A mixture of statesmen, actors and singers joined MEPs and a large audience for the annual Energy Globe Awards in the European Parliament on Monday night. Hosted by actress Désirée Nosbusch the event saw Alanis Morissette and Dionne Warwick perform songs old and new. Mikhail Gorbachev picked up a lifetime achievement award whilst Kofi Annan presented the water award.

As the event opened parliament's president Hans-Gert Pöttering spoke of the energy and environmental legislation currently going through the House. He told the audience that "the EU must take the leadership in the fight against climate change - it is our obligation to live at peace with our environment".
 
In picking up a special lifetime achievement award former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev received a standing ovation from the crowd. He thanked those present and urged collective action on climate change saying "we will never achieve our goals alone".
 
Air and water: "Earth for future generations" 
 
The Air award went to Austria's "Fronius" company who pioneer CO2-free transport. It later picked up the global award voted by the audience. Presenting it president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso urged Europe to embrace the environmental targets it had set itself to reach by 2020.
 
When presenting the water award to a drinking water projects in Mozambique former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan used an African proverb to stress the fragility of life. He told the hushed audience that "the earth is not ours its something we hold for future generations".
 
Fire and earth with Dionne Warwick and Aamir Khan
 
The Andasol solar power station in Spain and a rubbish-sorting project in Peru picked up the fire and earth prizes respectively. Legendary soul singer Dionne Warwick presented the fire award then treated the crowd to a rendition of "What the world needs now is love". Italian star Zucchero and Canadian singer Alanis Morissette also entertained the crowd.
 
An energy and sustainability programme that supports environmental learning in young people in South Africa picked up the "Youth" award. The last words should go to Bollywood actor Aamir Khan who struck a reflective note saying that people had to realise that earth is neither "a money making machine nor a rubbish dump".

Mikhail Gorbachev was in parliament Monday for the Energy Globe Award where he picked up a lifetime achievement award. The former Soviet president now has his own think tank and is president of the environmental Green Cross Foundation which promotes humanitarian causes. In an interview, he spoke of his fears for the environment and warned of the chaos that threatens the world. He also criticised the "poor decisions" of today's political elites compared to those of the 1980's.

 

Can we really call environmental degradation mankind’s no. 1 problem when so many people are living under the poverty line?
 
The major problems are poverty, air and water quality, unsanitary conditions, low agricultural productivity, but all of them are about ecology. It is nonsense to say that ecology is a luxury - it is the major priority of our times. The second priority is the fight against poverty because 2 billion are living on $1-2 a day. The third one is global security, including the nuclear threat and weapons of mass destruction. These are three urgent priorities, but I put ecology in the first place, because it directly touches all of us.
 
You initiated momentous changes in the Soviet Union and did much to end the Cold War. What lessons can we draw from that experience when seeking a so called "world perestroika" to end the hot war against nature?
 
In the mid-80s the leaders of the big states realized that there is an urgent need to do something. Then God made the ways of Gorbachev, Reagan, Bush, Thatcher, Mitterrand and others - and they were wise enough to overcome clichés and prejudices regarding each other and start talking about the nuclear threat. Now the world and our times are different, there is globalisation, countries are more interdependent and countries like Brazil, China and India have come onto the stage.
 
The most important lesson we can take is that a dialogue has to be developed. Confidence has to be built. We have to renounce the politics of force, they bring nothing good. We have to understand that we all are in the same boat, we all have to paddle, if not, some are paddling, some are pouring water in, others might even be making a hole in it. Nobody will win in this manner in this world.
 
Look at the US in Iraq, everybody was opposed, even their allies, but they did not listen and what happened? They do not know how to get out of it now. Now we understand that... we are all linked to the US and if it falls apart it would be a real collapse. We have to help them to get out of there. That means that cooperation is needed, a new world order is necessary and global mechanisms to manage it.
 
After the Cold War everybody was talking of the new world order, even the Pope joined us and said a new world order is necessary, more stable, more fair, more human.
 
However, when the USSR fell apart (because of internal reasons first of all), the US could not resist the temptation to use the confusion. Political elites changed, those who brought the world out of the Cold War left the stage, the new ones wanted to write their history.
 
These errors of vision, poor decisions and missteps made the world ungovernable. We live in a world of chaos. New ways of life and new political mechanisms can emerge from the chaos, but the chaos can also lead to disruption, resistance and armed conflict.
 
"Towards a New Civilization" is the motto of the Gorbachev Foundation. What does that New Civilisation look like? Where can the world get the huge resources needed for these fundamental changes?
 
It is not always about money. If international issues are handled in a disorderly way, you need more money. It is about trust, co-operation, dialogue, mutual help and mutual exchange. Why is Europe growing economically - because of the existence of the EU. This is the path of new opportunities and the EU is a good example.
 
Of course, not everything is perfect. In my view the EU is already overcharged as a system. It has to have wisdom and know when to stop, absorb, move forward, not just hurry and make hasty headlong jumps.
 
When you look at Russia today, is it on the right track?  Can it be a positive force in forging the new kind of world your foundation promotes?
                                                                                          
I think that the direction of Russia is right; however Russia is halfway through its difficult democratic transition. But Russia will go forward now. In the times of Boris Yeltsin everybody treated Russia as a doormat, but now this is no longer possible; you will have to forget those times. Russia will be at the same level as everybody.

Maneka Gandhi, former Indian environment minister and journalist, now an ardent animal rights activist, was at the EP Monday for the Global Energy Awards. She chaired the jury that selected projects promoting clean energies. We spoke to her ahead of the gala.

 

 

The main problem is governments who will not take policy decisions because they are afraid of the electoral consequences, so they'd rather go to hell than be out of power (which they don't have to be, because their own people are not stupid, they underestimate them). Secondly, it is population growth: when I was born there were 1 billion people on this planet. I am 51 years old now and there are 7 billion people, with higher aspirations, all of which are resource intensive. When there were 1 billion people not all of them wanted private jets, submarines, Prada clothes, 25 different kinds of shoes, trips etc.

 

 

There is no "moral right". It doesn't matter who does it first or who second, we are all going to die together. When America, Germany and Japan - the three biggest polluters - were developing, there were no alternatives. Now, India, China and the rest of the world have thousands of alternatives to which we can switch without necessarily spending much money.

 

 

One might say "I'm not going to drive my car at the weekend", someone else might say something else, but the point is that we need to mainstream some of these individual steps. If the government says that nobody can drive their cars on Sundays, then everybody - including rich people - have to take the bus. This will also make buses better and it might make people think "if I can do it on Sunday, then I can do it on Monday and Tuesday and so on".

                            

 

My country is bleeding every day, because we cannot afford this 132 price (for oil) -which by next week will be 135 and the week after might be 140 - and this money is coming out of my food, my buses, my schools and my life. So we have to quickly move to a "post-oil world". Each village should be an independent energy maker and user: once you do that - be it with biofuel, solar or wind energy - you immediately stop wasting energy and have less pollution.

After a day hunting through press conferences and musical rehearsals ahead of the Energy Globe Awards Gala on Monday 26 May, we finally found Italian rock star Zucchero 'Sugar' Fornaciari., who has collaborated with a host of international stars during his long career, including Sting, Elton John, Pavarotti, Brian May, Joe Cocker and Miles Davies. Here's what he had to say.

 

 

Kofi Annan and Gorbachev asked me to be here...I said yes because it’s a good cause! It is important to do something for the planet, a planet which is going in the wrong direction....I hope my presence here will amplify this message from people that I know and trust like Annan and Gorbachev.

 

I’ve been part of many events like this, with Peter Gabriel, with Bob Geldof for Live Aid, with Pavarotti and friends where I met Annan, for the Freddy Mercury tribute…if I can do something I do it. I am a lucky guy, I like my job, I like my music and this is the minimum I can do for others.

 

 

It’s definitively different! It doesn’t look like a rock’n roll show, the gig is different! The stage is small, and I imagine there will be a lot of well dressed people...it’s going to be fun if I see these kind of penguins dancing.  

 

 

When I was a boy I didn’t think about the planet...I was thinking about how to survive because I grew up in a poor family in the countryside. But now I feel very bad for the future and my children’s future. I don’t know what kind of planet we will leave them. If it goes on like this, I think it’s going to be dangerous for the future. Air and water are important issues: we need them to survive! Like wine…We have to be aware that the planet and the climate are going in a wrong direction. My message is: "be careful!”

 

 

Definitely Blue! Like Europe, like the sea and the sky…"

One of Bollywood's brightest stars was at the energy globe awards in parliament Monday night. Indian actor and producter Aamir Khan said he had come to try and raise awareness of the need to act with rather than against nature. In this interview he brings a bit of Indian philosophy to the environmental debate. His role at Monday's Gala was to present an award for a project that had helped protect the earth and during his speech he stressed the need to protect and preserve "mother earth".

 

In the context of climate change, what can you tell us about India and its growing energy needs?
 
I'm not a politician; I have some creative ideas about it. I do not feel any different from the earth, I feel part of it. The earth is 80% water, like a body. In India we have this philosophy of three gods: Brahma, the god of creation, Vishnu, the god of sustenance and Shiva, god of destruction. We believe that everything that exists goes through these 3 stages. We are the level above the earth because we are the only creatures on earth who are acting against nature. When it is hot, we put air conditioning on, when it is cold we put the heating on, we are driving miles in few hours to be able to conquer distances. We control the earth. So, we are doing everything against what is natural in nature.
 
So you think destruction cannot be avoided?
 
For me destruction is a natural process, as natural as birth is. It's time to look back and ask ourselves: what do we do? What we think we have to do is find new sources of energy - but this only means we are going to go faster, not really to go back. There are ways to slow down - to respect life.
 
We are wasting resources and that is a shame. Saving resources should be the number one step. We have to make sure that people across the globe have the basic necessities. For example, if we have water, we should use it well and what I can't use I should share.
 
What do you do personally to combat climate change?
 
(Laughs) Not enough. I try to save as much water as I can, try not to waste electricity and try not to waste paper. Most of us living in big cities got accustomed to a certain lifestyle. I would strongly recommend stopping using cell phones and video recorders. We can delay climate change; we can respect what we have.
 
Most of us in India are trying to be progressive - as we understand it. My question is what is progress? All the things we call progress have actually resulted in huge destruction of the Earth - airplanes, electricity, cell-phones and the big factories - to make our life easier.

Alanis Morissette, known best for her songs "Ironic" or "All I really want" was at the European Parliament on Monday night for the Energy Globe Award. She has been active in environmental issues for several years - notably against US energy policy and drilling for oil in Alaska. At the Gala she sang her latest song to the assembled crowds. Prior to her performance we caught up with her and asked her a few questions on activism and the environment.

 

How would you define North American attitudes to the environment? Is there an awareness of climate change?
 
I think it's very trendy right now to be aware of the eco situation, especially with the Live Earth concerts. So I think that people are aware and doing the best they can - doing the little things they can.
 
What can artists like you do to make a difference?
 
Activism! I did some activism with Adam Yauch from the Beastie Boys. Bush was trying to have an energy plan go through where he was going to affect native people's way of life in Alaska - so we did some concerts. It's a great way do it through music and art. I think I have some social activism by default in some of lyrics. The song I'm going to sing tonight is about taking personal responsibility, rather than trying to control people outside and tell them what to do. I'd rather take responsibility for my own life.
 
How do you contribute personally to saving the environment in your everyday life?
 
We run our tour busses on bio diesel, recycle, use solar panels, I drive a hybrid car, I paid for my CD covers to be made of eco-friendly materials when they weren't doing it. They wouldn't pay, so I paid for it myself at the beginning.  Now it has become a sort of a commonplace thing, but a few years ago the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and myself were paying for it ourselves - so that was cool