AMNYTT amnytt.no 7/2020 | Page 166

IN DEMAND
be reaching the idealists , who already take on responsibility themselves . But that is just 10 or 20 percent , not the decisive masses .
è But attractiveness for individuals and companies means that politicians must create the framework conditions for this . They are the only ones who can create these framework conditions . One example is the need to price CO2 . This must be the decisive steering element with which we work . This makes it worthwhile to think and move away from CO2 and towards renewable energies .
This would not require the invention of new taxes . Those that already exist would have to be balanced in such a way that future technologies would be profitable and competitive more quickly . We are still not doing this consistently enough today . There is still too much resistance because of the alleged protection of confidence or investment . But the necessary social change is also enormous .
emissions and without sawing off the branch that we are sitting on . This can only be achieved through innovation .
è Do you expect that the use of fossil fuels will be phased out completely ? We will use these energy sources differently , for example to produce plastics or medicines . In this role , they will remain indispensable . After all , natural gas has long since become not just an energy source for the chemical industry , but also the basic material for many products . We must assume that in the next 20 to 30 years we will change all processes worldwide in which humans release carbon emissions in such a way that no more carbon dioxide is released . è Is the revolution and the associated disruptions in technology and the economy too slow ? This is always a question of what time scale you are using . If you say now that this will take 20 years , it sounds agonizingly slow . If you look around in 20 years , you will see that no stone has been left unturned . That ’ s pretty disruptive . For a social system , for a society , 25 years is a very short period of time . Within this time frame , it is almost impossible to complete a transformation without there being those that are severely disadvantaged . And we absolutely have to avoid a rupture ripping through society due to this transformation , leaving large groups of people disadvantaged as a result . è Economy at the service of ecology – is that now , to put it provocatively , “ green washing ” for an industry ? No , quite the opposite . We must accept that the most powerful instrument for change is the market economy system . For entrepreneurs , it must make sense and be profitable to invest in decarbonizing ; then they will do it . And it must also be financially attractive for the individual to engage in carbon-free activities . This is how I am putting the economy at the service of ecology . Only if we manage to provide this incentive will everyone gather behind it . Otherwise , I will only
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UPDATE 6 / 20 The Phoenix Contact innovation magazine