YEAR 2059 IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
BASIN
A Vision for the Future
8:30 am, Cairo, 2059. Inhabitants
silently make their way to work in the
morning sunshine in yet another peaceful
and serene 'rush hour' in the biggest city
in the Mediterranean. Congestion continues
to be a major headache for city
authorities, although it is nothing in
comparison to the grim and grimy days of
2001. Now cars and buses whisper through
the streets, and belching diesel fumes have
been replaced by water vapour produced by
solar/hydrogen fuel cells. The change has
been so fundamental that demand for crude
oil has dropped through the floor.
Living standards and the quality of life
for all inhabitants of the Mediterranean
have improved dramatically, particularly in
the South. Unemployment is ancient history,
a memory sustained only by grandparents
telling their grandchildren how tough life
used to be. The EU social security safety
net has been renovated and invigorated, and
the explosion of jobs in the 'new economy'
has released vast quantities of financial
resources to improve these services.
There are few if any landfills,
smokestacks no longer fill the horizon, and
clearcut sites are nowhere to be found. In
fact, forest cover both in the
Mediterranean and worldwide has been
increasing over the past 35 years, and
atmospheric CO
2
levels are
decreasing for the first time in 250 years.
All of the dams in the region have long
since been dismantled, allowing much needed
nutrients to nourish revitalized wetlands
and the Mediterranean Sea itself. The
effluent water leaving factories is cleaner
than it was when it came in.
The new economy has reduced resource use
in the region by 80 percent. Intelligent
houses pay their mortgage costs with the
energy they produce, the oxygen they make
and the water they purify. Taxes on
personal income have been reduced, while
per capita
spending on social
problems and environmental restoration has
increased. This new world economy is based
on a number of fundamental assumptions:
- The environment is the core of a
healthy world economy.
- The limiting factor
for prosperity is the availability of
natural resources and life-supporting
natural processes.
- Poor business
practices and wasteful consumption are the
primary threats to natural resources and
processes.
- Achieving economic and
environmental sustainability depends upon
redressing global inequities of income and
material well-being.
In industry, 'bio-mimicry' is the norm.
Competitive pressures to save resources
have resulted in industry replacing
practices requiring heavy metals,
combustion and oil in favour of
alternatives requiring minimal inputs,
lower temperatures and enzymatic reactions.
Companies now routinely mimic biological
and ecosystem processes in the
manufacturing of chemicals, materials and
compounds. Engineers have created zero
pollution industrial parks where one
company manufactures with the waste
products of another. Architects have
created living and working buildings that
process their own wastes, capture light,
create energy and provide habitats for
wildlife. These structures create wealth
for the community, and at the same time
improve worker productivity, morale and
health.
Extended producer responsibility has
revolutionized manufacturing. Companies now
know that nothing that comes into their
factories can be thrown away, and that
everything that is produced will eventually
return. The result has been the development
of easily and fully recyclable components
and products. Manufacturers are no longer
merely producers and sellers, but also
providers of services. In 2059, citizens do
not own electric domestic appliances, but
pay quarterly fees for their services.
Maintenance of these machines, as well as
eventual end-of-life disposal, is the
responsibility of the manufacturer. As a
result, product durability has dramatically
increased, and employment in the
maintenance sector has mushroomed.
The Mediterranean, the cradle of
civilization and the mother of the modern
European state, has once again undergone a
fundamental revolution. Within 50 years,
the region has transformed itself from one
of the conflict hotspots of the new
millennium to a vibrant, environmentally
sustainable society. Peace reigns here, and
is disturbed only by the buzzing of
honeybees busy restoring the natural
capital of their ecosystems.
Eugene Clancy, FoE
Mednet Coordinator
