Jakob von Uexküll And The World Future Council
By John Scales Avery
11 April, 2016
Countercurrents.org
In a recent speech to the World Future Council, the distinguished writer, philanthropist, activist and former politician Jacob von Uexküll outlined the future dangers facing our world with an accuracy and eloquence that has seldom been equaled. Here is a link to his speech:
Jakob von Uexküll belongs to a brilliant family. His grandfather was a famous Baltic-Genman physiologist who founded the discipline of Biosemiotics. Besides being a former Member of the European Parliament and a leader of the German Green Party, von Uexküll himself founded both the Right Livlihood Award (sometimes called the Alternative Nobel Prize) and also the World Future Council.
http://www.rightlivelihood.org/
http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/
http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/gpact/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakob_von_Uexkull
Here are a few excerpts from his speech:
“Today we are heading for unprecedented dangers and conflicts, up to and including the end of a habitable planet in the foreseeable future, depriving all future generations of their right to life and the lives of preceding generations of meaning and purpose.”
“This apocalyptic reality is the elephant in the room. Current policies threaten temperature increases triggering permafrost melting and the release of ocean methane hydrates which would make our earth unliveable, according to research presented by the British Government Met office at the Paris Climate Conference.”
“The myth that climate change is conspiracy to reduce freedom is spread by a powerful and greedy elite which has largely captured governments to preserve their privileges in an increasingly unequal world.”
“Long before that point, our prosperity, security, culture and identity will disintegrate. A Europe unable to cope with a few million war refugees will collapse under the weight of tens or even hundreds of millions of climate refugees.”
You may also be interested in some links to articles reporting the drastic jump in average planetary temperature measured in February, 2016.
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/03/30/climate-change-speeding-past-stop-signs
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/03/14/nasa-drops-major-bomb-march-toward-ever-warmer-planet
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35283-arctic-sea-ice-volume-nears-record-low
http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/03/does-methane-threaten-life/
http://www.countercurrents.org/bardi150316.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44427.htm
http://ecowatch.com/2016/03/02/february-record-hot/
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/charctic-interactive-sea-ice-graph/
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/03/01/3754891/arctic-sea-ice-growth/
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/02/16/3749815/carbon-pollution-hottest-12-months-january/
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35468-agriculture-on-the-brink
http://ecowatch.com/2016/04/08/mckibben-break-free/
Jakob von Uexküll and the World Future Council remind us that the threat of climate change is an extremely severe emergency. Quick action is needed or else our future will be lost.
John Avery received a B.Sc. in theoretical physics from MIT and an M.Sc. from the University of Chicago. He later studied theoretical chemistry at the University of London, and was awarded a Ph.D. there in 1965. He is now Lektor Emeritus, Associate Professor, at the Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen. Fellowships, memberships in societies: Since 1990 he has been the Contact Person in Denmark for Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. In 1995, this group received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. He was the Member of the Danish Peace Commission of 1998. Technical Advisor, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe (1988- 1997). Chairman of the Danish Peace Academy, April 2004. http://www.fredsakademiet.dk/ordbog/aord/a220.htm. He can be reached at [email protected]