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How do we satisfy our need for energy and sustain the environment?
and in the future we will be looking for the new technologies to 10% of profits from major corporations, who would be members of
eventually take over in a feasible way. this club. With the money, they would prioritise investment in
aligning business and environmental interests. In order for the
We use our energy in three areas: transport, heat and electricity. investments to be approved, they would still need to follow the
What we can start doing as individuals is to economise as much as normal stakeholders’ review, but would have a more pragmatic
possible in heating our homes and in transport. The populations of approach. Membership of this club would become a prestigious label
more developed countries should stop spending so much money on that every company would like to be part of. The club itself would be
wasteful peripheries or simply excessive material that releases so organised in different specialised divisions or sectors according to the
much carbon dioxide. One regulation that could be introduced is different skills and technologies available for development.
that car manufacturers should only be allowed to produce fuel- Governments would then be encouraged to support the club not only
efficient cars. People should try to make short journeys or trips with further funds but also with policy support in their countries.
where their destination is easily reached by public transport or by
foot without using their cars. This would dramatically reduce the This club would eventually become prestigious, but before that it
amount of carbon dioxide emissions. Countries that use great would be necessary to drag the companies in and convince them of its
amounts of energy per capita such as the US should make a critical viability. There must be some appealing incentive for the first movers,
effort to reduce their energy consumption and pollution. Developing for example a marketing advantage of being a founder member of the
countries such as China and India also have a duty to stabilise their club. This initiative could create a ‘bottom-up’ approach that could
energy-intensive consumption. result in more effective and beneficial action in tackling our great
energy dilemma. If we relied only on governments and their
Everyone must contribute by any means possible, even if it is not international synchronisation, we would probably find ourselves with
leaving a light on at home when it is empty or just making the effort no time left at hand. They take far too long taking important and wide-
to recycle more. There should be incentives so that people can afford ranging decisions as they discuss the problem too much without any
to install solar panels. We cannot wait for new technology to result. On top of that, the world needs to act with an unprecedented
suddenly appear from thin air to resolve the whole puzzle. amount of co-ordination as some countries may be ruining the work of
others. Although initiatives concerning large companies can also be
The proposed initiative would be to create a ‘business and difficult to take off, they are much easier and more efficient than using
environmental club’. In loose terms, the club would collect about representatives of the government at this point in time. ■
2009 SCHOOLS ENERGY AWARDS
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