Lester Brown
17 May 2006 - Last night Lester
Brown, environmental thinker, visionary, author
and activist spoke to the Scientific Committee
and staff of the EEA. The subject was his latest
book entitled, 'Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet
Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble'.
Brown states his view of the
human dilemma quite clearly: "Our global
civilization today is on an economic path that
is environmentally unsustainable, a path that
is leading us toward economic decline and possible
collapse."
"We have the technologies
needed to build the new economy. We can see how
to build the new economy brick by brick. With
each wind farm, rooftop solar panel, and reforestation
program, we move closer to an economy that can
sustain economic progress," he says.
Described by the Washington
Post as 'one of the world's most influential thinkers',
Brown started his career as a farmer, growing
tomatoes in southern New Jersey with his younger
brother during high school and college. Now, established
as one of the world's most widely published authors
he is founder and president of the Earth Policy
Institute, a US-based independent environmental
research organization.
Information out in the
open
17 May 2006 - A new outdoor
photo exhibition with an environmental focus and
titled "Spirit of the wild" opens on
one of the main squares in downtown Copenhagen
on 16 May (http://uk.earthmatters.dk/).The exhibition
runs until end of October before moving on to
other European capitals such as Stockholm, London
and Amsterdam. The Agency has delivered an ''environmental
timeline'', and articles on climate change, ecological
footprint and sustainable development to the exhibition,
and Agency staff will also offer presentations
on relevant environment issues for visiting school
classes. Interested teachers should
The Agency participates with
an exhibition stand on City Hall Square at the
awareness-raising Copenhagen Environment Festival,
arranged by the Copenhagen municipality for the
tenth consecutive year (http://www.miljoefestival.dk/).
The theme of this year's festival, and the Agency
stand, is "consumption and the environment",
and a chief aim is to raise awareness among the
young, urban and affluent in Copenhagen of the
environmental consequences of their consumer choices.
The EEA stand contains both informative and more
playful elements like a quiz and a pc-based consumer
test. The festival runs between 17 and 21 May.
In early June the face of the
Agency's main building will be covered by a large
banner with the slogan "Contribute to limiting
climate change". This is done as part of
an ambitious climate change awareness raising
campaign across Europe arranged by the Commission's
Directorate General for environment, DGENV. The
campaign is to run until January 2007. This campaign
too highlights the links between consumer choices
and environmental impacts - in this case on greenhouse
gas emissions.
