Sustainable Futures
The most severe and immediate threat to the future of humankind and other species is radical environmental change.
This was emphasised during the IAS’s previous theme on Water in 2009-2010. Naturally, the Futures theme for 2010-2011 continued work within this vital area. As well as sponsoring scientific research, the IAS also created a space for public debate and discussion about the role that science can play in developing a sustainable society.
A workshop on Sustaining Ecosystem Service Delivery in a Changing World brought together a group of leading international researchers to discuss better ways to model and predict the impact of environmental change on ecosystems that provide vital resources, crops or water. Over four days, the team probed a number of different areas, such as water resources, the carbon cycle, and the impact of climate change. The workshop concluded that current models for predicting ecosystem change are too simplistic. Because the same ecosystem may provide multiple different resources, and because the wider environment may have a complex impact on particular ecosystems, different models – such as climactic, economic, and ecological – need to be more fully integrated. A co-authored position will establish the scope and need for genuinely holistic approaches to environmental and social change, with a view to attracting more funding for this vital area of research.
Embodying the complex and conflicted problems of ecological sustainability was Paul O’Brien’s work on solar power. This is popularly labelled as a sustainable, clean and infinite energy. However, the more solar capacity is built, the more this may lead to corresponding problems elsewhere in global resource systems. Since solar panels often
Is There Life After Oil?
The UK currently requires 212 million tonnes of oil per year to sustain industry, agriculture and transport. The IAS joined forces with the Durham Energy Institute (DEI) to bring together an expert panel of speakers to discuss and debate whether Britain should try to move away from its oil dependency, and if so, to imagine what a future without oil might look like.
The panel included:
Jonathon Porritt, IAS Fellow and co-founder of Forum for the Future
Ian Marchant, Chief Executive of Scottish and Southern Electricity
Michael Izza, Chief Executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
This lively public debate was chaired by Alistair Buchanan, Chairman of Ofgem.
The Life After Oil event was co-hosted by the Durham Energy Institute. In advance of the event, the DEI published the questions that the contributors would seek to address:
www.durham.ac.uk/dei/news/?itemno=11721
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