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| (Photo: RNW) |
Don't
bother keeping an eye on the Durban climate conference this week. That advice
is from Marjan Minnesma. The woman voted top green entrepreneur in the Netherlands
has a 'sisters are doing it for themselves' attitude. Not governments, but
businesspeople like herself will save the planet, she says.
It's not
easy for journalists to ignore events like Durban, where governments will be
talking about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But little has been achieved
on the international stage since the Kyoto conference. "All talk and no
action," sneers Minnesma. "Scientists disagree, voters underestimate
the problem, and therefore governments don't do a thing about climate
change."
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Promoting solar
Marjan
Minnesma's Amsterdam-based company Urgenda purchased 50,000 solar panels in
China last year. The huge order meant she could bargain for a low price, and
she passed the savings on to the thousands of Dutch home and business owners
who bought them. "In a single business deal," Minnesma says, "we
did more to promote solar power than the Dutch government has done for the past
few years put together."
Urgenda has
an ambitious plan to turn the Wadden Island of Texel into a model of
sustainability that generates its own solar power, grows its own sustainable
crops and serves as a testing area for new green technology. Texel has great
showcase potential with 800,000 tourists on the island each year.
"There
are already 30 entrepreneurs there who drive electric cars daily. There are 50
stations in Texel where you can charge your car battery."
Pre-seasoned
potatoes
The newest
innovation being tested on the island is farming on salty soil. "They grow
salty potatoes there. So you don't need to cook with salt anymore. You just
throw your salty potato in the water and it's already seasoned," Minnesma
says.
"A lot
of the Dutch groundwater is full of salt. We can keep irrigating with fresh
water, which costs a lot of energy and water, or we can say we were the first in
the world to develop the salty agriculture business."
Impatient
Marjan
Minnesma began her career at Royal Dutch Shell, of all places. She thought she
could change the company from within. "I discovered I would need to stay
there 20 or 30 years to make real changes." Minnesma doesn't have that
much patience, or time for that matter. Nor does the planet, she says.
"Climate change is an urgent problem."
Urgenda
does a lot of awareness-raising because the mindset needs to change. People
have to be convinced to take steps, even if their government is lagging behind.
Minnesma works with people she calls "frontrunners", she explains.
"People
who do things for the first time. People who stick their neck out and are
willing to spend a bit more to be the first."
Spreading
the word
The idea is
that these trendsetters start using clean technology and "the masses"
follow them, the entrepreneur says. "We try to change society by setting
an example, getting others to follow and making the group of followers bigger
and bigger." She points to England, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and
Austria as the countries where this model could work right away.
But in
Russia and the USA, Minnesma warns, the oil and gas industries have too much
influence. Even our southern neighbour Belgium is not moving fast enough.
"They
have a rich subsidy programme for solar panels, but I don't see sustainability
in the rest of their lifestyle. The subsidy has mainly made a few entrepreneurs
very rich."
Unilever
Minnesma
believes big business can provide the real solution to environmental problems,
as long as they have the right approach. She praises Unilever, which has set
the goal of doubling its turnover and cutting its ecological footprint in half.
"That is an enormous statement. If they really succeed within ten years
they have done a major job."
Dying breed
On the
downside, some companies are refusing to budge from their old ways.
"Energy
companies are not playing a good role. They are old-fashioned, big animals of
the last century that are going to die, and soon I hope. There are a few big
electricity companies in the Netherlands that are still opening coal-fired
power plants. That should be seen as immoral. We don't produce asbestos
anymore, so we shouldn't be burning coal either."
Forget
Durban
But
Minnesma doesn't give a moment's thought to what the Dutch government might be
pushing for at the climate conference in Durban this week.
"Forget
these international negotiations. They won't do the trick. They will certainly
delay. And we don't have that much time anymore. We can't wait until 186
countries come to a conclusion. Let's do it ourselves."
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