Is it possible to solve the climate crisis?

- We haven’t mentioned the possibility of failure, we prepare for success, says Lyndsey Corrigan who works for StatoilHydro in Brussels. The Syntegration event has come to an end, and now the 30 participants are joined in a circle, and one after one sums up their experience of the conference.

- We have developed some really visionary ideas, says a young man in a dark blue suit.

- I agree! I hope to see many of you on the top end of the business hierarchy very soon, because people like you are needed there, says the next guy.

All the people in the circle are younger than 35, and they all have a promising future in their respective disciplines, be it party-political work, NGO’s or the oil business. During the conference the participants have debated topics like oil, energy and power in the era of climate challenges, and their main problem has been “How can we as young leaders, take leadership?”.

- We have to compromise to be able to find common solutions, says Christian Hunt. I might have to review my opinions on nuclear power, continues the 25 year old man who works as Communication Officer at Public Interest Research Centre (PIRC), and characterizes himself as a radical environmental activist.

- But I can’t promise anything, he laughs.

Inspiration

The results of their debates will be presented to the panel of experts on peace and climate, on the 10th of September, during the Point of Peace Summit.

- To us, this is the start of Summit, and it is a good start, says Secretary General in Point of Peace, Knut Holm enthusiastically. He is standing in the middle of the circle, thanking the participants for their hard work during Syntegration. In his hands he holds a candle which has been burning during the whole event as a symbol of new enlightenment. Now this candle is being passed on to Knut Holm and Point of Peace.

Positively surprised

Lyndsey Corrigan from StatoilHydro and Christian Hunt from PIRC are surprised that the discussions turned out as well as they did.

- Beforehand I thought that with all these different people, the process could get complicated. During these days I realized that it is actually possible to meet and to create something good together, says Christian.

The session in the circle is over, the participants have had lunch, and now the radical environmentalist and the StatoilHydro researcher are talking about the conference over a cup of coffe.

- The first day everyone showed up in clothes and styles typical for their profession or their interests. The environmentalists had their style, while we in StatoilHydro were dressed up. One of the first challenges was to review the image of myself and not at least my prejudice towards the others. It was necessary to throw away the stereotypes to open up to what they were actually saying. That way one can get a more nuanced picture of what the others actually mean, says Lyndsey and smiles to Christian.

- I agree! Lyndsey and I could easily find things to disagree on, but it’s so much more constructive to meet with the wish to produce something positive together.

He thinks that Point of Peace Syntegration has showed that it is possible to reach solutions to complex problems, despite conflicts of interest.

- The process that we have been through these days is a process that is needed on grand scale in the world, and we’ve showed that it is possible!

And now what?

The participants at Point of Peace Syntegration have established a network and are planning to continue working together. But for a little while still, the concrete results of the conference are secret. They are to be published first at the Point of Peace Summit in September. Lyndsey and Christian are excited about how the experts will receive the results.

- We hope they are not “immune” to environmentalist language, but that they understand the commitment behind the results and the way forward that they represent.