Sex... is it good for the environment?
‘SEX is better than commuting,” according to the esteemed Nordic Council, an official organisation set up to increase co-operation in the Nordic region.
Last month the Nordic Council of Ministers and the European Environment Agency held a seminar in conjunction with United Nations (UN) meetings on sustainable development. Consumer organisations, the business sector, NGOs and government agencies were in attendance.
Amongst the conclusions, they found there seems to be a reverse relationship between energy consumption and wellbeing.
“From that perspective, sex is at the top of the sustainability scale and commuting at the bottom,” they concluded.
Presumably they are not talking about body energy consumption but rather energy consumption that pollutes the environment with nasty carbon (shouldn’t we ban carbon altogether?).
The Nordic Council said that traditionally, sustainability discussions have followed two tracks: either you believe that the technology evolution will fix Earth’s so-called problems or you argue that there is a need for lifestyle changes. And what better a lifestyle change than to ditch commuting in favour of sex? But then how are you supposed to get to work? This question remains unanswered.
Seminar luminary John Holmberg, from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, said a stronger focus on wellbeing, a kind of simple living approach, may be much better at solving the problems caused by increased energy consumption.
Research in Sweden found that a 10 per cent rise in income led to an eight per cent increase in energy use. However, this did not lead to an increase in happiness.
Mr Holmberg thinks that adding the wellbeing factor into the equation to create a more sustainable world may well be the way out of the current energy consumption and climate issue.
Surprisingly, Mr Holmberg claimed that countries like Britain are now looking at parameters of happiness along with more traditional economic figures to inform policy decisions for the future.
I once asked a Swedish journalist friend her opinion of the Nordic Council and she dismissed it as an expensive, bureaucratic talking shop. Well, the PR from the council about this recent seminar says: “At stake is, amongst other things, a new 10-year framework programme for sustainable consumption and production.” What could be more pressing than a 10-year framework… maybe a roadmap or regeneration plan?
And in the spirit of all good bureaucratic organisations I learned that “the expert seminar was organised by the Working Group for Sustainable Consumption and Production under the Nordic Council of Ministers in conjunction with the European Environment Agency and its Topic Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production.” Phew.
SOMEWHAT more comprehensible, recent work by the Nordic Council found that for each US dollar spent on education of girls you get five times as much carbon dioxide reduction as you get by investing in energy efficiency. Presumably we are talking about emissions here.
Those at the seminar debated the role of sustainable consumption and production in a green economy. They also focused on the role of women in the economy and the importance of engaging people in creating a sustainable future.
At the meeting, Danish environment minister Karen Ellemann said that if all public sector IT purchases worldwide were made following the energy-saving practices employed in Copenhagen, it would save the equivalent of the annual energy consumption of a country like Hungary.
“What we need is smart governance, especially locally, to enable us to go together towards a green economy,” said European Environment Agency executive director Jacqueline McGlade. If only “smart governance” was taking place at the Highland Council when it was overseeing Caithness Heat and Power, or any governance whatsoever.
UN Environment Programme director Ashok Khosla concluded that we should look especially at the empowerment of young women.
“The cost of saving one tonne of carbon dioxide is 25 to 50 US dollars if you do it by increasing energy efficiency. By investing five to 10 dollars in the education of young girls you get the same result,” said Mr Khosla.
No figures were given for the relationship between investing in mixed gender or boys’ education and carbon dioxide reduction.
Interesting though these findings are, one has to wonder how much money was being spent, or energy expended producing such data. Will this have any effect on sustainable development and the carbon economy?
The sustainability issue has recently been communicated in a different way by pressure group Greenpeace, which has come up with a treasure hunt in the UK to find “Chainsaw Barbie”. The campaign was drawn up in response to Barbie producer Mattel making Barbie’s packaging from Indonesian rainforests.
“Thousands and thousands of people have shared Barbie’s dirty secret on Facebook and Twitter. The pressure is mounting and you can be part of the next activity to expose Barbie’s role in deforestation,” Greenpeace exhorts.
“Our investigation and testing of Barbie’s packaging revealed her boxes are made from Indonesia’s rainforests which are vital to the continued survival of endangered orangutans and Sumatran tigers and for keeping our climate on an even keel,” it said.
“Not content with the devastation in Indonesia, Barbie is now on the rampage in the UK. Hundreds of Chainsaw Barbie dolls, each brandishing a pink chainsaw, are hidden across the country and I’m relying on you to help track them down.
“It’s a treasure hunt, but you’ll be searching for Barbies instead of gold. Once you’ve captured one of your own, you’ll be a member of our Barbie Investigation Bureau. We’ll send you further special assignments to end the malevolent mannequin’s tyranny.”
I have checked out Greenpeace’s online map and it seems that the nearest Chainsaw Barbies are in Dundee, but if you have one at home, you could always take a chainsaw to it yourself, or a pair of sharp scissors (kids should ask an adult to supervise).
Greenpeace’s advice for folks who are not near a Chainsaw Barbie is to make your own (www.greenpeace.org.uk
“Barbie could be hiding in a church, a fountain, behind a banner or up a tree. Keep your eyes peeled, and you might even spot one by chance,” says Greenpeace.
Or you could try looking in a nightclub on a Saturday night!
Corrina Thomson can be contacted via Facebook and followed on Twitter.