Ballarat in action: "Forecasting the Future"

A panel discussion was held on Friday 6 November involving representatives from BEN (Ballarat Environment Network) and BREAZE (Ballarat Renewable Energy & Zero Emissions), discussing environmental sustainable strategies and how one can make a difference.
The Forum titled, “Forecasting the Future" was asked to address two key questions concerning the ability of human kind to manage the future of planet Earth in a sustainable way; ie: 'Have we gone too far [in terms of forcing climate change and altering the planet's natural systems]?' And, even if the answer to that question is 'Yes', 'What do we need to do to achieve a sustainable future?' In a discussion, question and answer-style session chaired by Eugene Kneebone, a panel of three local environmental practitioners (members of BREAZE — Ballarat Renewal Energy & Zero Emissions and BEN — the Ballarat Environment Network), together with the input from an audience of around 50 people, gave their perspectives on the questions, with several, perhaps radical, points being made:

• We (ie. the world's population) is not taking current dramatic environmental changes, including climate change, seriously enough; there is too much 'tinkering around the edges' when radical changes in behaviour and the use of the planet's natural resources are required;
• The 'ultra'-capitalist nature of our economy ignores the many aspects of life on earth and within human society that have nothing to do with the operation of current monetary, financial and business systems; these are artificial, human constructs that bear no relationship to natural systems — and vice versa;
• Despite a gloomy prognosis based on the latest evidence and information and despite heavy losses as far as species and the state of the planet's natural resources and systems are concerned, humanity has enormous skills, expertise and resources that are currently readily available to develop a sustainable future for the planet — perhaps not with all of the same components that we are used to, but sustainable in a form that acknowledges a range of means and systems — way beyond the capitalist economy — that are needed to sustain a quality of life on Earth;
• Current world leaders in politics and business are way behind a developing view within the population at large that major changes need to made NOW — and there is a willingness for people to pay, to invest in these changes; eg. alternative power sources, better management of water resources, a major shift away from reliance on the private vehicle for most transport needs and much more attention to the production of food locally, including acceptance of a return to the seasonality of food.
• What are needed urgently are local, national and international projects, with a new moral compass directing them, that will direct future actions, rather than a continuing reliance on 'the market' to 'get it right' — a situation made all too clear through the current global economic crisis, which of itself has taken the focus away from areas that really need attention and action if we are to achieve a sustainable future — as expressed in the Millennium Development Goals, on the achievement of which we have been failing so dismally.

Supporting the Forecasting The Future Forum was the Sing Australia Choir of approximately 27 singers who entertained those present at the forum with songs that included an environmental theme. An joyous uplifting of the spirits to end this evening.

(“Forecasting The Future” article written by Hedley Thompson, BEN)
Sue Searls, Diocesan Director for Caritas Australia in the Diocese of Ballarat.