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Second letter to Klaus Schwab, founder and chairman of the World Economic Forum [WEF Davos]
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Oil is the lifeblood of modern times Everybody knows. But the people In Power (PIP) are turning a blind eye on Peak Oil and the Post-Peak-Oil (PPO) times.
Worse, most PIP continue pushing for growth, as if the earth were flat and resources limitless.
Klaus Schwab represents the interests of a number of the world's biggest corporations.
The sheep may ask the question whether their interests and those of the shepherd really coincide.
Do these animals believe that they can produce more from the same resources?
SwissCleanTech is good for marketing but ecologically it supports the idea we could continue business as usual and save the world with Hope Optimism and Technology.
The World Economic Forum wants to make this world a better place. Excellent idea! But the flag doesn't cover the cargo. On the contrary. The growth agenda is factually increasing the disparities between people and peoples and states. And it increases the speed towards total resource depletion.
 Klaus Schwab and his staff members appear being unimpressed by facts and figures that demonstrate how close we are to the brink of chaos, because of overshoot and increased depletion rates.
One problem is that they have the microphone and only listen to people who espouse the same growth ideology.
We tried again and wrote another letter:
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Second letter sent to Mr Klaus Schwab:  [ ] [First letter][Third letter]
ecology discovery foundation - ecoglobe
Helmut E. Lubbers
BE MsocSc DipEcol
14 Boulevard Carl-Vogt
CH-1205 Genève / Genf
Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera
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helmut ecoglobe.ch
www.ecoglobe.org
www.ecoglobe.ch
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Genève/Genf, 11 July 2011
Lu/rs/schw1711
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ecoglobe, 14 bd. Carl-Vogt, CH-1205 Genève
Mr Klaus Schwab
Executive Chairman of the
World Economic Forum
Route de la Capite 91
1223 Cologny
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"New Realities" from a different vantage point, my letter dated 25 January 2011
Dear Mr Schwab,
I’m not sure whether you did personally receive and read my letter of 25 January 2011.
You may have had preciously little time during the Davos Forum and in the following you may have forgotten. Attached you find a copy for easy reference.
It needs to be reiterated that humanity is cruising with increasing speed towards dramatic resource scarcities, i.e. food, water, fuel, a clean environment, and loss of biodiversity. Collapse is on the horizon, within the next few decades, because of resource wars and environmental depletion.
Scientists know that economic growth increases the rates of resource use and depletion, as well as the destruction of nature, including greenhouse gas emissions.
Nevertheless, the leaders in society, including the World Economic Forum, are still pushing for economic growth. Simultaneously population growth lacks attention.
Most leaders seem to think that the world can be saved by Hope, Optimism, and Technology. The harsh reality is that we cannot revive lost species, recreate depleted resources, nor repair a spoiled climate by technology. Hope and Optimism reflect our belief that we could find "solutions" sometime in the future. Meanwhile they prevent us from working with the knowledge that we have today.
The policies of the World Economic Forum stand in flagrant contradiction to your stated goal of being "committed to improving the state of the world," since you are promoting further growth on a finite planet. Your activities are supporting the short-term financial interests of your members and big business, i.e. the pursuit of further growth.
Yet these same businesses are headed by people like you and me, who have families and want to do the best for our so-called "loved ones". Sadly the promotion of growth is endangering the immediate future of our loved ones.
You may be really concerned about the present environmental threats to our world. Dealing with problems requires
1. In-depth analysis of the problems and its core causes;
2. Elaboration of possible remedies and policies;
3. Examination of the feasibility and effectiveness of the solutions;
4. Implementation.
Quite generally we are in a muddle of shallow analysis, which have lead us to a number of illusionary and counter-productive "solutions."
The core problem is overshoot, i.e. too many people consuming too much resources, virtually all non-renewable. since growth is always material, it increases the peeds of resource consumption and depletion.
"Jobs" and "poverty alleviation" are no valid arguments, even if growth would lift people out of poverty and create jobs.
"Jobs" must not contribute to further degradation of our planet. "Poverty alleviation" must be done by redistribution, not by economic growth and hoped-for trickle-down.
The above, dear Mr Schwab, will be difficult to digest, if one has spent a lifetime of work to promote growth. You may be inclined to put this letter aside. If you do so you may even forget its contents. But sometimes doubts can arise and wake you up in the night, possibly after another day with increasingly bad news on the state of the world.
If you remember those doubts in the morning you might return to Business As Usual. So be it. Nobody can be forced to change thought patterns.
Would reality achieve this, once we're on the PPOD, the Post Peal Oil Downslope?
We fear it'll be too late, by then, to change to a relocalised, low material throughput society that provides for the basic needs of people in line with the balances of nature and the seasons.
Thanking in advance for your reaction,
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yours sincerely,
[signature H E Lubbers]
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Enclosures
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References
 Brief vom 12.8.2012 an Herrn Klaus Schwab
"The world is in a total burn out state, and Davos is a kind of "sanatorium", a platform to understand what is happening in the world..." Klaus Schwab, Davos 2012
"Burn-out" newspaper articles
WEF Dircetor on continuied growth
The environmental "debate and communication"
of the World Economic Forum
WEF Scenarios 2009 - A Reference Scenario
Das WEF Davos Open Forum und die FEK - eine Analyse
ecostory 5-2008 - The Davos Open Forum on Sustainability and Economic Growth
ecostory 3-2004 - Ein Forum für eine bessere Welt (A forum for a better world)
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