The Cuban model of sustainability

The current round of global soul-searching about our blighted system of economic organization has led to an upsurge of activity in the field of alternative metrics. In France, on Sept 14, Nicholas Sarkozy unveiled the findings of a commission he appointed last year to study new, alternative measurements of social progress in a [...]

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Waiting for the urban gardening revolution

It’s only a matter of time now. London’s mayor Boris Johnson announced last week an ambitious scheme to grow food on 2012 plots of land across the capital by 2012. He has appointed a “Food Czar”, Rosie Boycott, to oversee this “Capital Growth” initiative. The London Development Agency is funding a pilot scheme to identify [...]

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Yves Cochet calls for food and energy rationing

Earlier this year I wrote about the taboo subject of rationing. Yves Cochet, a deputy for the Green party, made an important speech to parliament last month on the financial crisis in which he tackles the subject head on. Here’s an excerpt of his speech, without the backdrop of the inevitable booing and hissing from [...]

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Tips for sustainable living from cash-strapped Parisians

Many Parisians are adapting to the spiraling cost of food, gas and housing with resourcefulness and creativity. Le Nouvel Obs Paris has a great round-up of all the latest trends in sustainable living which have evolved in response to the purchasing power deficit.
1.   House sharing – no longer restricted to rent-sharing among students and single [...]

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What needs to be done

“Weathercocks and Signposts” is such an awesome report that I had to excerpt a bit more from it. This part focuses on the complexity and challenges associated with building an authentic, values-based approach to the inevitable consumption descent. The report invokes Churchill: “It is no use saying, ‘We are doing our best.’ You have got [...]

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Attali plan to boost growth is at odds with the Grenelle

The Attali plan to boost economic growth in France is out, and President Nicolas Sarkozy has said that he plans to implement most of it. The plan consists of 316 measures designed to administer an electric shock to the French economy, currently on track to deliver just under 2 percent growth in GDP this year. [...]

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Saturday Nov 24 is Buy Nothing Day

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Revival of horsepower as green transport option

This is a micro-niche for the moment, but it is actually happening. The horse is coming back as an alternative, green transport option in some communities in France. Stéphane de Veyrac, quoted in a recent article in Le Monde, is currently working on a feasibility study for the Haras Nationaux, France’s state-funded equestrian body, to [...]

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Financial turmoil and peak oil: join the dots

This month’s La Décroissance has an interesting interview with an unnamed senior official of the European Central Bank. Here are some extracts:
Interviewer: “Why did the world’s stock markets fall sharply at the end of August?”
ECB official: “Hum! Which version do you want?”
Interviewer: “Pardon?”
ECB official “Officially growth and trade are flourishing.”
Interviewer: “And your own analysis of [...]

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Is the Grenelle only good for the rich?

What’s the price tag for the ambitious plan announced at the Grenelle to improve energy efficiency and insulation in all of the existing homes and office buildings in France? Three thousand euros per household per year, according to Remy Prud’homme, professor at the University of Paris Xll. “The building lobby and construction industries…the media, the [...]

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