening in their own street, town, city and country. And to come to realise that we can make some changes for the better.

It does come down to human behaviour and human choices. We can have the best technology in the world — and we are surely at that point where we are very well equipped with what’s needed. We can have the most expensive machinery and the biggest and best buildings. But if we continue to use resources irresponsibly — if we continue to waste food, water and energy, like we have been doing too date — we are not even in the race.

Because it all comes down to you. People matter and people have power. With all the options and the choices available. A power for good or a power abused.

For too long, we have said it is someone else’s problem: Governments. Industry. Oil companies. Forest owners.

Well, the news is out. Just as the science is in. It is your problem and it is my problem.

This book attempts to raise issues and present opportunities. It gives you — the reader — access to a wealth of current and useful information and an introduction to people and organisations who are making a difference.

Read well. Act soon.

What People Are Saying in This Book

Sir Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin group, who founded the Carbon War Room:

“War is not a nice thing, but a carbon war is the right thing because it’s a call to arms… it is a war worth fighting.”

Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UNFCC:

“The world faces a big gap between commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the reductions that scientists say will be needed to minimise catastrophic effects.”

Dr. Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency:

“It is an economic sin that only one third of all economically viable energy efficiency potential is being realised. In terms of international energy policy implementation, this is an epic failure.”

Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s Minister for the Environment and Water Resources:

“Energy efficiency is, at this point of time, the only game in town. Given that every joule, every kilowatt hour, is drawn from imported energy, we have to conserve and be as efficient as possible.”

Lord Paul Drayson, former UK Minister, on motor sport:

“This is the way in which the world needs to move. History begins in 2014 with the first FIA electric race. It will give young people an insight into a future that is fun and cool but which does not damage the environment.”

Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute, who wrote Reinventing Fire:

“Old buildings can be better than new. Th ere is the temptation to tear down and start afresh, but smart retrofitting can mean up to 75% savings on energy use.”

Dr. Nasir Hassan, regional adviser on environmental health for the WHO:

“Outdoor air pollution is identified as the cause of 800,000 deaths a year, while nearly 50% of pneumonia deaths among children under fi ve are due to particulate matter inhaled from indoor air pollution.”

David Fogarty, on Double Helix DNA sleuthing:

“The logging increases global warming with heightened carbon emissions, and landslides through loss of watersheds. It causes loss of livelihoods in forest communities and dents global timber prices.”

Doug Woodring, founder of Ocean Recovery Alliance:

“Already, over 10% of fi sh tested in oceans contain pollutants from plastic in their tissue. The growing plastic waste stream is a resource worth capturing and channelling into products that enhance life, rather than degrade it.”

Kwek Leng Joo, Managing Director of CDL:

“Natural calamities. Climate change. Economic crisis. Business failures. Governance letdowns. Food shortages. Resource scarcity. Ethical lapses. Social breakdowns. Many companies in Singapore and around the world continue to operate in a seemingly indifferent manner, either ignoring or oblivious to the impact and risks these environmental, social and governance issues have on their business.”

Source: www.sustain-ability-showcase.com