Discussing Peak Resources High in the Swiss Mountains

By: Piotr Jędrzejuk

Sooner or later we will run out of our natural resources. And, before real scarcity hits, resource prices will boom. International tensions will rise. Pollution will increase, since we have to dig deeper and deeper in more and more remote areas. The health and social impacts of our hunger for resources in developing countries, in Asia, Africa, will be transparent to everyone with an internet connection. Eh, that's everybody! So there is nothing better than being prepared and take action. How? Use different technologies, other materials, rethink business concepts and communication strategies, and basically ... reuse, reduce and recycle. To live a long and happy business life ever after.

The renowned World Resources Forum (WRF), bi-annually held in the Swiss mountain resort Davos, will also this year focus on these enormous resource challenges in an international context. Walking on the bridge between science and policymakers and business leaders the WRF will showcase the latest trends. Trends in science (nobody less than Albert Einstein studied and lectured at the organising ETH Zurich!), politics (governmental leaders from around the world will use the occasion to prepare themselves for the Green Economy discussions to be held at the June 2012 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro) and business (participation ranges from mobility to food to IT branches).

Parliamentarians from Europe and beyond will discuss the best policies to vote for. The UNEP International Resource Panel (the "IPCC for resources" will organise special sessions and launch reports. A whole crowd of young people, including 'student reporters' will be blogging and tweeting before and during the conference, which is expected to attract over 500 participants. The highly interactive conference will also include electronic voting, 'speak with the speaker' sessions, films and games. And of course nobody wants to miss the famous Conference Dinner, with theatre performance and the highest standards of Swiss hospitality.

Themes of the scientific program this year are: security of supply, growth and innovation, assessment methods and indicators, the social dimension of resources, and communication and education. Over 100 researchers from 30 countries will present their latest findings, and engage in intense discussion with whomever wants to take up the challenge.

The World Resources Forum will this year be held in Davos, Switzerland, from 19-21 September 2011. All details can be found here: http://www.worldresourcesforum.org, and regular updates are on the WRF Facebook page and Twitter pages.

The "WTF is #WRF campaign" will be starting soon!

Story submitted by Piotr Jędrzjuk