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Schwarzenegger: Time for a new Breed of Action Heroes

Press release // Sustainia // March 8, 2012 // 3 comments

Schwarzenegger: Time for a new Breed of Action Heroes

Geneva, Switzerland, March 7, 2012:

The former California Governor announces today that he serves as Honorary Chair for the Sustainia Award alongside EU Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, IPCC chairman Dr. Pachauri and former Prime Minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland. The Award is part of a new initiative to develop the world’s first realistic model of a sustainable world in 2020 – and identify the companies and persons who can make it real.

As long as we can’t see or feel what a sustainable society is, we will never succeed in convincing decision makers to make the changes necessary. The sustainable private and public solutions must be recognized and scaled up – and we need a tangible idea of how it will improve quality of life for people and communities around the world.

This is the rationale behind a new, ambitious award and collaboration – “Sustainia” – launched today in Geneva, Switzerland. The initiative is lead by former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is joined by three of the world’s most prominent sustainability leaders:

  • European Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard
  • Chairman of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri
  • Former Prime Minister of Norway and Former Director General of WHO, Gro Harlem Brundtland, who founded the global sustainability agenda 20 years ago at the first Rio conference in 1992 on sustainable development

“Being a champion in body building, in movies or in politics, I learned that the key to success is people power – - motivating and inspiring everyone to be a part of the solution, not just part of the problem,”

“The Sustainia initiative and the awards that recognize innovative people and technologies can help our campaign to make communities healthier, wealthier, and more sustainable for generations to come.” said Governor Schwarzenegger.

“Sustainia” is a virtual model of the world we could create if we implemented ready and available solutions to our existing cities, homes, energy systems, transportation etc. Developers have started the process of building Sustainia. In the coming months, everyone with an internet access can visit, inhabit and help build the new world on a virtual construction site.

The vision of Sustainia is presented in the book “Guide to Sustainia”, which was developed by Scandinavian think tank Monday Morning in a collaborative effort with 20 global companies (including Microsoft, GE, DNV, Philips Lighting, DONG Energy, Tetra Pak, Cisco and others) and experts. Since the launch in October 2011, a consortium of Scandinavian companies and founding partners (DONG Energy, Realdania, DNV and Novo Nordisk), UN Global Compact and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new climate initiative R 20 – Regions for Climate Action – has seen the potential of further developing Sustainia into a new global innovation and communication platform.

The key elements in the collaboration between Sustainia and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s R20 initiative consist of:

  1. To Identify, Design, Implement, Measure, Report and Verify the actions undertaken by regions and their positive impacts for a sustainable world.
  2. On an annual basis, to identify the most successful sustainable solutions and award the solution with the most potential to be implemented and disseminated.
  3. The establishment of a new powerful global forum for ambitious action and commitment to sustainable development that will provide a new innovative and creative annual platform for gathering global leaders.

Sustainia” will be presented to world leaders in June this year, at the Rio+20 Summit in Brazil, alongside an inspiration catalog – “Sustainia100” – containing 100 concrete solutions and technologies that will help make “Sustainia” real.

Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger:

“The era of talk is over. It is time for action – and the companies, institutions and persons who represent green solutions are the new breed of action heroes whose efforts we should celebrate and encourage”

EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard:

“Sustainia is a clear articulation of” the future we want” and aligns well with the message the UN wants to convey in Rio and beyond: we can build a desirable, sustainable future. That is why the UN Global Compact fully supports Sustainia. It is a fresh and much-needed approach to communicating sustainability, engaging key stakeholders, and inspiring tangible action.”

Former Prime Minister of Norway and Former Director General of WHO, Gro Harem Brundtland:

“The world is on an unsustainable path, so we must urgently increase our ability for practical change. I believe a major contribution can be made through sharing optimism and experiences with a large number of consumers/citizens, as well as companies. Motivation and inspiration for positive action will help us move forward towards a better future for all.”

Resources

High resolution imagery, fact sheets, guides and more are available for download from our dedicated Media Resources page

For any further information, interviews etc., please contact, Esben Alslund-Lanthén, +45 3164 1147, or, Per Meilstrup, +45 4047 4413.

There are 3 comments .

Jessica Gillberg —

My one idea i sent to the environment part of the community i recently planned to build was to use vertical gardens as part of grey water cleaning and also mixed water cleaning. I just love vertical gardens as a very little need of landspace but will achieve lots of green planet mother earh doing lots of health engineering by plants cleaning the water and the air in the process. My husbands aquarium project is planned to use just vertical garden as a part of cleaning the water as a perfect cradle to cradle community in perfect harmony with mother earth.

Sustainia —

Dear Jessica,

Thanks for your comment! We are very pleased about the community taking action themselves and wish to gather community members such as yourself to raise a global voice going towards the sustainable future of tomorrow. Vertical gardening is something, we strongly encourage, especially in our chapter on “Cities” in the “Guide to Sustainia” where we highlight the fact that vertical farms are nothing less than a win-win solution. It provides citizens with local produce at low prices and low energy consumption. And even more benefits add on such as the ones you mention!

Cradle to cradle solutions must be an integral part of building the society of tomorrow to not only be in harmony with mother earth but also to increase the quality of life of people living on mother earth!

We strongly encourage dedication such as yours, Jessica. Keep it coming!

Umberto —

Hi Janet.. great post although very true that women do not have the amuont of testosterone to build bulk, one also has to take into consideration that in fact, we can build it. Yes, hours at the gym, yes, protein rich meals I have a naturally petite frame, I had no body to speak of (read skinny, no curves ).. and yes, i did rebuild my shape, but not by doing the hours in the gym et all I did it with consistency, with proper training techniques and with proper guidance. I’ve trained many women who have put on bulk, as in bigger muscles. I’ve seen myself not fit into those skinny jeans because my thighs are now strong, i’ve seen little short blouses tighten at the bicep, the shoulder line I will never look like Arnold because I don’t have the testosterone levels, agreed but i have changed my body many women have. I always tell my clients that yes, they will build muscle, thank goodness for that, we need them to keep our bones strong and healthy and no, they won’t look like Arnold. Let’s celebrate that we can, let’s celebrate that it’s possible let’s celebrate that we have women’s bodies. We can build, we can reshape, we can become strong inspite of our hormonal differences. The consequences in the esthetics will differ.. let’s celebrate that too. Keep posting, love your blogs.

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