Our common future

Yesterday I attended a talk in Sydney by Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, and author of Common Wealth, Economics for a crowded planet. Prof. Sachs spoke passionately about what needs to be done and about caring mindfully about the planet, poverty, and our collective future. We no longer have the luxury of nations thinking independently, and for their own gain - thinking in the next few decades must be global. By increasing our common understanding and by sharing technology and knowledge, the challenges can be met, and he emphasised the importance of Australia, despite its size, as a role model for other nations such as the USA.

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about why we as a nation should act in areas such as Emissions Trading - what's in it for us as a small nation in terms of population? Google the work of Jeffrey Sachs - his work clearly shows that one person, one community and certainly one nation can make a difference, and that may be just the difference this planet needs!