1. Herman Wijffels over de Crisis tijdens de WRR conferentie van 8 Dec. 2008

2. Summary 1.Bad news: –We have to change our way of life 2.Good news: –We know what and how 3.We have no choice –Major issues are global

3. 1. His starting point World = interconnected and interdependent life support system It’s out of balance in many aspects Monetary system –only one manifestation of the crisis we are in

4. Other crises Climate change Energy system Water and also Food Also the availability of essential resources like –Forest –Fertil land –Fish stocks –Bio-diversity is declining ! Influencing ultimately in a negative way –the quality of life –life itself of all people and living species on the planet

5. Claim not sustainable 6½ billion people Our present way of life, of producing and consuming Creates a claim on the planet’s resources that is not sustainable We want and use more than is available in a sustainable way Our ecological footprint is exceeding the sustaining / carrying capacity of the earth

6. Cultural crisis We are consuming the future Common background of the credit crisis and the ecological (and the related social) crisis: in both cases we are –Living on credit –Borrowing from the future It is in fact: –a cultural crisis, –a crisis of our western way of life Will get worse with 7, 8 or 9 billion people on the planet

7. The real challenge We have to change nature and structure of our economies, the way we cater for our needs Challenge to develop a culture, a way of life, a way of producing and consuming, which is compatible in a sustainable way with the carrying capacity of the earth That’s the big challenge

8. 2. The good news Quite achievable We have the knowledge and the related technologies to make that change. Challenge: to create –awareness –political will –capacity to execute what is needed

9. Not easy We directly counter vested interests in –Business –People’s life –National governements That’s going to be the battle especially in the Western world

10. 3. Not much of a choice No choice Major issues of our time –are global related to the very basis of life itself –require common global effort a ‘global social contract’

11. A global social contract On our national level we did it We added this on Europe level, to express our desire to have a balanced society We have to bring it on global level

12. Subsidiarity Nation states have to accept: we need dialogue and cooperation on global level The subsidiarity principle could serve us at global level The principle is about delegating to the next higer level problems you can’t solve at lower level

13. Global institutions need reform IMF and World Bank need transformation mandated to act in the interest of the world as a whole, instead of dominated by major shareholder nations only Reflecting the change: uni-polar  multi-polar world power structure Cooperation is the only way out