Since Take Lead in October 2011 and the release of the Guide to Sustainia, Green Growth Leaders has bit by bit been implemented into the Sustainia vision. This merger is now complete, and all future publications, events and papers will be released on the Sustainia website.

All the knowledge and inspiring research accumulated during the Green Growth Leaders initiative is constantly being implemented into the Sustainia project and is helping bring about a new holistic and realistic vision of the future sustainable society. The launch of the Sustainia Guide to Copenhagen 2025 and the presentation of the Sustainia index on June 4^th 2012 in Copenhagen marked the beginning of the collaboration between Green Growth Leaders and Sustainia.

Consequently, Sustainia gained more success with a strong presence at the Rio +20 summit and with The Sustainia Award Committee being chaired by strong climate figures such as Arnold Schwarzenegger (Honorary Chair of the Committee), Connie Hedegaard (European Commissioner for Climate Action), Gro Harlem Brundtland (Former Prime Minister of Norway and Former Director General of WHO) and Dr. Pachauri (Chair of the IPCC), it has been decided to join the forces of Green Growth Leaders with the Sustainia project in the future. See photos from the Sustainia Rio +20 event here.

The Sustainia vision was initially sparked by the work of Green Growth Leaders and the Project Green Light and has since evolved to become a focal point for communicating a sustainable future based on concrete and tangible know-how and technologies. The vision is to create a global collaborative platform for building a model and vision for a sustainable future.

STAY TUNED WITH SUSTAINIA

We invite and encourage all members, affiliates and followers of the Green Growth Leaders initiative to sign up for the Sustainia newsletter here and follow us on twitter and facebook.  In this way, you are able to stay updated on future development of this Green Growth Leaders-born project.

GREEN GROWTH LEADERS REPORTS AND KNOWLEDGE

Since its inception in September 2010, GGL has released 5 major publication and featured in numerous columns, debates and essays in various media, here amongst The Huffington Post and Greenbiz. It has been an eye-opening and inspiring journey to follow the Green Growth Leaders initiative, and valuable insights, discussions and reasearch has lead to invaluable knowledge. To make sure that nothing is lost, all Green Growth Leaders publications will for future reference be available on the Monday Morning website – see links below.

-       Shaping the Green Economy

-       Green Growth: From Religion to Reality

-       The Greatest Story Never Told

-       Guide to Sustainia

-       Copenhagen Beyond Green

We want to thank you all for having been a part of this very fruitful initiative and for your active engagement in brining into light the benefits and possibilities of green growth.

- The Green Growth Leaders Secretariat.

Graham Hill

Mr. Hill, an icon of the contemporary eco-movement, is the Vice President of Interactive Media at Discovery Channel’s Planet Green and the founder of Treehugger.com.

Trehugger is an online hub for news and information related to environmental sustainability and is often referred to as “The Green CNN”. It has since its inception become one of the most high-profile and highly-trafficked sites on the internet.

Mr. Hill has previously been profiled in magazines such as Vanity Fair and Time, and holds a degree in architecture from Carleton University in Ottawa.

Mr. Hills will be delivering a key-note speech on the topic: “The development of the green economy and cities as drivers for a sustainable society”

Read more about the event here.

On several occasions has Mr. Hill adressed the issues of scarcity of resources and sustainability at large, hereamongst a few TED talks which can be seen below.

Green Growth Leaders is happy to announce the plans for 2012. The year’s activities reflect the exciting opportunities and new ideas to document, demonstrate and communicate the benefits of green growth, that have surfaced the last year. Below you will find a short description of the individual projects and some of the dates that you should reserve already now.

Activities for 2012

The Index-  Launch June 4th, 2012

As an economic and political concept green growth is still in its infancy. Literature, data, and research is limited and knowledge is fragmented, despite political declarations. The Index will address this uncertainty. Based on the best available know-how, it will provide decision makers with tools to assess how and if the global economy and individual nations are making progress towards a more sustainable economic model. The Index will propose a set of quantitative indicators for the green economy, and on this basis rank nations according to their performance in all three dimensions of sustainability: Economic, social and environmental. It will track the global trend, and in addition deliver qualitative criteria for business and cities that advance the green economy.

Guide to Copenhagen 2025-  launch June 4th, 2012

Guide to Copenhagen 2025 develops and distributes a storytelling model for cities that demonstrate how green growth goes beyond energy and clean-tech and creates sustainable living which benefits the individual citizen in terms of health, safety, and quality of life. Guide to Copenhagen 2025 introduces visitors, investors and Copenhageners to the carbon neutral city in 2025 with new neighborhoods, sights, ways to get around, places to see and things to shop. It  includes the traditional chapters such as: “History”, “People and culture”, “Getting around”, “Architecture” and is built on the existing plans for Copenhagen to ensure a solid point of departure and display a desirable, but realistic and tangible image.

The Socio-Economic Effects of Sustainable Buildings

During Take Lead – as documented in the whitepaper – we were able to identify a number of examples of potential societal gains from sustainable retrofitting and new buildings, due to improved indoor climate, fresh air and light. Buildings was the theme where the co-benefits were most evident and big. These included avoided health costs (e.g. allergies), improved learning environment at schools and universities, increased productivity in workplaces, environmental benefits and improvement in the quality of life. The study will seek to decument the potential effects of more sustainable houses, offices, schools etc. in terms of increased livability, productivity and learning

Millenium Trial: Making the Case for the Green Economy

A combined expert workshop and youth event to debate and communicate the evidence behind sustainable growth. Green Growth Leaders stages a trial (including court room, lawyers, jurors, indictment etc), where international “green economists” seek to prove to “traditional economists” that sustainable investments pay off for society as a whole – attended by a jury and an audience of future generations- the young students.

I have just returned to Norway after three exciting and fast-moving days at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi. It left me with many varied impressions. Key decision makers, such as China’s prime minister Wen Jiabao, the UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon and the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Rajendra Pachauri, as well as a number of business leaders, shared their thoughts on global challenges – including those linked to how we can transform today’s energy systems so that they are both sustainable and ensure access to energy for everyone. This is the fourth time I have attended this conference. What was new this time was the acknowledgement that renewable energy must to an even greater extent be looked at together with economic growth, climate changes and the combating of poverty.

The most interesting speeches were those given by Ban Ki-Moon and Wen Jiabao during the opening ceremony. The UN General Secretary is clear about the fact that reducing poverty and achieving access to clean energy go hand in hand, and took the opportunity in Abu Dhabi to launch 2012 as the international year for sustainable energy for everyone. The goal is to ensure universal access to modern energy; to double the rate of improvements in energy efficiency and double the percentage of renewable energy in the global energy supply. All this by 2030.

Wen Jiabao, on his part, referred to how China – by working in a targeted fashion and with a long-term view – is achieving impressive results when it comes to creating economic growth, ensuring access to energy, increasing the share of renewable energy, promoting energy efficiency and, not least, lifting its population out of poverty. And as if that is not enough – China’s industry is winning increasingly strong global positions in the renewable energy field.

The Chinese authorities and industry were absolutely present at WFES!

Renewable energy

I took part in a panel debate on renewable energy and the challenges and opportunities currently facing this industry. Perhaps the greatest challenge is the price compared to that of conventional forms of energy. Renewable energy is still more expensive if you look at the price per kilowatt-hour.

However, that is an isolated way to look at reality.

If you look at the extra costs which the use of fossil fuels incurs for society in relation to the environment, climate adaptations and health, then the picture looks different – naturally in favour of renewable energy sources. If you add that fossil energy is subsidised by more than USD 400 billion each year, it can be seen that there are opportunities for accelerating the transformation – if you want to.

Another challenge facing the renewables industry is the financial crisis. The current economic climate has led to tighter reins – and governments worldwide are being forced to focus on ways of reducing their budgets. As a result, there is greater pressure on the incentive mechanisms and measures which are intended to pave the way for the development of renewable energy and low-carbon technology.

The truth is to be found in the whole

The atmosphere at the WFES was serious. We must act now! Even during a period when the economic framework conditions are forcing politicians and authorities to focus on short-term solutions and priorities. But the atmosphere was also one of hope that public and private players can together deal with a lot of the challenges facing the world, including in the renewable energy field. Compared to previous years, the discussion was more integrated – renewable energy was not discussed on its own but instead together with related issues, such as climate change, poverty and economic growth. That was very positive.

To put it briefly – renewable energy is a necessary part of the energy mix of the future. But in order for renewable energy to reach its potential, it must become more competitive.

So what is necessary?

- We must invest a lot more in research into, and the development of, renewable energy and associated low-carbon technologies and systems.

- In addition, we must acknowledge that the entire energy system must be transformed if we are to be able to arrange for a more sustainable energy mix.

- Renewable energy is still more expensive than fossil fuels if you look at the price per kilowatt-hour. But we must get better at seeing all of the costs which follow from the various energy sources. That means not just comparing prices – but also comparing the costs to society.

- We need robust, predictable, long-term incentive schemes and mechanisms that can pave the way for necessary investments and innovation. And the authorities must implement long-term policies when it comes to necessary infrastructure and transmission networks.

- Finally, public and private players must work together – at both a local and national level – to meet the challenges currently facing renewable energy. In addition, the politicians must invite industry to have greater contact in order to find good solutions.

Naturally all these elements are connected. And, in the same way as the debate in Abu Dhabi, they show that Gro Harlem Brundtland’s words that “everything is connected to everything else” really are true when it comes to transforming entire energy systems. I would contend that such integrated thinking is necessary to ensure sustainable energy systems for this and future generations.

However, integrated thinking is not enough. It must be supported by specific actions and measures now. In that sense, Wen Jiabao’s opening speech in Abu Dhabi was a breath of fresh air.

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Also see: Research and Innovation Key to Drive Green Energy Growth 

Energy savings – the cheap shortcut to a fossil free society

Energy savings are crucial if we are to reduce our use of fossil fuels. The potential for energy savings is especially high in the public sector and buildings and represents an export market for energy efficiency technologies. Studies show that investments in energy savings are much more cost efficient than other energy investments.

Drivers of energy effciency in buildings

A recent global survey from the Institute for Building Efficiency identified the top three global drivers for energy effiency to be: cost savings, incentives and public image. The drivers are said to be the forces that will unleash the trillion dollar potential of energy effciency.

Danish technology makes your operations “Lean”

Productivity is essential to compete in global markets. Energy crises, skyrocketing taxes and record-high wages have turned Danes into productivity experts. In Southern Denmark, these competencies become solutions that make operations lean, speed up processes and save companies money.

The report will also give you knowledge of energy solutions that are ready and available today. Solutions that saves energy and grows the economy

The report can be downloaded for free here

Simple as it may sound, this was in many ways a pioneering effort.
Our understanding of the term “sustainable growth” – i.e. how can improving the environment help grow the economy – is still in its infancy, as documented in the reports prepared for the event.

Mapping the potentials of a green economy is even harder, but nevertheless necessary if we want to create the enthusiasm and ownership needed to accelerate the transition. So this was what we tried to do.

The whitepaper captures this effort. It represents only part of the picture - but it is an important first step along the way – and the collective knowledge of a large and important multi stakeholder expert group, from architects, economists, anthropologists, technologists, policy makers, designers, urban planners to NGO’s, diplomats, ministers and communicators from many regions around the world, participating on behalf of a far reaching network of organizations, institutions and corporations. Most of the delegates were experts in a variety of sectors and functions, many of them also leaders and decision makers.

The purpose of the excercise was to qualify the global discussion on green growth and sustainability and share insights and best practice.

The whitepaper is formally handed over to the OECD, the EU Commission for Climate Action, the C40, Eurocities, the Danish Government and the UN Global Compact in preparation for the Rio+20 Summit. It is our hope that it will also inspire colleagues around the world, sharing our mission.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners and all delegates who contributed to the success of Take Lead and the collaborative wisdom that we share in this whitepaper.

In coming years, the Green Growth Leaders will build on this platform – and we invite you to do the same.

READ THE WHITEPAPER FROM TAKE LEAD HERE

Ranbir Saran Das

Written by Mr. Ranbir Saran Das, Green Growth Councilor and Founder and Managing Director of Fairwood Group of Companies

Urban Mobility is one of the major issues facing the world today, especially in the rapidly growing cities in the developing world. Traffic problems, air pollution, noise pollution, inefficient systems are just a few of the problems which are today plaguing transportation. Most transportation systems in existence today are financially unviable and therefore government funded, and they suffer from significant quality and management issues.

Fairwood believes that green Initiatives are not just about Corporate and Social Responsibility  activities, but are a fundamentally sound investment. We believe that green initiatives should be the focus of economic activities of any company which is serious about the environment – and this is also the focus of Fairwood.

The legacy and baggage of mature urban transportation systems in the developed world (mainly focused around the car), has institutionalized significant vested interests, sometimes stifling the development of new and cleaner technologies. Although some advancement has occurred over the years, they have been in incremental stages, and still have the foundation in existing systems. They still use a lot of energy and pollute a lot, and are not even designed to transport people in mass quantities in cities. The problems are severe in rapidly urbanising economies – China, India and others.

Something has to break. When Jakarta is likely to reach gridlock by 2014, when more than 100,000 people die in road accidents in India, when Saigon has no road space for even scooters during rush hour, and when Beijing has a 4 day traffic jam – it is time to re-think transportation. The car created wealth for the world for over 100 years, but it is now a significant contributor to the degradation of the planet. How many lanes, fly-overs, by-passes, can you build in a crowded city? The need of the hour is to create a transportation system for the next century that is clean, green, rapid, and easy to overlay in dense urban settings. The Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) promises to be a new age urban mobility solution. Fairwood is “leading the way” in spearheading PRT applications in the Asian cities.

Mass transit systems are designed to carry a large number of people, but suffer from inadequate last-mile coverage and rarely provide “full journey” solutions. Many large cities in Asia have implemented very small mass transit systems – subways, urban trains, bus rapid transit, monorail, etc. – in some parts. Many others have major projects underway. But these mass transit systems require a lot of time and investment to setup and run, especially if the value of urban land is factored into the project cost. Bangalore’s plan of over $2.0 bn for a metro-rail system will provide a coverage for only 4 % of it’s population, and will take 4 years to build. Delhi has taken 15 years of sustained metro development to reach a very basic coverage – London has taken many decades for the Underground to have great coverage.

The flood of urbanisation does not afford us the luxury of time.

So, what is a good transportation system? What attributes must it possess, to create a new paradigm for the new century? Here is what we thought a new system must possess:

• ·         On-call, no waiting
• ·         Full journey solution
• ·         High capacity
• ·         Low carbon footprint
• ·         No conflict, no casualty
• ·         Rapid, time saving
• ·         Personal
• ·         Comfortable, secure
• ·         Cheap fares
• ·         Intelligent
• ·         Easy and fast, overlay in dense areas

But most of all, it must take cars off the road. Many systems aspire for such ambitions.

These defining characteristics of the PRT system make it uniquely positioned as a new form of urban transportation. Being a personal transport, people will prefer it to mass transit systems. The system is built in such a way that usually a pod is waiting for the passenger rather than a passenger waiting for the pod. Due to stations being offline and the automated controlling of pods, journeys are non stop and without any conflict. This makes the system very efficient, as capacity is only used when it is required and there is no wastage. PRT uses only 0.5 MJoules of energy per passenger km, which is 72% less than cars, and 50% less than trains or buses.

Personal rapid transit system

Fairwood has been working to bring this system to India for last 3 years. Six projects with a cumulative capital expenditure of over US$ 5 Billion are currently under advanced discussion/negotiations with city authorities in India, Vietnam and Indonesia. Once implemented these projects will result in 60% saving in travel time, and reduce ambient pollution levels in the project areas. Currently, one project in Amritsar connecting Golden Temple to other transportation hubs of the city is under the final bidding process – the first urban PRT project in the world.

One of Green Growth Leaders’ main focus is to achieve transformative change in the global energy systems – in generation, in distribution, and in application.

Our energy systems are outdated, dirty, and unsustainable. The world is in desperate need of a clean, renewable, and cheap source of energy. The sun is the most abundant source of energy in  the world. A miniscule percentage of the sun’s energy falling on earth every hour is enough for the entire energy needs of the world for an entire year. Fairwood is working towards harnessing of this unending clean source of energy through photovoltaic materials. Fairwood has formed a Joint venture with Solar Green, a Canada based company – the new company has been named Fairwood Solar Green.

As compared to conventional solar cell efficiencies of 15-17%, our technology called “Wavicle™” is capable of producing modules which are 23% efficient, with a 40% higher plant load factor. This breakthrough was achieved by using a mixture of Silicon and Carbon as a base substrate rather than just pure Silicon. This allows us to capture more energy from sun’s rays. The presence of carbon in substrate allows the cell to perform in a much higher temperature range as compared to normal Silicon based cells. These cells are able to capture light at oblique angles allowing our panels to give almost a 40% higher plant load factor. Since, no tracking is required, the capital cost of tracking and higher maintenance cost of tracking is avoided.

The twin advantage of higher efficiency and higher plant load factor by using this technology means that once solar panels made through this technology become widely available, it will be possible to produce energy from the sun at a cost which is cheaper than energy from oil or gas or coal – achieving the Holy Grail of Grid Parity.

Fairwood is working on setting up a wafer, cell and module fabrication unit in India for production of the panels. A poly-silicon plant is a probable future initiative. The fabrication unit will be an integrated unit. The project will have a starting manufacturing capacity of 480 MW in the initial years, scaling up to 12GW by the 10th year of operation – a truly mega project. The initial capital expenditure, of the first phase, will be $1 billion. The project when fully operational will help in powering up millions of homes using clean and green energy across India and the world.

Going beyond what is the norm in industry, Fairwood is also committing to putting up a plasma gasification waste disposal plant so as to dispose of the used solar panels at the end of their natural life of 25 years.

Fairwood believes that solar is not an alternative energy source, but the future main-stream energy for the world.

Apart from these initiatives our other work in creating new and sustainable cities is continuing, with work going on in 3 new city design assignments. Also our work on creating waste-to-energy projects, using Plasma Gasification technology is also underway, albeit not at the speed we would like.

Fairwood firmly believes that green growth is not just about is not about following the norms and benchmarks, but about setting them and taking the road not taken.

What is not as well known about being a green city are the social and economic benefits. The study documents that Copenhagen’s green city strategy has not only brought great reductions in the CO2 emissions, decreased pollution, created several green jobs and produced annual growth rates of an impressive 12 percent in the green sector. The city’s green ambitions have also triggered a great improvement of the quality of life for the citizens of Copenhagen and created growth, export and job opportunities throughout the entire economy of the city – not just in the clean-tech sector.

The mission of Green Growth Leaders is to examine the evidence of green growth and document the benefits. It is from this starting point we set out to examine the economic and social benefits of green initiatives in Copenhagen. What we have learned is that urban green investments offer benefits far beyond environmental. What we have found is evidence of how sustainable life can be more fun, more profitable, and healthier, than ordinary life. 

You can download the study here 

"Guide to Sustainia" An outcome of the Project Green Light

This is a book about making what may seem impossible a reality. About creating a better future. We know climate change is real; it changes our planet and seriously affects the people who share it. Curbing climate change is a real challenge. The Guide to Sustainia sets a new tone in communication about sustainability. Rather than representing a future of sacrifices and restraints, Sustainia shows us how sustainable solutions can contribute to real improvements in people’s lives.

Sustainia is a realistic vision. We hope it will inspire real change. Download “Guide to Sustainia” here.

Please contact Ms Laura Storm on lss@mm.dk for more information and partner opportunities. If you are interested in ordering a hard copy (20 euros plus VAT), please contact Ms Solvej Karlshøj Christiansen at skc@mm.dk

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Until 2009, conventional wisdom was that governments and intergovernmental institutions were the political powers responsible for tackling global climate change. Since then however, the wheel of history has turned and it seems that cities and businesses are now the ones looking after our planet. How can governments re-take the lead in advancing green growth? Moderated by Per Meilstrup, Climate Director at Monday Morning the two key actors of COP 15 set out to discuss just that. View or revisit the session here