One Earth
background
Our experience in sustainable consumption and production issues
The five One Earth Directors have all been deeply involved in sustainable consumption and production issues, including the urban dimension.
Dagmar Timmer, Vanessa Timmer and Emmanuel Prinet have significant experience with international negotiations, including the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the UN's Commission on Sustainable Development. Emmanuel worked for the past five years in the Paris-based NGO, Association 4D, promoting sustainable development at the European and international level. He has been involved in the Marrakech Process since its inception. As part of the Marrakech process, One Earth facilitated NGO involvement in the UN-led June 2007 3rd International Expert Meeting on Sustainable Consumption and Production in Sweden (see our projects for more information). Emmanuel has collaborated with the French government, UNEP, the OECD, and non-governmental networks on sustainable consumption and production such as ANPED (Northern Alliance for Sustainability) and the European Environmental Bureau. He helped formulate the NGO statement and participated actively in the Oostende SCP regional conference. In 1996, Dagmar was International Coordinator for Youth for Habitat 2, spearheading preparatory work and also participating in the main conference in Istanbul. She also organized the inaugural dialogue amongst NGOs and the World Trade Organization staff on sustainable development concerns in 1998. Vanessa contributed substantively to the 2006 World Urban Forum, including as co-author of a formal discussion paper on livable cities with the International Centre for Sustainable Cities.
The team's areas of expertise express the spectrum of issues relevant to sustainable consumption and production (SCP). Tobi Reyes is an expert on the construction industry, with extensive practical experience in the business, construction, and real estate development communities in the GVRD as well as in the Philippines. He is the Chair of Port Capital Group, a private equity investment firm primarily investing in commercial real estate located in the Greater Vancouver Regional District. Dagmar has been working on conservation and development issues in the north and south for the past decade, including for five years with IUCN - The World Conservation Union. In Kenya, Dagmar's work at the World Agroforestry Centre involved grappling with the connections between local tropical forest landowners and the consumption of forest products in cities halfway across the world.
The team has conducted extensive research, written and published policy briefs and articles on sustainable development issues. Professor William (Bill) Rees is a leading thinker on SCP. He was the first to produce a tool (Ecological Footprint Analysis) that quantifies the relationship between human activity and the global environment, which is now in wide use around the world, from the United Nations to individual citizens. He has taught at the University of British Columbia since 1969 with expertise in ecological economics, planning and human ecology. He is a founding member and past-President of the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics (CANSEE). Bill is currently a co-investigator in the 'Global Integrity Project', oriented toward determining the necessary ecological conditions for biodiversity preservation. Vanessa holds expertise on both the communications and organizational side of social change. Her interdisciplinary PhD research focused on the strategic processes and structure of two international environmental organizations, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, and on their ability to adapt to change. Vanessa is currently working with the Greater Vancouver Regional District as part of the Sustainable Region Initiative (SRI). The SRI brings together private sector, municipal governments, civil society and other partners to stimulate ideas and action around sustainability and the future of the region. Emmanuel's primary focus is on international SCP negotiations. The French national "Jo'burg 2002" NGO coalition he coordinated brought together more than 120 NGOs working on sustainability issues for the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
The One Earth Initiative believes in the power of multi-media communication to transform society. Emmanuel has co-directed a number of documentary films on sustainable cities, including one highlighting the BedZED community in the UK which has reduced its ecological impact through innovative design. Tobi was a B.C. Young Artist recipient in 1990 and is a leader in information technology. He co-founded two Philippine-based IT-services firms which Merrill Lynch mentioned as among the top private companies in their space. Dagmar and Vanessa co-host the award-winning Canadian television show, The Sustainable Region. Vanessa sits on the Board of Judith Marcuse Projects, a not-for-profit that promotes art practice as a transformative tool, creating positive social change.
In addition to their international work, the whole team is engaged locally on sustainability issues. From 2005-6, Dagmar, Vanessa and Tobi developed indicators for the GVRD on environmental and other issues as part of the Regional Vancouver Urban Observatory (RVU), launched at the World Urban Forum as part of the UN's Urban Observatory network. Dagmar now sits on the RVU Advisory Committee (2007-2010). Vanessa and Dagmar are co-hosts of The Sustainable Region, a television show focused on sustainability issues in Greater Vancouver. In 2007, Dagmar and Vanessa contributed to the public consultation around Greater Vancouver's Zero Waste Challenge. Both Bill and Emmanuel are actively engaged in developing Vancouver's EcoDensity Initiative, which tackles three challenges for the city: how to continue to grow in a way that is sustainable and reduces the city's Ecological Footprint; how to grow in a way that maintains our livability; and how to grow in a way that improves opportunities to create more affordable types of housing.
(Image: The One Earth team at the World Urban Forum event in 2006 with UK sustainable cities expert, Herbert Girardet)