Moving Past Planetary Crisis
A planetary crisis is upon us caused by biodiversity loss, climate change, and environmental destruction. This set of crises threatens to bring profound challenges to humanity in the coming years and decades—challenges that will threaten current civilization in fundamental respects.
It’s more important than ever to sketch a different way forward, away from a flawed destiny of environmental collapse. Here are some thoughts on how we can collectively move past planetary crisis and towards a better future.
It’s time to explore and implement regenerative socioeconomic systems.
Current global economic models are destroying the planet and the biosphere. Continuing down a path of resource extraction, the burning of fossil fuels, and economies of consumption will lead to a bleak future for humanity, imminently.
It’s time to explore and implement socioeconomic systems that:
restore nature and protect what's left
prioritize free time and personal development
protect human rights and improve society
stay within the natural limits of the planet
This also means moving away from socioeconomic models that produce and sustain:
gaping inequalities
ecocide and planetary destruction
imperialist wars that have marked the last 500 years of history
It’s time to shift political priorities, immediately.
A transition to new systems should have taken place 30 years ago. Now, the planet confronts the grave possibility of 2°C of warming by the middle of this century as a “best-case” scenario. Warming of this magnitude could lead to terrible social and economic crises and could see failed States, international conflict, and the triggering of further climate change “tipping points”.
We need to shift political priorities towards:
getting off of fossil fuels immediately
coordinating with other global powers on settling disputes
keeping the Arctic as cool as possible and engaging with the Arctic as a region in need of new forms of cooperation between and amongst peoples and States
implementing industrial and labor policies focused on environmental restoration, multiple forms of carbon capture, and adaptation measures for weather extremes and a much warmer world
halting biodiversity loss, rewilding where possible, and prioritizing harmony with nature
social and economic policies that (i) prioritize the health and well-being of citizens, (ii) protect the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, and (iii) can think long-term and across generations
We can measure success in concrete ways.
The kind of changes needed on our planet will require new metrics of success, away from GDP or traditional conceptions of measuring “economic power”. New ways to measure success should include:
a halt to biodiversity loss—and hopefully, one day, restoration of biodiversity
a halt to global warming / a bend in the carbon curve—and hopefully, one day, lowering global temperatures back to pre-industrial levels.
increased health outcomes, life expectancy, and mental health measurements
reductions in poverty, child mortality, and inequalities
reductions in all forms of discrimination
at a spiritual level, perhaps these kinds of changes may lead to some of us feeling a deeper sense of purpose that relates to the well-being of the planet and to future generations
one metric I think about a lot: seeing more stars at night as our economies move away from energy-intensive lifestyles towards a renewed harmony with nature