At Permabusiness we like to maintain a positive attitude, so we hesitate to share this story. But we also know that it is important to face reality as it is, not as it once was, or how we would like it to be. Accelerating amounts of permafrost methane and CO2 are beginning to be emitted …
Continue reading “Methane from melting permafrost set to accelerate climate change by 20%-30%”
The Earth is full and over the past ten years increasing demand from emerging markets has erased all the resource-price declines of the last century. A new report from McKinsey says three key trends look set to make this situation more difficult and more volatile: people in developing nations are looking to increase their standards of living, …
The solution to the financial crisis is straightforward. As Richard Douthwaite and others have pointed out, the problem we face is not a lack of money. Rather it is the fact that our money has been lent into existence. As we are now discovering, this creates an inherently unstable system of debt, in which default …
This movie tells the story of dirt. It is relevant to your business because it shows how current farming practices are destroying topsoil, increasing the likelihood that your employees, your suppliers, and your customers, will not have enough food to eat. And as one participant puts it, “here’s this 120 year window in which we …
A sustainable way forward needs to reconnect our economy back into the ecology of the planet. This excellent five minute video explores some of the issues: One thing jumps out from the very beginning: the origin of the word economics means ‘household management‘ the origin of the word ecology means ‘household organisation‘ What if you could …
After some apparently good news yesterday, the news today has turned distinctly sour. As stories in the FT show: The world’s financial systems still seem to be getting worse, not better European solutions seem to be tinkering at the edges The ‘real’ economy is becoming increasingly volatile Innovation is needed
An article here describes how the exceptionally warm autumn has led many plants and animals to be seen doing things they wouldn’t normally do till spring — including the arrival of a swallow! This is part of a larger trend of the natural events of the seasons being disturbed, and could be bad news for …
Financial System is still getting worse, not better: As Italian bond yields surge, and the IMF warns of a “lost decade” unless a way is quickly found to return the global economy to growth, the solutions already found to the Greek crisis are now seen as increasing the risk to banks of future exposure to crises in other …
Continue reading “Financial situation worsening; US and China economies stumble;”
Chris Luebkeman, Director of Global Innovation and Foresight at Arup, talks about some of the key drivers of change in our world: Key drivers of change that he mentions, to varying levels of detail, include: Congestion Genetic screening Sea level rise Affluence Ageing populations Single person households Connectivity Clickizens Trans-generational exchange Authenticity Accountability for externalities …
Sony has warned that it will make a $1.2bn loss this year, having previously forecast a $0.8bn profit for the year to March. Reasons for the change include “slowing demand for consumer electronics”, the strong yen, and the floods in Thailand that have disrupted parts supplies. It says something about the accelerating impact of climate …
Continue reading “Sony warns of $1bn loss, citing Thai floods”