World Future Council
Encyclopedia
The World Future Council is an independent body formally founded in Hamburg, Germany on 10 May 2007. "Formed to speak on behalf of policy solutions that serve the interests of future generations", it includes members active in governmental bodies, civil society, business, science and the arts. The WFC's primary focus has been climate security, promoting laws such as the renewable energy Feed-in Tariff.
. The idea for a global council was first aired on German radio in 1998. In October 2004 the organisation began in London
with funding from private donors in Germany, Switzerland, USA and the UK. Since 2006, the organisation is based in Hamburg
, where the World Future Council is registered as a charitable foundation. Further offices are located in London, Brussels, Addis Ababa and Washington D.C. The Council meets once a year at the Annual General Meeting.
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History
The World Future Council was founded by the Swedish writer and activist Jakob von UexkullJakob von Uexkull
Jakob von Uexkull is a writer, lecturer, philanthropist, activist and former politician. He served as a Member of the European Parliament 1987–1989, representing the German Green Party. In 1980, Uexkull founded the Right Livelihood Award, commonly known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, and in 2006,...
. The idea for a global council was first aired on German radio in 1998. In October 2004 the organisation began in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with funding from private donors in Germany, Switzerland, USA and the UK. Since 2006, the organisation is based in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, where the World Future Council is registered as a charitable foundation. Further offices are located in London, Brussels, Addis Ababa and Washington D.C. The Council meets once a year at the Annual General Meeting.
The Hamburg Call to Action
The Hamburg Call to Action was unanimously agreed upon by all Councillors present at the Founding Ceremony of the World Future Council, 9–13 May 2007. It calls for the preservation of the environment and the health of communities, the promotion of "systems and institutions based on equity and justice", safeguarding traditional indigenous tribal rights, the protection of present and future generations from war crimes and crimes against humanity, a sustainable production, trade, financial and monetary system, the revival of local democracies and economies, and a universal ban on nuclear and depleted uranium weapons, cluster ammunition and landmines. It aims to generate governmental support for renewable energy technologies, the protection of forests and oceans, secure healthy food and water supplies, environmental security, healthcare, education and shelter, and a strengthened United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
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Councillors
- Hafsat AbiolaHafsat AbiolaHafsat Abiola is a Nigerian human rights, civil rights and democracy activist, founder of the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy , which seeks to strengthen civil society and promote democracy in Nigeria....
- Ibrahim AbouleishIbrahim AbouleishIbrahim Abouleish began his chemistry and medicine studies at the age of 19 in Austria. He did his doctorate in 1969 in the field of pharmacology and then worked in leading positions within pharmaceutical research. During this time he was granted patents for a number of new medicines, especially...
- Maude BarlowMaude BarlowMaude Victoria Barlow is a Canadian author and activist. She is the National Chairperson of The Council of Canadians, a citizens’ advocacy organization with members and chapters across Canada. She is also the co-founder of the , which works internationally for the human right to water...
- Rae Kwon Chung
- Tony Colman
- Olivier Giscard d'EstaingOlivier Giscard d'EstaingDr. Olivier Giscard d'Estaing, born in Paris, December 30, 1927, is chairman of the Committee for a World Parliament. The brother of former president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing is the Founding Dean and Director General of the INSEAD business school and Governor of the Atlantic Institute.He has served...
- Nicholas DunlopNicholas DunlopNicholas Dunlop is Co-Founder and Secretary-General of the e-Parliament and founding member of the World Future Council.-Work:Nicholas Dunlop is co-founder and Secretary-General of the e-Parliament, an initiative to link up the world's democratic members of parliaments and congresses into a global...
- Hans-Peter DürrHans-Peter DürrHans-Peter Dürr is a German physicist. In addition to nuclear and quantum physics, elementary particles and gravitation, epistemology, and philosophy, he has advocated responsible scientific and energy policies.-Biography:...
- Jared Duval
- Tewolde Berhan Gebre EgziabherTewolde Berhan Gebre EgziabherTewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher is an Ethiopian who won the Right Livelihood Award in 2000 "for his exemplary work to safeguard biodiversity and the traditional rights of farmers and communities to their genetic resources."Tewolde Berhan graduated in 1963 from Haile Selassie I University Tewolde...
- Riane EislerRiane EislerRiane Tennenhaus Eisler is an Austrian-born American scholar, writer, and social activist. Born in Vienna ca. 1937, her familyfled from the Nazis to Cuba when she was a child; she later emigrated to the United States. She has degrees in...
- Scilla ElworthyScilla ElworthyScilla Elworthy is the founder of the Oxford Research Group, a non-governmental organisation which seeks to develop effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers worldwide and their critics...
- Fabio Feldman
- Tim FlanneryTim FlanneryTimothy Fridtjof Flannery is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist and global warming activist....
- Rafia Gubash
- Prince El Hassan bin Talal
- Cyd HoCyd HoCyd Ho Sau-lan is a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for the Hong Kong Island constituency.Cyd Ho is a founding member of The Frontier, a pro-democracy political group, and since 2006, founding councillor of the World Future Council....
- Wes JacksonWes Jackson-Early life and Education:Jackson was born and raised on a farm near Topeka, Kansas. After earning a BA in biology from Kansas Wesleyan University, an MA in botany from the University of Kansas, and a PhD in genetics from North Carolina State University, Wes Jackson established and served as chair...
- Ashok Khosla
- C.S. Kiang
- Rolf Kreibich
- David Krieger
- Frances Moore LappéFrances Moore LappéFrances Moore Lappé is the author of 18 books including the three-million copy Diet for a Small Planet. She is the co-founder of three national organizations that explore the roots of hunger, poverty and environmental crises, as well as solutions now emerging worldwide through what she calls...
- Rama Mani
- Stephen A. MarglinStephen A. MarglinStephen Alan Marglin is a professor of economics and holds the Walter S. Barker Chair in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. Marglin became a tenured professor at Harvard in 1968, one of the youngest in the history of the university. His tenure was largely based on research that...
- Manfred Max-NeefManfred Max-NeefArtur Manfred Max Neef is a Chilean economist and environmentalist mainly known for his human development model based on Fundamental human needs. He is of German descent...
- Youssou N'DourYoussou N'DourYoussou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...
- Katiana Orluc
- Ahmedou Ould-AbdallahAhmedou Ould-AbdallahAhmedou Ould-Abdallah is a Mauritanian diplomat and former senior United Nations official.-Background:Ould-Abdallah graduated from secondary school in Dakar, Senegal. He studied economics at the University of Grenoble and the University of Paris and political science at the Sorbonne...
- Vithal Rajan
- Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger
- Vandana ShivaVandana ShivaVandana Shiva , is a philosopher, environmental activist, and eco feminist. Shiva, currently based in Delhi, has authored more than 20 books and over 500 papers in leading scientific and technical journals. She was trained as a physicist and received her Ph.D...
- Sulak SivaraksaSulak SivaraksaSulak Sivaraksa [] is founder and director of the Thai NGO “Sathirakoses-Nagapradeepa Foundation”, named after two authorities on Thai culture, Sathirakoses and Nagapradeepa...
- Count Hans von SponeckHans von SponeckHans Christof Graf von Sponeck was born 1939 in Bremen, Germany, the son of Hans Graf von Sponeck. He served as a UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq. In 1957 he was one of the first conscientious objectors in the Federal Republic of Germany...
- Motoyuki Suzuki
- Pauline Tangiora
- Christopher WeeramantryChristopher WeeramantrySri Lankabhimanya Christopher Gregory Weeramantry was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka from 1967 to 1972. He was a Judge of the International Court of Justice from 1991 to 2000, and was Vice-President of the ICJ from 1997 to 2000...
- Francisco Whitaker
- Anders WijkmanAnders WijkmanAnders Ivar Sven Wijkman is a Swedish politician and Member of the European Parliament. As a member of the European Parliament, he focusses on issues related to climate change, environment, development cooperation and humanitarian affairs.He is a member of the Christian Democrats, part of the...
Research and publications
- Miguel MendonçaMiguel MendoncaMiguel Mendonça is a writer, focussing on sustainability. He studied forestry, landscape management, journalism, geography, history, social science and environmental ethics. He is most associated with work on feed-in tariffs, a renewable energy policy...
, David Jacobs and Benjamin K. SovacoolBenjamin K. SovacoolBenjamin K. Sovacool is a Visiting Associate Professor at Vermont Law School and founding Director of the Energy Justice Program at their Institute for Energy and Environment. He was formerly an Assistant Professor and Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore.Sovacool's research...
(2009). Powering the Green Economy: The Feed-In Tariff Handbook, EarthscanEarthscanEarthscan is an English language publisher of books and journals on climate change, sustainable development and environmental technology for academic, professional and general readers....
, ISBN 9781844078585 - Herbert GirardetHerbert GirardetHerbert Girardet is co-founder of the World Future Council. His ten books include Earthrise , The Gaia Atlas of Cities , Creating Sustainable Cities , Cities, People, Planet , Shaping our Future , and Surviving the Century...
and Miguel Mendonça (2009). A Renewable World: Energy, Ecology, Equality, Green Books, ISBN: 978-1900322492 - Herbert Girardet (editor) (2008). Surviving the Century: Facing Climate Chaos and Other Global ChallengesSurviving the Century: Facing Climate Chaos and Other Global ChallengesSurviving the Century: Facing Climate Chaos and Other Global Challenges, edited by Herbert Girardet, is the first major book from the World Future Council, published by Earthscan in 2007...
, Earthscan, ISBN 9781844076123 - Herbert Girardet (2008). Cities People Planet: Liveable Cities for a Sustainable World, Wiley, ISBN 0 470 85284 4
- Miguel Mendonça (2007). Feed-in Tariffs: Accelerating the deployment of renewable energy, Earthscan, ISBN: 9781844077885
- Jakob von UexkullJakob von UexkullJakob von Uexkull is a writer, lecturer, philanthropist, activist and former politician. He served as a Member of the European Parliament 1987–1989, representing the German Green Party. In 1980, Uexkull founded the Right Livelihood Award, commonly known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, and in 2006,...
and Herbert Girardet (2005). Shaping our Future: Creating the World Future Council, Green Books / World Future Council Initiative, ISBN 1 903998 46 8
External links
- World Future Council
- FuturePolicy.org - Good Policies for Future Generations
- African Renewable Energy Alliance (AREA)
- Renewable Energy World - Developing Nations Eye Renewable Energy
- Ghanaian village to watch World Cup on the big screen
- WFC Grades North American FIT Programs
- Giving our future a face: We need guardians for long-term well-being
- Global Challenges - Increased GDP in the short term can entail destruction of foundations of life in the long-term