Governance

Finland Leading the Way

Finland’s plan  to implement a basic income supplement to a sample of 100,000 people of employment age (17-65) is gaining international attention. The project objective is to give people more autonomy over their finances, and observe if people are more inclined to make different decisions if they are given more choices in their lives.

Measuring What Counts

Since COP 21 in Paris, I keep thinking and thinking about what the critical first steps are towards achieving a carbon neutral economy. First, we need to immediately end all oil and gas subsidies. Second, we need to develop a transition strategy for leaving oil in the ground, the 'stranded assets'. And third, we need to begin to measure what counts, and in this video Mathis Wackernagel explains how to measure sustainable development. At the end, he asks some very provocative questions that we should all begin to ask of ourselves and our decision makers.

 

The Next Big Question

When I first started working in the environment in the 1980s, population and consumption were integral to sustainable development discussions. The former was fraught with raging debates, deeply held values, gender and equity,never mind evoking reactions from one of the most powerful religions in the world.