I like to go shopping at the weekly market. Packaging-free and regional. Recently I bought a watermelon there - with one laughing and one crying eye. The melon had been grown and harvested in the Kaiserstuhl region. So at least for the transport to my market, hardly any CO2 was produced. That was the laughing eye. What was the crying eye? It is actually too cold and wet for watermelons here in Germany. That's why they are usually grown in southern countries like Greece, Italy or Spain for the European market. For a few years now, however, cultivation has also been possible in the Kaiserstuhl region. So CO2 savings through climate change?
What climate change brings you
I'm afraid that would be too regional and simplistic. If we don't succeed in stopping the man-made global warming that causes watermelons to grow in the Kaiserstuhl region, the climate will tip. Not in 100 or 200 years, but in 30 to 40 years. The glaciers and poles are already melting. You are already experiencing regional extreme weather events, flood disasters, spruce dieback due to lack of rain. And when the climate tips, the southern hemisphere will experience an incredible heat wave, sea levels will rise and make life impossible in many coastal regions.
And even more people than before will have to flee their homes in order to survive. They will have to make their way to where living conditions will then probably still be somewhat bearable: to the northern hemisphere, to the wealthy countries that are largely responsible for climate change, on their way to us, to you and me, to where the watermelons grow.
Why we need a paradigm shift
Scientists have been describing global warming and its consequences for a long time. The facts are clearly on the table. But no one likes to look very closely. After all, most of the disasters are happening nice and far away - on other continents and in the future. We would like to carry on as before. Prosperity through growth. Companies want to continue to produce more and more, earn money and let the people who work for them earn money too. That worked very well for a long time and we all benefited from it - at least in the wealthy countries.
But all scientific forecasts show: It can't work for much longer. And a bit more environmentally conscious behavior, a bit more sacrifice, a few climate-neutral homes with Tesla in front of the door won't really help. We need a paradigm shift.
And to achieve this, science, politics and companies must work together and take action in the direction of sustainable, environmentally compatible economic activity, in the direction of a circular economy.
Science with research into new technologies, new resource-conserving processes, new materials and products that are truly climate-neutral or, even better, climate-positive.
Politics, by promoting innovation, but also by setting clear environmental policy guidelines, i.e. by demanding and promoting, to put our economy and our society on the right track, on the right horse.
Companies, by using their innovative power not for more growth and new, resource-intensive products, but to develop products that consume few resources, that can be repaired and reused, that can be recycled, and by developing entirely new business models.
Not to save the planet. But to ensure that we can continue to live on this earth. No matter where the watermelons you and I buy are grown.
Heike Hundertmark