‘I am old, I am depressed, I’ve been working on sustainability for 40 years and it only got worse.’ No your usual opening for a motivational speech. But Randers made up for it later in the video (see below).
Long ago, in 1972, Randers was one of the co-authors of the shocking book ‘Limits to Growth’. It was the world’s first computer simulation of the future and the picture it painted was far from rosy. Depletion of raw materials, increasing pollution, and overpopulation were the trends.
In his talk for the Delft Energy Initiative, Randers looked ahead. His talk was titled ‘What is likely to happen in world energy to 2052? – What could be done to create a better future?’
Randers believes that in 40 years’ time we will still have the same amount of strive and local wars as we have now. The reason being that people who feel dispossessed will feel forced to take action. The political environment determines which form that action will take.
He recommends that people should focus less on economic growth and more on well-being. More on his views can be found on his website or in his book ‘2052, A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years’.
For those who missed the talk on Monday: watch it here.
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