Addressing root causes of global challenges - Tällberg Foundation

[Niclas Ihrén]

Hello,

Time runs fast, and we are now a few weeks down the line after the Tällberg Forum 2009. We who were there have now had the time to reflect on important meetings, experiences and insights created. It continues to be a learning journey for all of us. 480 selected leaders from 80 countries, representing governments, business, academia, NGO’s engaged in dialogues regarding our most pressing global issues. The environment is surreal. The program is very open-ended. And magic starts to happen. The diversity of people, opinions and knowledge creates the fertile ground for new thinking and actions.

This year, some of the questions in focus were environmental degradation, including climate change, global inequality as well as growing youth unemployment in the global financial crisis. The forum went from creating a broad understanding of the issues and how they are interconnected, to solutions and concrete actions. Leaders from 80 nations were represented.

The forum is hard to describe in words. I would recommend you to take a look at http://www.tallbergfoundation.org were a lot of material from the forum are collected.

The unavoidable main conclusion: we are in a state of planetary crisis.

It is time to stop pretending that it will go away like a bad dream if we think of something else. It won’t. The financial crisis is only the icing on the cake. Despite our efforts, climate change is accelerating and going faster than experts have predicted (currently on a path towards 6 degrees temperature rise this century). Large portions of human settlements are rapidly losing access to fresh water due to diminishing glaciers and the warming climate (more than a billion people may be without fresh water in Asia 2050 according to the IPCC with current trends) . The breakdown of ecosystems is also accelerating, due to overexploitation, with disastrous consequences on fish stocks, deforestation, extinction of species required for a stable world and our own food production (we now have, for the first time, more than a billion starving people in the world and the curve is pointing dramatically upwards since 10 years). Natural resources are running out while the garbage dumps and slums are expanding, and poisoning land and water on the way. Political tension over land and resources is increasing. Conflicts will follow, as well as refugee streams of unprecedented scale.

Many good things are being made to address the issues. Organisations and individuals are increasingly taking on greater commitments and contribute with positive initatives. This is a fact, but unfortunately it is not enough.

What we have to face is that what is currently being done by governments, companies, NGO’s and people everywhere is not leading where we want. Not even close, if we want to maintain a planet pleasant to live on. The reason is twofold; firstly, because we are simply not doing enough, but secondly, and more importantly, because we are doing the wrong things. Our priorities are very schewed towards tangible projects with visible results. Typically, this means that we address symptoms rather than reasons. When the patient’s temperature reaches 41 we desperately need to try to lower the fever. Lowering the fever is necessary, but not the same as curing the disease.

WHAT is going in the wrong direction around the world is more focused but less important than WHY. We have a number of severe systems issues that will continue to drive us into accelerating global problems concerning environment, resources, food and living conditions until we fix them.

The transformations ahead will involve every organization. The changes to come are very fundamental and will change the playing field for business and governments everywhere. We invite you to be part of this dialogue. We need your help, and we may also support you in finding your organisations direction for the future. We are looking for organizations and individuals that wish to engage, but also for knowledge partners and investors for different projects.

If these are questions that concern you, please let me know, and we can discuss what we can do together.

Warm regards,
Niclas Ihrén
[e-mail]

[Naima Benali]

Hi Niclas!
Thank you very mcuh for this interesting and also very important post/ issue.
Interesting conclusions/ reflections! as well - that should have been very familiar/ obvious for "the" leaders ages ago!
I deeply hope that there soon will be changes since "our" time is running out faster than ever! We owe that to ourselves and to our kids!

sincerly, Naima

Absolutely these re questions that should concern all of us and I will certainly let you know more and see what that brings to our comon future!

best rgds, Naima

[Sher Ahmed Khan]

Good Afternoon Dr Benali..How are you..?

[Sher Ahmed Khan]

Good Evening Niclas ,I will read more about your esteem Foundation and then reconsider from your point of view any causes that could stem from inequality , underdevelopment or poverty .This could be incase Globalisation was not the answer for all such issues or Macro Projects were not the sustainable development.Or ofcourse Democratisation that has been successfully experimented in Pakistan and by all means is Sustainable Democracy!

The question of connecting the institutions with leaders still running for foriegn Aid is a ethical question and lot of senior industrialists hardly like to share national production statistics with 'corrupt organisations' because then comes the 'injustice of taxing without debating' .

What is official does not have to be blocked but the case is to be tackled socially with politicians especially those in power right now and everything will be alright .This small blockage is a sweet confusion and fear of what is desired to 'come into my life and only my life bit by bit' although life of humans is hardly the size of 'narratives' especially Globalisation....

Let me here go by example that Globalisation dioes not get stuck on a 'why' but instead a 1.5 Billion 'X' is projected that i am right now looking in the eye in regards to Essenciale Cosmetics' that has one successfull shop in the town but cannot walk farther another step which they have taken the shop is infested with Lever Brothers and Old Bond Street and other British/American products that were allowed through free carriage in early 80's, when the Industrialisation concept actually had forwarded... and want 'free [global] trade share by use of 'other' which are local pressures in market.. ' Same is with Privatisation......