Andrew Liveris on sustainability and environment

Andrew talks during the interview about the issue of planet resilience and highlights the role that Chemical Engineers will play in supporting and securing our changing world. He highlights that the planet is not resilient, and climate-change is not the only topic we must consider. System-wide resilience must be achieved.

Andrew continues and notes that the resiliency of all-natural systems is being stressed and stretched to the point of failure by human activity. This impacts every aspect of the environment, not just the climate.

He encourages us to think resiliently, to consider how to build resilient systems and understand how those resilience systems can be put in place.

He notes the concept of the circular economy, meaning the affordability of making sure that we do no more harm to the planet at all, whilst delivering equity to the global population. It is becoming increasingly self-evident that that we must in fact stop deforestation, stop contamination of waterways and now we have an emerging vision of zero-carbon technological pathways.

Andrew summarises this part of the interview by reflecting on the past, present and future. He observes that in the 1980’s and 19990’s we saw promising speeches thinking about the footprint of humanity on the planet.

Then, in the early 2000’s the discussion morphed into the handprint of humanity on the planet.

He notes that the difference between footprint and handprint, is footprint was a mindset around structures, handprint was a mindset about us. The notion that is appearing now is a blueprint for our (humanity) interaction with the planet.

The planet (and possibly the planets) we will populate by 2100 must be based upon a blueprint of resiliency.