The Greenest Event

Future Group presents The Greenest Event, in association with Servest Group, hosted by Simon Gear and Jeremy Maggs (and introduced by Dr John Ledger). Every year on World Environment Day (5 Jun) the country’s leading scientists, consultants and business leaders gather to challenge and address crucial issues facing South African business.

On the agenda this year:

The National Planning Commission

• Presented by Peter Lukey

The NPC released the National Development Plan in 2011 and it has since been adopted as the principle strategy document for the government. We will explore how the environment and resource management is handled in the plan, as well as getting a sense of what the major national environmental concerns are from a government perspective. The current state of the SA environment will be explored, and specific areas of concern highlighted.

Fracking

• Presented by Dr Maarten de Wit, Ivo Vegter and Chris Yelland.
• Panel discussion chaired by Jeremy Maggs

Fracking made huge news when first proposed in the Karoo a couple of years back. The issue cuts right to the heart of a number of complex problems: how to make decisions on incomplete information, how to plan for our energy future and how to hold large corporations to account for environmental risk.

Zero Growth

• Presented by Dr Chris Hartnady, Tracy Ledger, Philip Knibbs and Arthur Goldstuck
• Panel discussion chaired by Jeremy Maggs

A number of leading economists and fund managers have expressed their concerns that we are embarking on a new period in humanity’s history, typified by little or no long term economic growth. This is a function of our reaching the carrying capacity of the earth in any number of indicators, from fish to fossil fuel, combined with stagnating population growth and environmental damage that may prove irreversible. We will examine some of the issues around resource constraints on the South African economy, and look at how best to manage our investment portfolios in an increasingly uncertain world.