Utpost #1 2015 by Umeå Association of International Affairs

UTPOST#1 2015 Tidskriften för Utrikespolitiska Föreningen Umeå

E N HÅ LLB A R UTVECK LI NG

FÖRORD

Som en stormvirvel har ännu en vårtermin passerat, en vårtermin som till en början kändes alldeles för fullspäckad för att vara möjlig att ta sig igenom, en vårtermin som präglats av temat hållbar utveckling med det stora projektet Whole Earth? som riktlinje. Det var därför inte svårt att besluta vilken väg temat till tidningen skulle ta, hållbar utveckling genomsyrar sociala, ekonomiska och miljömässiga problem - likaså artiklarna som finns i detta nummer. Det är därmed ett tema som engagerar och skapar debatt kring en mängd olika frågor, skilda frågor som ändå i slutändan är sammanlänkade. I detta nummer kommer ni få läsa om allt ifrån vattensituationen i Jordanien till utmaningarna för framtidens städer, samt ta del av fantastiska bilder från The Hard Rain Project. Med det sagt vill jag tacka för min tid som redaktör och styrelsemedlem och lämna över till kommande redaktör som kommer ha en spännande tid framför sig. Jag vill även rikta ett stort tack till styrelsen som arbetat så hårt detta år och gjort allting med glädje. Slutligen ett sista tack till alla er medlemmar som varit engagerande och inspirerande och som genom ert intresse för föreningen låter oss fortsätta arbeta med att utveckla denna plattform för utrikespolitiska frågor. Ha en fantastisk sommar! / Mona Haydar

redaktor@upfu.org

Utrikespolitiska föreningen Box 7652, 90713 Umeå

www.upfu.org

REDAKTION VÅREN 2015 MONA

NICKLAS

CARINA

MELANIE

ELINA

FELICIA

Chefredaktör/ Ansvarig utgivare

Skribent

HAYDAR

HOLM

VOGELSBERGER

OBERMEIR

UTPOST#1 2015

LARSSON

ROBERTSON

INNEHÅLL JORDANIEN Den rådande vattenkrisen Nicklas Hult

FEEDING THE PLANET?

Expo Milano 2015 and its potential to lead to a more sustainable food supply Carina Vogelsberger

CITIES OF OUR FUTURE

WHOLE EARTH? AND 2015

KÖTTKONSUMTION

Melanie Obermeir

Felicia Robertson, Marcus Anderbrant

Dags att förändra normer för miljöns skull Elina Larsson

FOTO FRAMSIDA:

LISA LUNDSTRÖM TEMA:

EN HÅLLBAR UTVECKLING

MARCUS

LISA

ERIK

Skribent

Fotograf

Formgivning

ANDERBRANT

LUNDSTRÖM

HORTELL

UTPOST#1 2015

Detta material är helt eller delvis finansierat av Sida, styrelsen för internationellt utvecklingssamarbete. Sida delar inte nödvändigtvis de åsikter som här framförts. Ansvaret för innehållet är uteslutande författarens eget. Utrikespolitiska föreningen delar inte nödvändigtvis de åsikter som framförts i denna publikation. Ansvaret för innehållet är uteslutande författarens eget.

JORDANIEN – den rådande vattenkrisen SKRIVET OCH FOTO AV NICKLAS HOLM

“

Döda havets sjunkande havsnivå beror bland annat på ett sänkt flöde från Jordanfloden som konsekvens av bevattning, reservoarer och annan aktivitet norr om Döda havet av Israel, Jordanien och Syrien.

är jag besökte Jordanien för ett par år sedan pratades det mycket, bland de guider man mötte, om den dalande turismen i landet efter arabiska våren. När Utrikespolitiska föreningen anordnade en studieresa till landet tidigare i år hade läget för turismen knappast blivit bättre med pågående inbördeskrig i grannlandet Syrien och Islamiska statens frammarsch i regionen. Under studieresan överskuggades dock turistnäringens problem av diskussioner bland folket och biståndsorganisationer gällande de enorma flyktingströmmarna och vattensituationen i landet. Det diskuterades också om ett projekt för att rädda Döda havet och förbättra vattensituation. En pipeline mellan Röda havet och Döda havet. Jordanien är ett litet land med få naturresurser att berika sin ekonomi med. Det tar inte ens än sex timmar att köra genom hela landet från Irbid i norr till Aqaba i söder. Landet har emellertid ett unikt landskap som gjort för ekoturism så turistnäringen är en väldigt viktig del av ekonomin. Därför finns det en förståelig oro när antalet turister enligt Världsbanken sjunkit från 8,2 miljoner 2010 till 5,4 miljoner 2013. Samtidigt är förmodligen bristen på vatten i Jordanien ett större hot. Enligt WHO är Jordanien en av nationerna med lägst tillgång till vatten i hela världen. Döda havet bidrar naturligtvis inte med färskvatten på grund av sina extrema saltnivåer. Det är däremot en viktig del av turistnäringen. Att sammanlänka Röda havet med Döda havet är en idé som funnits i mer än ett sekel. Det är först för några år sedan man började titta på detta som en lösning för den sjunkande vattennivån och 6

Världsbanken startade en utredning som slutligen gav grönt ljus för projektet. Döda havet sjunker just nu en meter per år. Döda havets sjunkande havsnivå beror bland annat på ett sänkt flöde från Jordanfloden som konsekvens av bevattning, reservoarer och annan aktivitet norr om Döda havet av Israel, Jordanien och Syrien. I februari tidigare i år skrevs därför ett avtal på av Jordanien och Israel för starta projektet. Konstruktionen ska enligt planeringen ta tre år att färdigställa och kostar $900 miljoner. Utöver att leda vatten till Döda havet ska också en avsaltningsanläggning byggas i Aqaba. Målet är att producera 80 miljoner kubik avsaltat vatten årligen och av detta kommer Israel kunna köpa upp till 40 miljoner kubik medan resten går till Aqaba och Jordanien. Detta är att jämföra med de 680 miljoner kubik färskvatten Jordanien hade tillgång till 2005 enligt jordanska ministeriet för vatten och bevattning. Israel har också lovat att sälja 50 miljoner kubik färskvatten från Gennesaretsjön till Jordanien. Den överflödiga saltlösningen från avsaltningen kommer att ledas till Döda havet. Tanken är också att palestinska områden ska kunna dra nytta av detta vatten. Ministern för vattenmyndigheten i Palestina närvarade på Världsbankens huvudkontor i Washington när avtalet skrevs på. Världsbanken, som är med och sponsrar projektet har själva gått ut med att man ser projektet som en symbol för och samarbete i regionen. I Palestina har samtidigt en rad icke-statliga organisationer skrivit på ett gemensamt uttalande som motsätter sig hela projektet. Där lyfts det fram att projektet i själva verket underminerar palestiniernas rättigheter

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till vatten då det flyttar fokus från Jordanfloden som rinner längs Västbankens östra gräns. Enligt uttalandet är det ett försök att ersätta färskvatten som palestinierna har naturlig tillgång till via Jordanfloden med avsaltat vatten som säljs dyrt till dem. Det har också riktats kritik mot projektet i överenskommelsen då ursprungliga förslaget var på en helt annan skala än det projekt som avtalet ritar upp. Världsbanken tidigare studier handlade om ett projekt med en budget på $10 miljarder. Precis som budgeten är ungefär en tiondel av vad som först planerades är även mängden vattnet till Döda havet bara en tiondel av vad som planerades när Världsbanken utförde sina studier. Något som enligt många forskare innebär att vattenmängden bara kommer sakta ner Döda havets sjunkande vattennivå. Trots den lägre mängden vatten finns det fortfarande en oro för att kompositionen i saltlösningen skiljer sig så mycket från det existerande vattnet i Döda havet att algblomning riskerar inträffa i

Döda havet. Tidigare planer på att använda fallhöjden mellan Röda havet och Döda havet för vattenkraft har också försvunnit i det färdiga avtalet. Gidon Bromberg som är den israeliska direktören för EcoPeace Middle East uttryckte nyligen tvivel för huruvida projektet faktiskt kommer fullföljas i en intervju med Circle of Blue. Likväl lyfte han fram vikten av projektet som en plattform för de tre parterna Jordanien, Israel och Palestina när det rör andra utbyten av vattenresurser. Han menar att det geopolitiska klimatet gör det svårt att skapa ett nytt ramverk för sådana samarbeten, men att det här etablerade projektet ger en existerande plattform. Förutsatt att projektet blir av kommer det onekligen bidra med färskvatten till Jordanien, men sedan är frågan ifall det kommer vara tillräckligt för att på sikt rädda Döda havet och ifall det faktiskt kommer påverka turistnäringen. Och kommer det ge positiva eller negativa effekter geopolitiskt? ■

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FEEDING the PLANET? EXPO MILANO 2015 AND ITS POTENTIAL TO LEAD TO A MORE SUSTAINABLE FOOD SUPPLY

WRITTEN BY CARINA VOGELSBERGER PHOTO LISA LUNDSTRÖM

ntering a supermarket nowadays feels like a journey through all parts of the world: mangos from Burkina Faso, soy sauce from Japan and cacao from Ecuador – all of it available at nearly any time and in huge amounts. However, considering the future challenges for a global food supply, such as an ever growing world population, threats of climate change and a deteriorating natural resource base, it is more than questionable whether our Western tradition of mass consumerism and the possibility to buy food from all over the planet at nearly 24/7 can be part of the solution. Most of our society have already been confronted with issues such as the environmental damage caused by an industrialized agriculture, how small local farmers, especially in the rural areas of developing countries, suffer from price pressures of the global food market and how living things have been turned into commodities that can be exploited and tortured in order to meet the increasing demand for cheap meat, eggs and milk products. The long transport ways of animals and food make up another environmental challenge: Tomatoes are harvested in Spain, processed in France and packed in Germany before they arrive in Swedish supermarkets or, even more bizarre, go back to Spain. Alone within Europe, this division of production areas across countries leads to and requires a mass-, and often, overproduction of food, with the consequence that large amounts need to be thrown away. According to the FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, about one third of global food production – approximately 1.3 billion tons per year - is lost or wasted. The causes of food losses and waste in medium and high-income countries relate to a large share to

consumer behavior, but also to a lack of coordination between different actors in the supply chain. Especially farmer-buyer sales agreements can contribute to large quantities of farm crops being wasted, as well as strict quality standards forcing traders to reject food items imperfectly shaped or deviating in their appearance. Additionally, in order to keep prices stable, it is largely not possible to distribute these amounts to those who would urgently need and benefit from them. With no doubt, information and awareness among consumers, hopefully leading to a reduction in food waste and a growing importance of regional and seasonal products, is indeed essential in order to tackle these issues. However, as long as several subsidies, particularly by the EU and the US, encourage farmers and producers to expand their businesses and maximize their harvest, often only possible due to a massive use of pesticides, the impact of the individual may remain marginal. Hence, this raises the question what policy makers on the national and international level aim to do in order to grand and improve the global food supply on our planet? Particularly with the rise of the standard of living in newly industrialized countries, such as China or Brazil, people became increasingly aware that an adoption of Western consumerism and waste of resources by large parts of these societies would lead even faster to a global collapse. In order to protect their own agricultural sector, the European Union for example enabled cheap exports of food to the Global South through high subventions, making it impossible for local farmers to compete and literally destroying their basis of life. The vicious circle resulting from this tradition of exploitation has been that the demand for grain in Europe increased.

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This part of production has then been outsourced to developing countries, and as the harvest was taken back to the rich countries, people in the Global South became more and more dependent on a Northern food supply. Similar tendencies can now be observed from newly industrialized countries, as Sheila Rafi in her UPF lecture in April about land grabbing in northern Mozambique has shown, where companies from Brazil and Japan now follow similar practices as TNCs from Europe and the US, making it increasingly difficult for rural communities to be self-sufficient in their food supply and polluting the environment due to nearly non existing governmental regulations. Therefore, the question nowadays is not only how to deal with future challenges, but also how to alleviate those negative impacts that are already apparent and which the industrialization and globalization of the agricultural sector had so far – a question that is currently dealed with at the Expo 2015 in Milan, which opened on the 1st of May. Lasting until October 31, this year’s world exposition is devoted to the theme ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’ and puts a special focus on future technological developments and global collaborations that may guarantee a 10

healthy, safe and sufficient food supply for the next generations. With 140 participating countries and the involvement of several international organizations, Expo Milano aims to create a platform for the exchange of ideas and shared solutions for the current and future challenges noted above. Furthermore, the organizers expect to welcome over 20 million visitors from all over the world, who should not only have the possibility to inform themselves about new technologies and different cultural aspects of food in the exhibiting countries, but also to become part in different activities around Expo 2015 and show their own ideas and thoughts. From a global perspective, this year’s exposition aims to shed a light on one of the most evident contradictions of our time: In 2014 approximately 805 million people in the world suffered from chronic undernourishment while, on the other hand, about 1.9 billion people were estimated to be overweight or obese. Thus, as the organizers claim, promoting collaboration and active discussions on possible solutions and improvements related to this issue is given special priority. In this context, Expo Milano builds on an intensive collaboration with the

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“Therefore, the question nowadays is not only how to deal with future challenges, but also how to alleviate those negative impacts that are already apparent and which the industrialization and globalization of the agricultural sector had so far – a question that is currently dealt with at the Expo 2015 in Milan, which opened on the 1st of May.” United Nations, and within the UN particularly with the FAO. Taking up the objectives and guidelines defined in Rio +20 and the United Nations Millennium Declaration, the exposition shall provide a platform to develop these principles further. Given the proximity to the deadline for achieving the in 2000 defined Millennium Development Goals, it will be interesting to see, which impact the discussions at Expo 2015 can have and whether they may represent a transmission from the 2015 MDGs to the post2015 Sustainable Development Goals, elaborating first strategies in order to grant their achievement. However, and despite ambitious aims, Expo Milano does not seek to propose concrete regulatory and legal solutions; and irrespective to which promising and innovative ideas the next months lead, their implementation will still depend on national governments as well as decisions on an international scale. Hence it is yet not sure which potential Expo Milano 2015 really has to pave the way towards a sustainable global food supply, ensuring a minimum on environmental harm and protecting local communities. The fact that all global key players of the food- and agricultural sector participate is probably a first important signal. However, as long as themes discussed in the public seem to be separated from what actually happens behind closed doors, skepticism remains. Exemplary are the current negotiations between the US and the European Union on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, short: TTIP. Despites large criticism among political parties,

NGOs and the society in general that the agreement would be a threat to Europe’s democratic values, its temporary implementation seems to be imminent. But still, Expo Milano 2015 may have a potential to provide room for discussing these issues and raise awareness to the range of topics related to the challenge of ‘feeding the world’. The more informed people are, the greater the chance that an increasing public pressure leads to more transparency and, through that, more sustainability and less environmental harm. That people already share a great interest in these issues and are willing to find sustainable future solutions can be seen in innumerable local initiatives all over the world. Such examples can also be found in Umeå, as the project Umeå Pantry last autumn has shown. By organizing joint cooking session and dinners where solely products from Umeå and its surrounding areas have been used and brought together, as well as through additional events and discussions, the aim was to reveal the variety of regional food, available alone around the city. Even though Sweden itself does not participate in Expo Milano 2015, the discussions and collaborations occurring within the next months do hopefully have a potential to bring regional innovations to a broader public and enable not only an exchange of ideas between countries, but also local and global actors. To what extent this year’s Expo may really lay the foundations of technological innovations and new governmental and international regulations will only be observable within the next years. ■

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CITIES

OF OUR

FUTURE WRITTEN BY MELANIE OBERMEIR

n times when more than half of world’s population resides in urban areas and further increase of the ongoing urbanization trend is to be expected, cities are under pressure to match the subsequent demand. At present cities consume up to 80% of the global energy and material supply. Quantities that will increase along with the rapidly growing urban civilizations making it a challenge to ensure a safe, affordable and livable life to every resident; especially in terms of limited resources, pollution and climate change. Sustainable development is, therefore, not optional any longer, but a necessity when the well being of all citizens is wished for and is to be secured in the future. Sustainable development as defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 as “a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Needs such as affordable energy. The switch towards green alternatives is crucial to ensure that energy is accessible and affordable to everyone and additionally will help to preserve nature. Around the world governments launched ambiguous plans to increase the share of renewable energy. Yet, answering the ever-increasing energy demand by building lots of new power plants, despite an increasing proportion of renewable energy, is simply not enough. Energy generation itself needs to become more efficient so as energy usage and last but not least energy supply. Our power grid designed and built decades ago to merely lighten light bulbs and run refrigerators and radios is stretched to it’s limits. The constant, predictable and low demand usage behavior in the early days has changed into one that is characterized by a high, rapidly alternating energy consumption that is difficult for the power grid to cope with. It is especially of concern for cities as most of the energy is 14

consumed in urban areas. Smart grid technologies are addressing the outdated delivery system and aim to push it into the 21 century. The idea is to establish a highly interconnected network between utilities and consumers that provides real-time information both directions between end-user and utilities. That way electricity can be fed into the system more accurately to the demand at present. Consequently, excess or deficient energy supply is diminished. End-users will be provided with real-time energy consumption and cost information and can actively optimize their energy usage behavior. Moreover, improved connection and surveillance that come with the smart grid will facilitate a better integration of weather dependent renewable energies. It incorporates green energy derived from power plants as well as private house holds so that not only information is exchanged bi-directional, but also energy. Despite the intention to improve the power grid, off-grid technologies to produce energy at the actual place of consumption are likely to constitute an increasingly greater role in cities. Solar panels are commonly used to do so, but an alternative is on its march that is to produce energy from human activity. Not by means of a giant hamster wheel, but more like it is implemented in the music video to David Guetta’s The Alphabeat from three years ago. It shows people dancing in some nightclub while the energy that they transfer onto the dance floor with each step is captured to generate electricity that eventually is used to charge electric vehicles. Although the concept is presented in a somewhat futuristic way it has been already realized. Laurence Kemball-Cook had the vision of harnessing the energy of footsteps and introduced, in 2009, the Pavegen tile onto the market. With each step onto the tile 7 Watt of footstep-derived energy are generated and at sites with high foot fall the Pavegen energy system can drive buildings’ lighting. At present the tiles, produced using mostly recycled materials, are

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“Solar panels are commonly used to do so, but an alternative is on its march that is to produce energy from human activity. Not by means of a giant hamster wheel, but more like it is implemented in the music video to David Guetta’s The Alphabeat from three years ago. It shows people dancing in some night club while the energy that they transfer onto the dance floor with each step is captured to generate electricity that eventually is used to charge electric vehicles. Although the concept is presented in a somewhat futuristic way it has been already realised.” lightening up schools, train stations, airports and city squares. They can, however, be further used for all kinds of low-voltage applications such as wireless applications or phone charging stations; no electrical vehicle charging though. But sure, the most efficient way to save energy is not to use it in the first place. Buildings are among the main targets in this regard, as they constitute a huge share of the overall energy consumption with most of the energy being used for heating or cooling respectively depending on the climate. The solution once again is energy efficiency. Energy efficient design of buildings as in the case of passive houses, buildings with extremely low energy demand due to smart construction that cuts down the need for heating/cooling to it’s minimum. Orientation of the building in accordance with the course of the sun to use the light and heat of the sun at an optimal level and good surface area- to- volume ratio narrows down the need for lightening and heating. As a matter of fact houses have always been built that way. Yet, with rise and aid of technology these construction principles became unimportant. Beyond orientation and compactness the construction concept includes high quality

insulation, air tightening and an overall equal thermal performance of the outer house envelope. Additionally, a heat recovery ventilation is installed that provides fresh air without loosing warmth. That means that a passive house can keep warmth extremely well and is, therefore, heated mainly by the warmth emitted from residents, light bulbs, refrigerators, TVs and other technical devices; merely a small active heating system is required. It is similarly isolated against heat from outside. Hence, the inside temperature is constant throughout the whole year while heating/ cooling energy drops down 75-90% compared to conventional buildings. To top it off, zero-energy technology can be integrated to satisfy the left over energy need of passive houses. For the Bio Intelligent Quotient (BIQ) house in Hamburg architects, designer, engineers and scientists were exactly doing that. The reason for the great fuss about BIQ is not the idea of combining these two building concepts, which is nothing new, but rather the technology itself for the house is powered by algae. The southeast and southwest house front feature a bio-reactor facade of transparent glass panels in which photosynthetic algae thrive within a colorless culture medium. Essential

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nutrients and CO2 needed for the microorganisms to grow is added and circulation for even distribution occurs through rising air bubbles, which also prevents algae from sedimenting. Automatic the organisms are harvested and biogas is produced from the obtained biomass with an efficiency of up to 80%. The gas is stored or immediately used to operate a bio-fuel cell to generate electricity and warmth for the building. The CO2 produced, thereby, is fed into the system to supply the algae and zero net energy consumption as well as zero carbon emissions is achieved; making BIQ a zero- energy building. The bio-reactors themselves act as jalousies controlling light and shadowing, shielding noise, heat and cold and moreover produce warmth themselves from sunlight not used by the algae. Development in the energy sector is certainly crucial to bring about sustainability, but focusing merely on this sector is an inadequate approach. Sustainable development has to happen in every sphere of life. The importance of food systems in this regard has been in the background for a long time, but becomes more and more recognized as one of the biggest sustainability problems. Intervention needs to take place at all stages from farming itself to processing, packaging and distribution to consumption and disposal. It is an objective to decrease fuel/energy consumption and CO2 emission of transportation by supporting local businesses. Promotion of organic farming will preserve nature and add to overall health. Therefore, in a sustainable city seasonal, organic and locally produced food would constitute a high share of the available food offered by farmer´s markets as well as supermarkets. Community gardens could be established within cities to facilitate the opportunity for residents to grow their own vegetables and fruits. To ensure availability of affordable food despite increasing food insecurity that results from 16

climate induced weather variation, urban farming represents an innovative and attractive option that cuts down transportation to it’s minimum. In this respect, the American- Swedish company Plantagon has developed an advanced vertical green house to let urban agriculture become reality. Adapted to architecture and light conditions on site, food can be grown vertically on several floors to use available space most efficiently. Due to innovative ideas use of water, demand of artificial lightening and use of pesticides is minimized. In form of facades the green house can be retrofitted onto already existing buildings or incorporated in design and construction of new buildings and will additionally benefit to soundproofing and heat insulation of the building. On a global scale food production has to increase drastically to meet the demand of the exploding human population. Most of the available agricultural land, however, is already farmed and while Earth is being pushed to it’s limits, about 30% of the food produced for human consumption gets lost or wasted. This signals, that innovative ideas and green technologies are only one milestone on the way to sustainability. It comes down to the everyday behavior of each and everyone. It is nothing new that resources must be used in a responsible and considerate manner. Sustainable cities would therefore educate their residents in doing so and drastically decrease their waste generation as well as reuse the waste produced seeing waste as a valuable asset. Re-usability of materials will become increasingly important no matter what area; food, building construction, technology, to name but a few. Further, sustainable healthcare constitutes an important part within a sustainable city. For medical intervention is unsustainable and produces massive amounts of clinical waste, cities will need to promote a healthy diet and life style of it’s residents to prevent diseases. More sustainable approaches need to be developed and exciting ideas like a new

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generation of pace makers that are run by the body’s own heat instead of batteries could make pace maker replacements unnecessary and represents an attractive option to current methods. In a sustainable city, cars constitute a minority of the daily traffic. Cities might therefore promote walking, cycling and the use of public transportation and simultaneously will need to develop a well connected and reliable public transport system so as well- established walking and cycling paths. And, safety needs to be ensured in every nook and cranny, for not until this is guaranteed will private owned cars disappear off of the streets. Without massive traffic, streets will get smaller again and will be mainly operated by buses. Implemented next to the roads are wide sidewalks and cycling trails so as attractive and interlinked green spaces. Increasing green areas will not only add to the cities’ appearance and well being of the inhabitants, but also to the inner city climate. The temperature in cities is up to 10 degree higher compared to it’s rural surroundings as heat easily accumulates due to the impermeable and dry city surface. Increased vegetation and water elements within the city will minimize this effect and thereby the need for electrical cooling. Trees will counteract the wind that gets channeled and intensified by the corridors built up by high buildings on either side of the streets. This is especially important in times of weather events with strong wind force. Hence, city design and city infrastructure, either in terms of retrofitting already existing districts or building new neighborhoods makes up an important share towards sustainability. And whereas the developed world might primarily have to solve the problems of wasting energy, food, water and other resources, massive waste generation and traffic, cities in developing countries are facing totally different challenges. ■

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WHOLE EARTH?

AND 2015 2015 is an important year when it comes to sustainable development. It is the year when the Millennium Goals should have been fulfilled. It is also the year when the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21/ CMP11) will take place in Paris in December. The goal for the conference is to achieve a binding and universal agreement on sustainable development for the following 15 years. The goal with Whole Earth? project is to engage students from all over the world to raise their voices about their solutions to- and the importance of sustainability that will be presented to the world leaders before the UN Climate Change Conference. WRITTEN BY FELICIA ROBERTSON, MARCUS ANDERBRANT PHOTOS ÂŠMARK EDWARDS, HARD RAIN PICTURE LIBRARY

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Whole Earth? globally and in Umeå The WHOLE EARTH? project is based on the idea that the college age generation can play a leading role in changing the agenda as well as the political mindset. Therefore a series of conferences on sustainability will be held on a multitude of universities worldwide, with the Hard Rain photo exhibition being the centerpiece. In Umeå, we are hosting the event on the 18th of September 2015 in Aula Nordica. The event will take place in Universum where we will be creating a meeting space for students, academics, companies and politicians to discuss local, regional and global issues and solutions of sustainability. Umeå Association of International Affairs (UpF) has been one of the student partners in this project along with several other Swedish based organizations. UpF will also be in contact with the British student organization National Union of Students, which will aid us in the spread of information about the project, launching the photo exhibition. Most importantly, 20

NUS will gather the ideas spawn out of the conference in order to create ONE “green print” that will be sent to decision makers before the COP21/CMP11. The event on September 18th is a cooperation between UpF, Hard Rain Project and Umeå Universitet in cooperation with Region Västerbotten, Umeå Kommun, the SEE-week and Lässtyrelsen Västerbotten. In addition to the September event, we have been arranging one event every month during the spring semester on social, political, economic and environmental issues. The spring events were live streamed and accessible online afterwards. Although, it is very important to note that these events where just a sneak peak of WHOLE EARTH? and the subjects discussed are something we will explore further in depth during the conference. Hope to see you in September, and for now: enjoy these photographs taken by Mark Edwards for the Hard Rain Project! ■

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KRÖNIKA

Köttkonsumtion – dags att förändra normer för miljöns skull SKRIVET AV ELINA LARSSON

I dag är ca 10 % av Sveriges befolkning vegetarianer, en siffra som i vissa öron och kretsar låter lite, men som jag ser som ett väldigt stort framsteg i förhållande till hur normer, värderingar och tradition av köttkonsumtion har sett ut och hur det fortfarande ser ut i dag. Det är förmodligen en väldigt lång bit bort, eller rent av en önskan: men en dag kanske det inte längre är de icke-köttätande som behöver anpassa sig till samhällets normer. När jag var 16 år valde jag att sluta äta kött, ett beslut som redan då var väldigt självklart för mig, men inte för alla andra i min omgivning. Det finns olika anledningar till varför folk väljer ett liv som vegetarianer eller veganer. För min del handlade det dels om att ta ett beslut för miljöns skull genom att ta avstånd från en industri som förstör vår planet, men sedan var det också den etiska aspekten, att som djurvän säga nej till att djur föds upp och lever odrägliga liv bara för min mages skull. Att äta kött blev snabbt för mig otänkbart, vegetarisk och i stor utsträckning vegankost blev därför en självklarhet i mitt vardagliga liv. Att som 16 åring ständigt bli 22

ifrågasatt för ett beslut som för egen del var ett givet val var många gånger obekvämt, att alltid behöva förklara sin stämpel som icke-köttätare. Detta må låta främmande för många i dagens samhälle men för 9 år sedan i den lilla stad som jag växte upp i ansåg folk runt om att det var ett rop på uppmärksamhet och ett sätt att göra sig märkvärdig på. I dag tycker jag mig se en annan trend i samhället, en trend som förhoppningsvis leder till nya normer där de icke-köttätande sätter dagordningen för vad som är det nya normala, eller snarare en trend som möjligtvis orsakas av en medvetenhet och att normer på olika plan i samhället förändras. Samtidigt som vi ser denna ökade medvetenheten kring miljöfrågor och djurhållning som är nyckeln för att skapa någon form av förändring, ser vi också en väldigt hög köttkonsumtion i hela världen. Om vi skalar ner till hur det ser ut i Sverige så går det i genomsnitt åt ungefär 85 kilo kött per person och år enligt Jordbruksverket. Siffror som detta är givetvis värdefulla och viktiga att tala om, men siffror är också lätta att ignorera, normer däremot, blir allt mer viktiga att ifrågasätta

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och prata om. Olika normer är ofta även kopplade tillsammans genom ett flertal olika samhällsproblem. Det blir därför mindre intressant att tala om siffror och mer intressant att tala om normer. Normer är ofta kopplade till synen på hur vi ska vara i samhället. Det återspeglas inte bara i hur vi ska se ut, vad som anses vara viktigt för att vara lycklig eller hur vi ska bete oss, utan det gäller även vad vi äter och hur förhållandet till mat ska se ut. Så länge jag kan minnas har det alltid i min omgivning talats om hur viktigt kött är för att orka vara aktiv och bli stark men också hur viktigt det är att dricka upp sin mjölk för att få starka ben, och i dag vet vi att mjölkkonsumtion kan ge förödande effekter på tarmar. Vi är idag medvetna i stor utsträckning kring hur dessa normer påverkar våra liv som individer men också välmåendet av vår planet men det tycks ta lång tid för att bryta dessa inrotade tankesätt kring hur vi som människor ska vara. Det är dags nu att inse att planeten inte är det den en gång var, och det är på grund av oss människor, det är sättet vi har plågat och kramat ur det sista ur en planet som snart inte längre

klarar av vårt sätt att leva på. Det är därför dags att bryta igenom barriärer av normer för att uppnå en förändring kring hur vi äter och lever i dag. Det kanske låter alldeles för simplifierat, och jag förstår att det är ett märkligt klimat i världen där olika röster konstant säger hur vi ska vara som personer, även jag. Det är inte alltid lätt att som individ ta ansvar för de stora miljöförändringar och utmaningar vi ser framför oss, och det är många gånger svårt att se helhetsbilden av vad många människor kan uppnå tillsammans. För egen del kan jag många gånger känna igen mig i den svårigheten, att det sätts stora krav på den enskilda individen att vara den perfekta människan, den som är klimatsmart, och som kan leva upp till alla de bitar som följer med det. Men nu handlar det inte längre om oss som individer, utan det handlar om att genom en kollektiv normförändrande handling ta avstånd från den matindustri som i dag ger effekter på miljön och på djurens välbefinnande. Som ett första steg för att få den uppåtstigande trenden att fortsätta växa. ■

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