DLD 2020: A sum-up of concepts on green future, green technology and a fossil fuel-free society

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DLD 2020: A sum-up of concepts on green future, green technology and a fossil fuel-free society

Great minds have been sharing ideas this past weekend at the Digital Life Design 2020 Conference in Munich, Germany. Below we present you an aggregation of thoughts, insights and quotes from inspiring speakers that have been part of it.

Jim Hagemann Snabe who is a Danish manager and chairman of the supervisory board of Siemens AG believes that: „We need a new leadership model – where the starting point is a rather ambitious plan or dream that is inspiring. And then you have to care for the details that the dream can become true.“ 

Markus Haas, CEO of Telefonica Germany believes data will pave the way into solving the climate crisis: „We enter the decade of mobile. The use of data is a key enabler to achieve our climate targets“.

Markus Haas - Telefonica

Markus Haas – Telefonica

While data analysis can give us insight that would be hard to find, we need to acknowledge that the: “The energy use of the technologies is shockingly high,” explained, Stefan Oschmann, CEO of Merck Group. For example: 220 Google searches use as much energy as boiling 1 liter of water!

Climate activist Jeremy Rifkin, who is an American economic and social theorist presented concepts on a future without fossil fuels:

DLD2020_Jeremy Rifkin_Green New Deal

Jeremy Rifkin – Green New Deal

  • “Everything [today] is based on fossil fuels. If the price goes up, everything gets more expensive.”
  • “For every year we invest in [renewable energy, etc.] infrastructure, we get 2-3 years of GDP back.”
  • “Sun and wind have never invoiced us. […] The market is speaking.”
  • “The [renewable, green, …] technology is now here. We don’t need any more R&D. There are no excuses.”
  • “We need a compelling economic vision for the future and an action-based plan for a fossil-free society by 2040. Not 2050.”

 

If you are interested to learn more about Jeremy Rifkin, we have summed up all of his most revenant thoughts on The Green New Deal and a future without fossil fuels.

Marietje Schaake, international policy director of Stanford Cyber Policy Center, Stanford’s premier research center at the nexus of technology, governance & public policy, addresses, believes that: “Responsibility by tech companies means they act beyond self-interest & contribute to society: pay tax, contribute to CO2 reduction, share information and knowledge, and respect existing laws. As basic as it sounds, this would make a difference and help rebuild trust!”

Author of the book “More from Less,” Andrew McAfee, defines a sustainable definition of innovation: “Innovation is when your GDP grows and CO2 and energy consumption is not”. He suggests that the best approach in fighting climate change is to: “Put a tax on it!”. Adding that he’s an economist and “for once, most other economists agree”, he says, “even if economists usually find it hard to agree on anything.”

Benedikt Böhm, a renowned extreme ski mountaineer, climbing mountains of above 7000 meters and skiing down, shared an eye-opening concept of reduction and subtraction that can easily be applied to tech, design and sustainability. He explains:

“The question is: What do I NOT take up the mountain, what will I leave away. The more we bring, the slower we will be.”

He has shared some timeless learnings:

  • Do more with less.
  • Just because you can do, should you do it?
  • Being distracted by opportunities is the cancer of productivity – focus on the essential priorities to survive & thrive.
Tristan Harris - Center for Humane Technology

Tristan Harris – Center for Humane Technology

Tristan Harris, co-founder, Center for Humane Technology, empowed a transition from within: “The fastest lever of change is people on the inside [demanding change]”. He believes we need to: “embrace paleolithic emotions, upgrade medieval institutions, wisdom … god-like technology.” He also warns that “we can’t solve climate change until we address the issues on social media.”, which have turned a serious fact based debate into a debate of opinions. How to fix the threat caused by tech? Harris: “Create global understanding for how technology distorted society. We have to ban surveillance capitalism.”

Viviane Reding, Former Vice-President of the European Commission, Summing up DLD20: „The biggest risk is to leave opportunities untapped“. She warns that at present: „The biggest danger is techno-pessimism“.

More current information on Sustainability and its impact comes in the new McKinsey report dated January 2020. McKinsey Global Institute : Climate risk and response Physical hazards and socioeconomic impacts. Download the PDF here.

 

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