Down to business
for young people · by young people · about young people
The green economy
The mobile revolution
The UNEP Magazine for Youth
2
TUNZA
Vol 9 No 4
TUNZA
the UNEP magazinefor youth. To view currentand past issues of thispublication online,please visit www.unep.org
United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP)
PO Box 30552, Nairobi, KenyaTel (254 20) 7621 234Fax (254 20) 7623 927Telex 22068 UNEP KEE-mail uneppub@unep.orgwww.unep.orgISSN 1727-8902
Director of Publications
Nick Nuttall
Editor
Geoffrey Lean
Special Contributor
Wondwosen Asnake
Youth Editor
Karen Eng
Nairobi Coordinator
Naomi Poulton
Head, UNEP’s Children and Youth Unit
Theodore Oben
Circulation Manager
Mohamed Atani
Design
Edward Cooper, Ecuador
Production
Banson
Cover image
Surbana Urban Planning Groupwww.surbana.com
Youth contributors
Manuel Aguilar (Guatemala);Anna Collins (UK); Kevin Ochieng (Kenya);Angus Joseph (South Africa); Zhan Hong Low(Singapore); Nilza Matavel (Mozambique);Patricio Mora (Chile); Sonali Prasad (India);Tipti (India); Robert vanWaarden (Netherlands);Caroline Wambui (Kenya).
Other contributors
Mike Barry (M&S); JaneBowbrick; Jason Clay (WWF); Georgina Guillén(UNEP/Wuppertal Institute CSCP); Su Kahumbu(iCow); Annie Leonard (
The Story of Stuff
);Kamal Quadir (bKash); Fulai Sheng (UNEP);Wayne Talbot (Kingswood Consultation); RoseySimonds and David Woollcombe (Peace ChildInternational).Printed in Malta
The contents of this magazine do not necessarily reflectthe views or policies of UNEP or the editors, nor are theyan official record. The designations employed and thepresentation do not imply the expression of any opinionwhatsoever on the part of UNEP concerning the legal statusof any country, territory or city or its authority, or concerningthe delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
UNEP promotesenvironmentally sound practicesglobally and in its own activities. Thismagazine is printed on 100% chlorine-freepaper from sustainably managed forests, usingvegetable-based inks and other eco-friendlypractices. Our distribution policy aimsto reduce UNEP’s carbon footprint.
UNEP and Bayer, the German-based multinational involved inhealth care, crop protectionand high-tech materials, are working together to strengthen young people’s environmental awarenessand engage children and youth inenvironmental issues worldwide.
A partnership agreement, originallysigned in 2004 and renewed in 2007and 2010, runs through 2013. It laysdown the basis for UNEP and Bayerto implement the projects under thepartnership. These include: TUNZAMagazine, the International Children’sPainting Competition on theEnvironment, the UNEP TunzaInternational Youth and Children’sConferences, youth environmentalnetworks in Africa, Asia Pacific,Europe, Latin America and theCaribbean, North America and WestAsia, the Bayer Young EnvironmentalEnvoy Program and a photocompetition, ‘Ecology in Focus’, inEastern Europe.The long-standing partnership betweenUNEP and Bayer has become apublic-private partnership that servesas a model for both organizations.
CONTENTS
Editorial 3Welcoming the green economy 4Yes we can! 6Going viral 7Down to business 8Plan A 8Starting a new venture? 10Green enterprise in Africa 11The mobile revolution 12Power to the people 14From metropolis to megalopolis 16Green feeding 18Living together 20Create the change you want 21Seven innovations 22Heal the world 24
Keep up with TUNZA on your mobile
http://tunza.mobi
or on Facebook
www.facebook.com/TUNZAmagazine
3
The green economy
• Nearly 40 per cent of the world’s 211 million unemployedpeople – more than 80 million – are aged 15-24.• In developed countries, one in four of the long-termunemployed are youths.• The world economy has quadrupled over the last 25years, but 60 per cent of the world’s major ecosystemgoods and services have been degraded or usedunsustainably.• In 2006, more than 2.3 million people worldwide wereworking in the renewable energy sector.• Emerging economies’ share of global investment inrenewables rose from 29 per cent in 2007 to 40 per centin 2008 – primarily in Brazil, China and India.• The recycling industry in Brazil, China and the USA aloneemploys at least 12 million people.• Processing recyclable materials sustains 10 times more jobs than landfill or incineration (on a per tonne basis).• Only 25 per cent of the world’s waste is recovered orrecycled. The world market for waste is worth around$410 billion a year.• In Brazil, 95 per cent of all aluminum cans and 55 percent of all polyethylene bottles are recycled, and halfof all paper and glass is recovered. This generates avalue of almost $2 billion and avoids 10 million tonnesof greenhouse gas emissions a year. Waste managementand recycling employ more than 500,000 people in Brazil.• Ecotourism has a 20 per cent annual growth rate, aboutsix times the rate for the rest of the sector. Travel andtourism employ 230 million people – 8 per cent of thetotal global workforce.
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EDITORIAL
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he world’s media bombard us with news of astalling world economy. A visit to the marketreminds us of rising food prices. Jobs are diffi cultto fi nd, especially if you are young. Then there’s the priceof fuel and the increasing scarcity of those earth metalsessential to your laptop, tablet and mobile.At the same time, we are told the world must ‘get backto growth’ – and many of us are assailed with demandsto buy yet more stuff. But with ever more people inthe world, doesn’t there seem to be a disconnectsomewhere? The Ecological Footprint already suggeststhat we are using the resources of 1.5 planets tomaintain current lifestyles – and for the majority, thoselifestyles aren’t too great anyway.UNEP is suggesting a different way – a transition to agreen economy. What does that actually mean? Well,UNEP defi nes it as: ‘Improving human well-being andsocial equity, while signifi cantly reducing environmentalrisks and ecological scarcities. In its simplest expression,a green economy can be thought of as one which is lowcarbon, resource effi cient and socially inclusive’. Doesthat sounds fairer?We must develop ways of accurately measuring ourimpacts on the environment, then include the costs, likethe cost of pollution, in the price we pay for what we use.Facing these real costs will encourage us to reduce theenvironmental impact of production and consumption.A lot of people are already working on that, whetherWWF’s work on sustainable production or Marks &Spencer’s determination to introduce sustainabilitythroughout its supply chain (pages 8-9).Then there’s the need to reduce our dependence onfossils fuels. Switching to renewables will involve majornew infrastructure, creating jobs and requiring newskills. But there are also smaller, locally appropriatepossibilities that encourage job creation at a level thatenables us all to get involved.New technologies will help, too. These are introducingless polluting, less resource-dependent ways of doingthings – from bringing products to market, transferringmoney and receiving payments, to raising money tofi nance your own new green project.UNEP believes that moving to a green economywill enhance our efforts to achieve sustainability byimproving human well-being and social equity, whilstreducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.Green growth is an opportunity to correct that dis-connect in ‘business-as-usual’. It involves all of us, andit is too important just to leave to governments. We allhave a part to play in our everyday lives, how we chooseto spend our hard-earned money, what we discuss withfamily and friends, and the messages we send, ahead ofRio+20, to the world’s politicians. Make your voice heard.
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Tunza Vol. 9.4: The Green Economy [English]
UNEP's magazine for youth.
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