Mohan Munasinghe is a sustainability activist and a staunch advocate of the protection of the environment and the creation of effective measures for fighting the effects of climate change. The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner and the founder, in Sri Lanka, of the Munasinghe Institute for Development, was in Portugal for a conference organised by Jornal Económico, about 'The world after climate change'. Addressing a group of managers and administrators of companies from a number of different sectors – including the energy sector – he talked about the main challenges in relation to climate change for economies and societies, about the discredit that governments from all over the world face with regard to sustainability policies, and presented solutions and models that could help reverse the much-announced environmental catastrophe.
The Nobel Prize winner, who regards himself as an 'adopted Portuguese citizen', also highlighted the importance of small countries like Portugal in the future of sustainability. “Portugal has the human resources and the good will to do many things to serve as an example for large-scale companies in bigger countries that aren´t doing anything”, he said. Mohan Munasinghe acknowledges that there are a considerable number of projects underway in Portugal with an impact on sustainability, mobility and the environment that can and need to be disclosed and copied in other countries.
In the professor´s opinion, technology is also a vital factor in relation to creating really sustainable solutions. “If we manage to produce more with a quarter of the resources we will be more sustainable and capable of protecting the environment more efficiently”, he underlined.
Conveying the message of sustainability to the younger generations will be the starting point for a better world, believes Mohan Munasinghe. After governments and world leaders having failed to take advantage of so many opportunities to meet the 17 sustainability goals over the last 70-odd years – which have existed since the end of the second world war – the time has come for the younger members of society to take over and set an example. However, none of this will be possible without the knowledge and tools to help make the difference.