Futurologist Martin Kruse at the conference Future Tense he spoke about sustainability and the huge changes the world is going through and what it will mean for business. But we also asked him how we as individuals can become sustainable.
– It is actually quite easy to become more sustainable as an individual, but it is difficult to make that change. You must stop eating meat, not driving a car. But the problem is that we would have to give up everything we are used to and that’s where change becomes difficult – he said and added that as consumers and citizens, technology does not help us because prices have not fallen that much, but regulation does not help us because it does not push companies and we have, they say, a mismatch between consumers, the regulatory environment and companies.
He adds that we need an international agreement, we have not had much success in reaching an agreement on joint global action.
– We had it about reducing the hole in the ozone layer, but that’s it – he added.
– You can be skeptical, but I see things like this: We can start to change now or we will be forced to change later. It is a bullet that cannot be avoided – said Kruse.
When asked about the importance for companies to become green ‘today’ and not tomorrow, he answers that there is a cost risk for those who decide to be proactive, therefore it makes more sense for many to create these competencies in-house so that go on that journey.
– Being the ‘best in class’ costs money and only a few companies can afford it – he said.
How realistic is it that these companies will introduce rapid changes, we ask Kruse.
– I talk to many different companies and even Fortune 500 companies and they are making changes. It is extremely difficult and they are actually asking regulators to create stricter regulations because it makes it easier for them to have some security in a competitive environment. But they really try and are committed to it – he answers.
Many try to be greener by paying compensation for their carbon footprint, and Kruse responds that this does not reduce emissions in the long term, does not remove CO2 from the atmosphere and does not support technological change.
– In the end, we won’t have enough wood and it’s basically a cheap attempt. But I think it makes sense when you do both. In those areas where it is very, very expensive for you to engage, it is better to buy trees and then focus on areas where costs are lower and where technological change can be made because it must be a sustainable direction of business – he says.
The pandemic, the crisis in Ukraine, and global insecurities have strongly affected supply chains, while people still have their own expectations about products and goods, and Kruse points out that a cultural change awaits us on a personal level. , where we will have to emulate our grandparents and the world in which they lived.
– They focused on resources and saw value in them. We live in a consumer society where it has become normal not to worry, what’s more, this lack of concern is institutionalized – said Kruse, adding that we have to come to an attitude when we go to the store and they tell us that they don’t have something we asked for, so we have to do something else or we will face a high cost.
Speaking about the changes that await us, he pointed out the CBAM regulation (Mechanism for carbon border adjustment) of the EU from 2026, which, he says, will bring balance.
– We are used to Europe having a stricter regulatory system than the rest of the world, and China having a freer attitude towards the environment, but also a cheap life. Europe wanted to tell them, OK, you pay the CO2 tax in China, fine, but you have to pay the same CO2 tax in Europe or China – he said.
He also commented that the American tariffs of 100 percent on electric cars from China are a terrible decision.
– This is a new industrial revolution and China has noticed it. They positioned themselves to dominate solar, wind, electric cars, everything because they know what’s coming and that’s how they position themselves. The Americans, on the other hand, sat and pretended that the world of the past would also be the world of the future, but it wasn’t – he pointed out.
‘It will be difficult to recognize that society’
Kruse also commented on climate change and global warming and the future that awaits the next generation, which we also have to think about.
– We are talking about long-term changes that are more important. initiated and accelerating. The changes that we will have to make through our society will be so radical that it will be difficult to recognize that society. The concern is that he will have to receive that strong blow, while we can receive a blow now, which is quite weaker in comparison. But that means that we have to recognize the threat to people other than us, and here it all boils down to empathy and thinking about how other people will live in the future. I think the life of our children and grandchildren will be much more difficult – said Kruse.
He does not see any ‘silver bullet’ that would solve our problems. He says that it has become a ‘techno-utopia’, that we don’t have to do something because something will appear someday that will save us.
– There is no technology that would do that, but there are technologies that we can start applying, and some we will be forced to, such as GMOs. Ž do we want to change the organism of the planet? The way would be to change the way the algae take in CO2 from the air. But you don’t want to mess with the climate like that. They could suddenly upset the balance and turn things in a different direction. But if we exceed the increase in temperature by 2050 or 2060, we will have to start working on extracting C02 from the atmosphere and spend huge sums on it because we will have to – he said.