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CLIMATE CHANGE:
THE PIONEERING SPIRIT
TO MEET THE CHALLENGE
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ERLING KAGGE
POLAR EXPLORER
In 1990, Erling Kagge became the
first person to reach the North Pole
without the assistance of skidoos,
dogs or an external support team. In
1993 he became the first person in
history to walk alone to the South
Pole, and then, in 1994, he climbed Mount
Everest. He thus fulfilled his personal
“
IT CAN FEEL BOTH
UNPLEASANT AND
SOMEWHAT RISKY TO
CHANGE OUR OWN
WORLD. BUT PERHAPS
IT’S EVEN MORE RISKY
TO REMAIN PASSIVE
”
ambition to become the first explorer to reach the
Earth’s three poles. He has sailed across the Atlantic
twice, around Cape Horn, to the Antarctic and to the
Galapagos Islands. As a successful adventurer, Erling
Kagge has obtained fame, attention and recognition.
After the South Pole expedition, he appeared on the
cover of Time magazine as a modern adventurer pushing
the edge of exploration. The National Geographic has
defined him as a “tough guy” and Die Welt as a “brave
man”. L’Equipe has written that Erling Kagge “has done
the impossible, with class and discretion”. Today, what
makes Erling Kagge’s voice significant in raising the
awareness of a wider public is his life’s philosophy, one
that he has developed after tempting fate in the great
outdoors. “It can feel both unpleasant and somewhat
risky to change your own world. But perhaps it’s even
more risky to remain passive... What you will regret
in times to come are the chances you didn’t take, the
initiative you didn’t show, and what you didn’t do”, he
wrote in his recent book Philosophy for Polar Explorers.
In our present times, climate change and the search for
ways to reduce the impact of human activities on global
warming is one of the greatest challenges facing people
all over the world. Kagge’s view on how we can face this
challenge could be inspiring for all of us.
Erling, you are trying to spread your polar explorer
philosophy in the hope of helping people, regardless of
age and gender, to find their own North Pole, their own
Mount Everest, their own dream. Do you think that men
and women the world over might come to personally feel
the responsibility for doing something in their ordinary
lives to reduce the impact of the greenhouse effect on
global climate? Do you believe that facing climate change
might be perceived and experienced by everyone of us as
our personal or collective North Pole?
Yes. You, I and everybody else can solve this. Together.
But we need to follow our own path, to search for our
own Poles while doing so. I have faith in every human
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being, in our willingness to survive and to make good.
ordinary lives?
I am aware this is an optimistic view, but I am not a
I’ve met many people all around the world, and, to
believer in major reforms being forced upon people. I am
the extent that one can come to conclusions based on
an amateur in the field, but I strongly believe that the
personal observation and experience, I am in no doubt
willingness to change and the support for the reforms
that the majority of us undervalue ourselves and our
that necessarily have to precede this have to come from
opportunities to make a difference. It is so easy to settle
within everyone of us, if it is going to work.
with the belief that the problems primarily exist within
If we, as individuals, follow the logic of Tony Blair’s
a system, and have less to do with every single one of
argument (or excuse) of last year, it would indeed be bad
us. We must change this belief. Refusing to accept life’s
news for the world. He concluded
realities causes bitterness to arise.
that due to Chinese growth in
Apathy and negativity are the two
emissions, the beneficial effects
most important specific behaviours
of Britain reducing its carbon
we need to change in our ordinary
THE MAJORITY OF US
emissions would be nullified after
lives. When we have accomplished
only two years of Chinese growth.
this, then we will naturally act in
UNDERVALUE OURSELVES
I believe in the opposite approach:
ways beneficial to our environment.
AND OUR OPPORTUNITY
everyone has to consider what she
If we, as individuals, care and believe
TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
or he can be doing as an individual.
in our ability to bring about change
APATHY AND NEGATIVITY
Sva marga; follow your own path.
we will most certainly do what it
ARE THE TWO MOST
As a kid and as a polar explorer
takes to use the earth’s resources
I was told “it’s impossible.” In
IMPORTANT BEHAVIOURS
sparingly, to use our bike instead
fact, this term, “it’s impossible” is
of driving, to turn down the heat,
WE NEED TO CHANGE
among the most common sayings of
turn off the lights, join a carpool
our time. “It’s impossible to make a
instead of buying a new car, use
difference,” “it’s impossible to save
mass transit, buy environmentally
the planet.” But we need to remember that something
friendly products and cars, lobby our elected politicians,
that is impossible in fact remains a hypothesis. The
and so on. The list of eco-friendly options is endless.
completely unexpected happens to us now and again.
I am not saying it is going to be easy for any of us.
If you say a major change is impossible and I say it’s
But neither do I believe in what Martin Heidegger, the
possible, we’re probably both right.
phenomenologist and German philosopher, called the
“make-it-easy-for-yourself-attitude”. Life is supposed to
How do you think that each of us might give his or her
be difficult. Only someone who can voluntarily take up
contribution to fight against the production of greenhouse
a burden is truly free. When I look back at my own life
gases? Which specific behaviour should we change in our
and my own choices, both as an explorer and as a father
“
”
Erling Kagge
travelling
to the South Pole
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Mount Everest - 8,850 m a mental battle for climbers
of three daughters, it has always been the most difficult
alternatives that have given me the greatest pleasures
in retrospect.
What do you think about the future of technical
innovation and its ability to foster social and economic
changes in favour of more sustainable development in the
richer as well as in the poorer parts of the world?
The Manhattan Project which began in 1939 serves
as a great example of how huge technical challenges can
be overcome the instant a society grasps the importance
of dedicating both its intellectual and its economic
resources to a problem. Finding technical answers to
the challenges posed by global warming may not be
more daunting than picturing the first man on the moon
in the early 60s. Their dreams were ahead of reality, and
as a result they shaped the reality of the future and the
world as we now know it.
You recently wrote that being an explorer today is
different from what it was in the past for legendary polar
explorers like Roald Amudsen, Ernest Shackleton and
George Mallory, who were the first to reach the South
Pole and the summit of Mount Everest. Today’s explorers
stand on their shoulders. Nonetheless you tell us that part
of the experience is the same: getting up in the morning
is just as cold as it used to be; it’s still about getting up at
the right time and putting one leg in front of the other;
the big challenge still lies in daring to do it. Similarly, all of
us in the modern world are facing challenges reminiscent
of those faced during the industrial revolution, when
new production techniques were necessary to assure
wide economic development; thus on one hand we are all
standing on Adam Smith’s shoulders, but on the other we
are walking our own path towards change that reduces
our footprint on nature and environment. Can we do it?
As an advocate of the free market economy, Adam
Smith is walking down the path with us today. True
entrepreneurs thrive on change and embrace it as the
impetus to envision new solutions, manufacture new
products, and create new markets. The one thing in
Smith’s writings that most people can agree upon is the
market’s ability to spot new demands and then to come
“If you say it’s
impossible and I
say it’s possible,
we’re probably
both right”
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up with something new that can meet that demand. The
challenges we now face with the change in the global
climate should be welcomed by all entrepreneurs. It is a
great opportunity to reap huge financial reward while at
the same time solving critical environmental problems.
Adam Smith, who was first a moral philosopher,
championed self-interest, and regarded selfishness as
immoral. The self-interest he speaks of is not a narrow
selfishness but rather a notion with a larger degree of
sympathy. In the case of the global warming Adam Smith
would have argued that an entrepreneur’s self-interest
should by necessity include the interests of the rest of
society by saving our habitat and protecting our species.
This is an issue where business and environmentalists
could ultimately be on the same side. Adam Smith is
“One of the
most important
thing is to
get up in the
morning”
Skiing alone to the South Pole
is all about managing what you
have, accepting your weaknesses,
and making the best of things
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a truly misunderstood philosopher. I wonder whether a
reason could be that the right wing loves him without
having read him, and the left wing loathes him without
having read him, simply because the right likes him.
In your opinion what should be the role of public policy
in the fight against the greenhouse effect and climate
change? Do you have a specific message to encourage our
policy makers to think and act as polar explorers?
My message to politicians is to leave politics aside.
No-one is going to have the last word on climate change,
but the fight against global warming is a wonderful
opportunity to unify and not divide citizens and countries
of the world. Torstein Veblen, the philosopher, coined
the expression “conspicuous consumption” in his classic
book The Leisure Class. Wasting resources and money is
a way for the privileged to advertise their superiority.
The number of people in this category has increased
dramatically since then, and over-consumption has
become a habit of major parts of the world. I do, however,
believe that we are in for a dramatic change on earth, or
at least major parts of it: conservation and not waste
will be the credo for more and more of the citizens of
the world. You can show your superiority by not being
tempted by the superfluous. This is a change that has
already started among people; the politicians are still
lagging behind, but they are beginning to catch up. I
believe in the power of this change for two reasons; firstly,
due to the problems we are facing, change has become a
necessity, and secondly, it is a change that has not been
forced upon people from above, but that has happened
the other way around. The politicians are following the
electorate. In the future we should expect them to give
people more incentives to cut back on carbon in the way
that suits them best.
Exploration is about thinking ahead and leaving your
fears behind. We are all explorers in our own minds, and
I am a strong believer in every human’s ability to head in
the right direction. It’s like the old saying goes; he or she
who has a why to live for, can bear almost any how.
“Generally speaking it is
not easy to be courageous”
Climate change is one of the greatest environmental, social
and economic threats facing the planet. During the last century,
the Earth’s average surface temperature rose by around 0.6°C
(1.08° F). Warming occurred in both the Northern and Southern
hemispheres, and over the oceans. Most of the global warming
that has occurred over the last 50 years is attributable to human
activities and particularly to the burning of fossil fuels and
deforestation, both of which result in the emission of carbon
dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate
change. During the 150 years of the industrial age, the atmospheric
concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by 31%. Prior to the
start of the Industrial Revolution, the levels of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere were about 280 parts per million by volume (ppmv).
Current levels are about 370 ppmv. The concentration of CO2 in our
atmosphere today is higher than at any time in the past 420,000
years, and probably in the last 20 million years.
In its fourth Assessment Report (2007), the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that global average
surface temperatures will rise by a further 1.1 to 6.4°C (1.98
to 11.52°F) by the end of this century. This global temperature
increase is likely to trigger serious consequences for humanity and
other life forms alike. Climate change is already having pronounced
environmental, economic and social impacts. The economic costs
are projected to be heavy and will increase the more we allow the
temperature to rise. An example of the current economic and social
impacts of climate change is the lack of snow suffered by European
ski resorts after an abnormally warm autumn and early winter in
2006. The deadly summer 2003 heat wave in Europe is also typical
of what experts consider is likely to occur increasingly frequently
as a result of climate change. During that event more than 20,000
people in the EU died prematurely from a combination of heat
stress and increased air pollution from ozone and particulates.
Southern Europe suffered large-scale forest fires, and European
farmers lost over u10 billion in income due to crop damage
and other effects. There has also been an increase in weatherrelated natural catastrophes, such as floods and windstorms. It is
projected that climate change will have severe impacts on certain
ecosystems, with some species and habitats disappearing. Global
food production is likely to decline, infectious diseases such as
malaria and dengue fever may spread, and water scarcity and
poor water quality will become problems in many regions. Over
the last 30 years the extent of Arctic sea ice has decreased by
around 7% and the ice has thinned by about 40%. By 2100, sea
levels are expected to rise by between 9 cm and 88 cm if global
greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced. This would drown
some low-lying islands such as the Maldives and many coastal
regions like the Bangladesh delta, and cause widespread salt water
intrusion. Weather impacts are likely to include higher maximum
temperatures, more heat waves, increased summer dryness with
the risk of drought and fires, or, in other regions, increases in
precipitation, storms and floods. Such impacts might trigger what
are termed “secondary effects”: regional conflicts, poverty, famine
and migration.
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