What is being claimed as the world’s first realistic model of a sustainable world in 2020, project 'Sustainia', was launched on 7 March by the head of the new initiative, former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The rationale behind Sustainia is that we can’t see or feel what a sustainable society is, and until we do we will never succeed in convincing decision makers to make the changes necessary. We need a tangible idea of how it will improve quality of life for people and communities around the world, and to identify the organisations, companies and persons who can make it happen.
Schwarzenegger is joined on the Sustainia committee by three prominent sustainability activists, leaders, the European Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, the Chairman of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri and the Special Envoy on Climate Change to the UN, Gro Harlem Brundtland, who founded the global sustainability agenda 20 years ago at the first Rio conference in 1992 on sustainable development.
Sustainia, says its initiators, is a virtual model of the world we could create if we implemented ready and available solutions to our existing cities, homes, energy systems, transportation etc. Developers have started the process of building Sustainia. In the coming months, everyone with an internet access can visit, inhabit and help build the new world on a virtual construction site.
The vision is presented in the book Guide to Sustainia which was developed by Scandinavian think tank Monday Morning in a collaborative effort with 16 global companies including Microsoft, GE, DNV, Philips Lighting, DONG Energy, Tetra Pak, and Cisco, and other experts. Since the launch in October 2011, a consortium of Scandinavian companies and partners (DONG Energy, Realdania, DNV and Novo Nordisk), UN Global Compact and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new climate initiative R 20 - Regions for Climate Action - has seen the potential of further developing Sustainia into a new global innovation and communication platform. The concept will be presented to world leaders in June this year, at the Rio+20 Summit in Brazil, alongside a catalogue – “Sustainia100” - of 100 concrete solutions and technologies that will help make the vision real.
Arnold Schwarzenegger commented “The era of talk is over. It is time for action – and the companies, institutions and persons who represent green solutions are the new breed of action heroes whose efforts we should celebrate and encourage”. EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, commented: ”Our greatest challenge as leaders is to connect with people and communities around the world. Sustainia is a way to do this. To give people a clear picture of what their lives could be like in a sustainable future - and how it will improve our health, our environment, our economy. Sustainia’s unique approach to communicating what is often complex for people to understand will be a great tool for political leaders”.
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