science policy perspective

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 1

The Sustainability Imperative despite Staggering and Interconnected Crises Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 2

300 years Hans Carl von Carlowitz

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 3

• Efficiency • Substitution • „Engineering“ • Sufficiency

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 4

• Acceleration of knowledge: acceleration of change

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 5

„The extent of our knowledge must be equivalent to the consequences of our

actions!“

(Hans Jonas)

Dimension „Time“

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 6

Potsdam Memorandum 2007

„Human activities are a quasi-geological

force.“

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 7

“Mankind will remain a major environmental force for many millennia.

A daunting task lies ahead for scientists and engineers to guide society towards environmentally

sustainable management during the era of the Anthropocene.

This will require appropriate human behaviour at all scales, and may well involve internationally

accepted, large-scale geo-engineering projects, for instance to ‘optimize’ climate.”

(Paul Crutzen, Nature 2002)

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 8

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 9

"Human dominance of biological, chemical and geological processes on Earth is already an undeniable

reality,…"

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 10

“…It's no longer us against 'Nature.' Instead, it's we who

decide what nature is and what it will be.“

(Paul Crutzen, The geology of mankind, Nature 2002)

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 11

„Nature is over“

(Time Magazine, März 2012, Bryan Walsh)

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 12

That are changing your life

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 13

„Das Wissen muss dem kausalen Ausmaß unseres Handelns größengleich sein!“

(Hans Jonas)

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 14

„A daunting task lies ahead for scientists and engineers to guide society towards

environmentally sustainable management during the era of the Anthropocene.…“

(Crutzen, 2002)

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 15

• Geo-Engineering

• Nature-Engineering

• Climate Engineering

„Engineering“

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 16

Natur im Anthropozän

• Hybridisierung von „Natur“

• „Natur im 21. Jahrhundert wird vom Menschen gemacht sein. “ (Daniel Botkin, 1990)

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 17

• Langfristige Konsequenzen des Handelns

vs.

• Diktat der Kurzfristigkeit der Entscheidungen

TINA: There is no alternative

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 18

Das „Urbane Millennium“

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 19

Wirtschaft Soziales Umwelt

Governance

Wirtschaft

Wirtschaft

Soziales

Funktionen von Städten

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 20

„Make all cities

socially inclusive,

economically productive,

environmentally sustainable,

secure,

and resilient to climate change and other risks.

Develop

participatory,

accountable,

and effective governance to support rapid and equitable urban transformation.“

Ein „Sustainable Development Goal“ für Städte

(The Leadership Council of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, 2013)

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 21

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 22

Perspektive

• „Die Risiken der Automationsarbeit“, Johannes Weyer, 1997

• Den menschlichen Entscheider durch den Einsatz von Informationstechnologien tendenziell zu eliminieren

• Anthropozän 2.0?

IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer 23

Vielen Dank für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit!

Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies e.V. Berliner Straße 130 D – 14467 Potsdam

Web: www.iass-potsdam.de