Jakob Von Uexküll and the World Future Council

TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 18 Apr 2016

John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service

In a recent speech to the World Future Council, the distinguished writer, philanthropist, activist and former politician Jacob von Uexküll outlined the future dangers facing our world with an accuracy and eloquence that has seldom been equaled. Here is a link to his speech:

http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/2016/03/15/world-future-forum-2016-opening-speech-jakob-von-uexkull/

Jakob von Uexküll belongs to a brilliant family. His grandfather was a famous Baltic-German physiologist who founded the discipline of Biosemiotics. Besides being a former Member of the European Parliament and a leader of the German Green Party, von Uexküll himself founded both the Right Livelihood Award (sometimes called the Alternative Nobel Prize) and also the World Future Council.

http://www.rightlivelihood.org/

http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/

http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/gpact/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakob_von_Uexkull

Jakob Von Uexküll portrait

Here are a few excerpts from his speech:

“Today we are heading for unprecedented dangers and conflicts, up to and including the end of a habitable planet in the foreseeable future, depriving all future generations of their right to life and the lives of preceding generations of meaning and purpose.”

“This apocalyptic reality is the elephant in the room. Current policies threaten temperature increases triggering permafrost melting and the release of ocean methane hydrates which would make our earth unlivable, according to research presented by the British Government Met office at the Paris Climate Conference.”

“The myth that climate change is conspiracy to reduce freedom is spread by a powerful and greedy elite which has largely captured governments to preserve their privileges in an increasingly unequal world.”

“Long before that point, our prosperity, security, culture and identity will disintegrate. A Europe unable to cope with a few million war refugees will collapse under the weight of tens or even hundreds of millions of climate refugees.”

You may also be interested in a few links to articles reporting the drastic jump in average planetary temperature measured in February, 2016.

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/03/30/climate-change-speeding-past-stop-signs

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35398-climate-disruption-in-overdrive-submerged-cities-and-melting-that-feeds-on-itself

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/03/14/nasa-drops-major-bomb-march-toward-ever-warmer-planet

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/15/record-breaking-temperatures-have-robbed-the-arctic-of-its-winter

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35283-arctic-sea-ice-volume-nears-record-low

http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/03/does-methane-threaten-life/

https://theconversation.com/meltdown-earth-the-shocking-reality-of-climate-change-kicks-in-but-who-is-listening-56255

http://www.countercurrents.org/bardi150316.htm

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44427.htm

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35202-antarctica-on-the-brink-nasa-emeritus-scientist-warns-of-dramatic-loss-of-glaciers

http://ecowatch.com/2016/03/02/february-record-hot/

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/charctic-interactive-sea-ice-graph/

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/03/01/3754891/arctic-sea-ice-growth/

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/02/16/3749815/carbon-pollution-hottest-12-months-january/

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35468-agriculture-on-the-brink

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/03/21/after-unprecedented-year-warming-un-warns-we-must-curb-emissions-now

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/04/04/amid-climate-fueled-food-crisis-filipino-forces-open-fire-starving-farmers

http://ecowatch.com/2016/04/08/mckibben-break-free/

Jakob von Uexküll and the World Future Council remind us that the threat of climate change is an extremely severe emergency. Quick action is needed or else our future will be lost.

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John Scales Avery, Ph.D., who was part of a group that shared the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize for their work in organizing the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, is a member of the TRANSCEND Network and Associate Professor Emeritus at the H.C. Ørsted Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is chairman of both the Danish National Pugwash Group and the Danish Peace Academy and received his training in theoretical physics and theoretical chemistry at M.I.T., the University of Chicago and the University of London. He is the author of numerous books and articles both on scientific topics and on broader social questions. His most recent book is Civilization’s Crisis in the 21st Century (pdf).

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 18 Apr 2016.

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