Globe2008, a conference dedicated to “developing the business of the environment” is under way in Vancouver, B.C., and its star openers spoke this morning at an opening plenary.

One of those speakers, Prince Philippe of Belgium, asked whether questions of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, could be better answered by an international organization that has the power to set standards across international boundaries. The force could act as an environment-focused NATO, coincidentally headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

“It could even be said that we need a global governance to tackle the global challenge of climate change in a globalized world,” he said. “In the Belgian view, a UN environmental organization would help us to achieve these goals in time.”

Globalization of environmental problems, and understanding how personal actions affect people in other parts of the world is a hot topic. As environmental awareness grows, so has awareness about how things that seem positive, like biofuel crop growth or recycling your electronics, can have negative environmental effects elsewhere in the world.

A great example of the difficulties of meeting giant goals like getting to carbon neutrality is online in The New Yorker’s Feb. 25 edition here.

Another topic Philippe touched on is the zero emission Princess Elisabeth Antarctic Polar Station, currently under construction. He said the station, named after his daughter, is a premier example of rethinking traditional buildings and spaces.

Once complete, the station will be a base for field research and exploration. The station is billed as a “zero emission” project, as it plans to use 100 percent renewable energy. For more information on the station or the project team, press here.

Other speakers at the opening plenary were Gordon Campbell, premier of British Columbia; and Beth Lowery, vice president of environment energy at General Motors. Dianne Dillon-Ridgeley, director of Interface in Atlanta moderated the discussion. Other topics touched on included the future of green cars, how business can work better with government to create envrionmentally-friendly advances, and the need to move quickly.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 1:50 pm and is filed under Globe2008, Zero emissions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.