CHANGE- Climate | Enrico Giovannini | TEDxLUISS

Climate Change and Sustainable Development

• Enrico Giovannini, a former minister and professor, emphasizes the urgent need to address climate change, stressing the importance of believing in science and listening to experts.
• He criticizes past leaders for ignoring warnings about unchecked economic growth and overreliance on technology, leading to significant environmental and social problems.

Flawed Economic Model

• Giovannini argues that the current economic model, focused solely on GDP growth, is fundamentally flawed and must be transformed to prioritize sustainability and well-being.
• The pursuit of economic growth has led to positive outcomes but also resulted in hunger, obesity, and inequality.
• The current economic theory, focused on profit maximization, has exacerbated these problems and failed to address inequality.

Sustainable Development

• Sustainable development aims to meet present needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet their own needs.
• Cooperation and a shift away from competition are necessary to achieve sustainable development.
• Giovannini proposes a utopian vision of a new country that prioritizes well-being and sustainability, as outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS)

• ASviS was created to promote sustainable development and has successfully advocated for changes to the Italian constitution to prioritize well-being and sustainability.
• The introduction of the principle of intergenerational justice into the Italian constitution emphasizes protecting the environment and biodiversity for future generations.

Criticisms and Challenges

• Giovannini criticizes politicians for not fully understanding the implications of intergenerational justice and invites discussions on climate litigation, future generations' rights, and expropriating environmentally irresponsible companies.
• He shares an anecdote about being discouraged from discussing sustainable development and resilience by the European Commission, which later used his work to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

Encouraging Action

• Giovannini encourages young people to work hard to achieve their utopian visions, even if they may seem unrealistic.
• He criticizes the wealthy for pursuing options like building bunkers or buying tickets to space stations as a means of escaping a potentially uninhabitable Earth.