sábado, 26 de marzo de 2011

Driving Questions

As I was preparing myself for a meeting with a very important academic, I came with a list of questions that I would really like answered. This set of questions are part of the reasons that drove me to my new life in New York City. The process of answering them will probably take me into unknown terrain, into Terra Ignota.

I would like to talk about the future of Sustainable Development and Rio+20; also about the future of climate change negotiation and policies:.
  • The future of climate change negotiations, if a international agreement will not be achieved, then what mechanisms should we use to curb emissions.
  • Rio+20 stresses the need of global environmental governance, increasing the importance of the UNEP to a full fledged agency. What does he think about this.
  • We are only talking about climate change, but there are 9 planetary boundaries that awe need to take care of according to Johan Rockström, how should we handle ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity and water stresses in dry regions?
  • The second main subject of Rio+20 is defining the green economy, what would be the economy of the future, is unlimited growth feasible by switching to sustainable technology? Does he believe in the limits of growth? Is degrowth the only possible way to achieve sustainability?
  • The UN stresses that sustainable development needs to focus on both environmental sustainability and poverty alleviation, how can this be achieved in a realistic way? 
  • A recent blog post by worldbank economist Wolfgang Fengler mentions that population growth is actually not a problem in africa and could help development in the area. Could this be true? 
  • What does he think of the concept of poverty traps, is there any empirical evidence?
  • On the topic of externalities, how is the best way to internalize environmental service prices into the economy? There are different approaches to the management of common goods, in which cases can community management, private rights, zoning or government regulation work? How can we work on a bottom-up approach by sector and country to achieve global goals of reduction of emissions. How does game theory fits into all of this.
  • In the topic about infectious diseases, can the global fund truly fight malaria? Is the polio eradication effort a futile effort?
  • On geoengineering, does he really think that we should do it in the short run? Wouldn't that be just a band aid, what are the dangers?
  • On carbon sequestration, is it truly feasible to do it at a global scale? Will it become a business opprtuntity for entrepreneurs?
  • After the new nuclear incident in Japan, is nuclear energy according to him a way to truly achieve sustainable development?
  • On the subject of future generations, there is a strong debate between Nordhaus and Stern about the discount rate of future generations. What does he think the discount rate for future generations be?
  • Does he think that remote perception could help us in the enforcement of environmental law at the global level, would remote perception help us to quantify the environmental services values provided by the environment?
  • Does he think vertical farming could be an approach to alleviate the environmental degradation and emissions of agriculuture? Is there any economic analysis literature on the subject?
Some of the questions that keep me awake at night.

jueves, 10 de marzo de 2011

Justification - from zero meridian to terra incognita

New York Skyline
Terra Incognita or the land of dragons was the representation of the world beyond it's known borders. Explorers would fantasize about the adventures and treasures that lay ahead on the road to discovery. But most people would fear these unknown boundaries.

Terra Incognita represents both ideas for me at this particular stage in my life. It was only 8 months ago that this new adventure started and I sometimes still have a hard time believing that here I am in New York City. Still, the vibrating heart of modern civilization.

Struggling to master a language that is not my own has proven quite a challenge for me. Humor and prolixity are harder to achieve when borrowing words from a different language.

I don't remember how it all came to be, it had to do with a book on natural disasters only four years ago. I remember the impression that learning about the forces of mother nature had on me. From then I started learning about the Earth Systems, and then one day I stumbled upon the idea that we might be changing the climate in an unplanned manner. It took me by surprise, computer engineer who grew up with a great passion for video games in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world --- I still like to call it the city of hope, Mexico City. Slowly the idea that we could be stressing the environment beyond repair scared me, frustrated me.

Manhattan
At the time I was a Urban Scientist (www.urbanscience.com), my job was to provide decision making support to car makers on the management of their retail dealer network. With the use of maps, data and analytic techniques; I was part of a selected team of engineers under the orders of a philosopher. My mission was to be the light in a sea of darkness. We were transforming the way the car industry worked in Mexico, immersing them into a culture of data, information and intelligence.

But I had jumped down into the rabbit hole... After learning about climate change, I became more aware of the new problems that the world is facing in this new millennium. I needed to know more. Some time passed until I found the first clue about the solution, Sustainable Development. Two words that have become the new hype, overused and criticized. I found a profound meaning in these two words, they became my mantra in the mornings. And I had to participate in this new era of change, and with such certainty in my mind I decided to sail towards the Terra Incognita.

Baby steps took me into the world of urban agriculture, to permaculture, to eco-communalism. In parallel
I was learning about the environment and the true meaning of Sustainable Development. Also increasing my skills in the world of maps, GIS and statistical analysis. Although on the frontier , it was still known territory. Life starts at the end of your comfort zone said an anonymous writer.

Low Library in the winter snow storms of 2010
And here I am now, studying a Master in Development Practice in Columbia University. One of the newest degrees in the school, it is preparing the new cohorts of practitioners in development with an integrated approach to sustainable development. Agriculture, education, health, infrastructure, environment, business, economics, public policy are now my new topics. I am entering many terra incognitas. Although it has been a very satisfying an exiting adventure since last September, tomorrow the next step begins.

I will be flying to the Dominican Republic to work as a volunteer with an NGO working in education. This will be the first taste of field work before my three months in Uganda in the summer working for the Millennium Villages Project. This blog will help me organize my experiences, share them with others and simply as a record for the future.

This is my first entry, it is the coordinate zero, we'll see if there are dragons out there.