Paul Hawken

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Paul Hawken, 2018

Paul Hawken (* 8. February 1946 in San Mateo (California) , United States ) is an American environmentalist and best-selling - author .

Life

At the age of 20 he moved to Boston and studied macrobiotic philosophy with Michio Kushi and Aveline Kushi. He has written hundreds of articles for the Wall Street Journal , Newsweek , Washington Post , Business Week , Esquire, and others , among others . He mainly deals with ecological and economic issues and advocates sustainable changes in the relationship between economy and the environment. He also works as an entrepreneur and management consultant . He founded two trading companies for ecological products. In 1992 his company Smith & Hawken received the Environmental Stewardship Award . His books have been translated into 26 languages ​​and sold in over 50 countries. Paul Hawken is co-founder of the international initiative The Natural Step ( TNS ).

Views

Paul Hawken calls for a radical rethink and a new way of doing business. Society should no longer ignore nature's services. Nature has been destroyed by humans to a greater extent since the 18th century than in any previous historical period. All ecosystems in the world, forests, steppes, rivers, seas and even the earth's atmosphere are extremely endangered. Nature is being pushed back all over our planet and renewable resources are in danger of being exhausted. In his view, life itself is on the decline and we run the risk of losing the earth's natural capital because we are not giving it any material value. We behave as if the services of nature are worthless. In Paul Hawken's opinion, this is causing a major disaster . Because the value of these natural services is almost infinite. For example, a forest not only supplies wood and oxygen , it also binds carbon dioxide . The roots of the trees hold the ground firmly and protect against erosion , flooding and much more. There is no technology in this world that can replace this complex system of the planet.

According to Paul Hawken and other scholars such as Frederic Vester and Robert Costanza , the value of the natural capital stock would be between $ 400 and $ 500 trillion if nature's services were priced. Each year, the Nature provides human society a benefit of 33 trillion over the form of fruits that grow, water, which is purified in the rivers, CO 2 , which is taken up by plants, and much more.

About a third of this natural capital has already been destroyed by humans. Species have been exterminated , rainforests cleared, arable land destroyed and the air polluted. Every year there would be a sum of $ 70,000 in natural capital available to every person in the world. This makes it clear how much natural capital is still available. In Paul Hawken's opinion, however, mankind uses it ruthlessly and without generating sustainable prosperity. If all people in the world, with America's current consumption of resources, lived with the same lifestyle and with the same wealth as the Americans, one would need 12 earths for that.

Paul Hawken shows mankind a way out in his works. He contrasts industrial capitalism with his concept of “eco-capitalism”. In this all forms of capital are given a value. In their book Collapse or Circular Economy , the authors Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins use a wealth of examples to show that a sustainable , efficient , natural economic system is possible.

In his book "We are the change" (English "Blessed Unrest") he compares "the movement", Hawken's collective term for individual movements around the world, which campaign for social change, ecology and the rights of indigenous people, with an "immune system der Erde ":" The joint activity of hundreds of thousands of non-profit organizations can be seen as the immune system of mankind, which protects us from harmful influences such as corruption, economic undesirable development and ecological decay. "

Awards

  • Esquire Magazine Award for the Best 100 People of a Generation, 1984
  • One Hundred Visionaries who could Change our Lives , Utne Reader , 1995
  • Creative Visionary Award , presented by the International Society of Industrial Design
  • Green Cross Millennium Award for Individual Environmental Leadership , presented by Mikhail Gorbachev , 2003
  • Four honorary doctorates

Works

  • We are the change. Why the rescue of the earth is already in full swing - and hardly anyone notices it, Publisher: Hans-Nietsch-Verlag (September 2010), ISBN 978-3939570905
  • Collapse or circular economy. Growth along the lines of nature, publisher: Siedler Verlag (July 2001), ISBN 978-3886806041
  • Eco-Capitalism, Riemann Verlag (March 2000), ISBN 978-3570500101
  • The magic of Findhorn. A report, publisher: Hugendubel Heinrich GmbH, ISBN 978-3880340558
  • Out of control: Diary of those not invited to the WTO summit in Seattle '99, Publisher: The Grüne Kraft, ISBN 978-3922708186

swell

  1. ^ The authors - Paul Hawken. In: natcap.org. Retrieved May 21, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Paul Hawken: We are the Change. Why the rescue of the earth is already in full swing - and hardly anyone notices. Hans-Nietsch-Verlag, 2010, p. 216.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hawken, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American environmentalist and writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 8, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH San Mateo (California)