The slow death of the global warming hoax continues: Schwarzenegger, Pachauri, Hedegaard, GE, and Vestas are now linked to "Sustainia", which admits "Doomsday scenarios and pictures of melting icebergs can catch people’s attention for a moment but will never create the excitement and engagement necessary"

Looking Forward to the Global Climate Talks · Environmental Management & Energy News · Environmental Leader

Recently, we interviewed Laura Storm, executive director of Sustainia. As former director of the Copenhagen Climate Council and the World Business Summit on Climate Change, Storm has a great deal of experience in working with world leaders to tackle challenging climate topics.

During the interview, Storm referenced the general disappointment that people felt after the 2009 Copenhagen climate talks. All talk and no action, according to countless critics. Perhaps the topics were too broad to fully comprehend, the ideas too esoteric to transform from concepts into tasks.

Storm cited some interesting lessons learned from the 2009 meetings that she hopes won’t be replicated when the next round of RIO+ 20 global climate talks begin on June 20, 2012, in Rio de Janeiro.

Communications failed in 2009 because the messaging was simply too complicated to create global momentum. People couldn’t relate to the climate language that was being used. For some reason, words like carbon emissions, joint implementation, clean development mechanisms, and emissions trading schemes just didn’t get the juices flowing.

Furthermore, the gloom and doom messages that were used to describe the apocalyptic end that’s right around the corner unless we all immediately start riding our bikes to work, wearing hemp clothing, and eating nothing but organic broccoli didn’t seem to resonate with the crowd. Fear just wasn’t a good motivator for a group of people who traveled from countries around the world with the hope of walking away with real solutions—instead, it caused distance and even disillusionment.

About Sustainia | Sustainia

Doomsday scenarios and pictures of melting icebergs can catch people’s attention for a moment but will never create the excitement and engagement necessary.

...Sustainia is a consortium of partners representing civil society, businesses and experts. The concept of “Sustainia” is developed by the Scandinavian think tank Monday Morning in a collaborative effort with global companies and foundations (Microsoft, GE, DNV, Philips Lighting, DONG Energy, Novo Nordisk, Tetra Pak, Cisco, Interface Flor, BIG Architects, Knoll, IKEA, Vestas, VELUX, Realdania, Scandinavian Airlines SAS, Ramboll, UBS Investment Bank) organisations and experts. Key organisational partners are the UN Global Compact and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new climate initiative R20 – Regions for Climate Action.

The Sustainia Award Committee is chaired by Arnold Schwarzenegger (Honorary Chair of the Committee), Connie Hedegaard (European Commissioner for Climate Action), Gro Harlem Brundtland (Former Prime Minister of Norway and Former Director General of WHO) and Dr. Pachauri (Chair of the IPCC). The Sustainia Committee is heading the Sustainia Award.