We need to understand the nature and gravity of the collective crisis that now confronts human civilization if we are to answer the questions it poses. If we do not soon halt and reverse our current trajectory of runaway climate change, environmental degradation and widespread biodiversity loss, the global economy will suffer negative consequences on its own.
It is not ‘saving the planet’ that will kill growth. Rather, the accelerating destruction of nature will undermine not only the global economy, but it could eventually threaten many life-forms on earth, including our own species. Although climate change may seem to be occurring over a longer time period, on the geological scale it is happening in the blink of an eye.
The fundamental question is thus how to save the planet, and the economy with it, from this generations-long crisis given the extremely short-term incentives of our key institutions — corporations and governments most especially, which respectively function on quarterly profits and the next election results, but also the global public who are rightly concerned with their own lives and livelihoods.
How can we incentivize leadership to make long-term decisions for the common benefit of mankind? How can we educate and activate the global public to understand and join this struggle? And how do we re-imagine the economy so that the opportunities of the green transition are not only realized, but spread more evenly among all peoples, rather than leading to increased inequality and instability?
Three pathways for action stand out:
1) Developing more holistic indicators that better account for economic growth along with broader metrics of human and environmental well-being.
2) Incentivizing all actors in the economy to change current innovation pathways and mainstream the necessary environmental transitions for their core business models.
3) Wise leadership that can both chart a new vision for living in harmony with nature and inspire shared commitment in achieving it.
That GDP has shortcomings as a measurement of human well-being is widely acknowledged by economists. Many of these shortcomings are related to the lack of environmental indicators that account for associated benefits to human health, food and water security, and the economy.
The path ahead will not be easy or without cost. Realizing a global new deal for nature and planet, and transitioning to a green economy, will require leaving existing development paths and developing viable alternatives for the fundamental infrastructure of society. This will require visionary leadership, the unleashing of green innovations, and compensating short-term implications, especially from those who have benefited most from current modes of economic development.
Source:
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/save-the-planet-save-the-economy-cristiana-pasca-palmer/
Aishwarya Says:
I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.
If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.
Do follow me on Facebook, Twitter Youtube and Instagram.
The copyright of this Article belongs exclusively to Ms. Aishwarya Sandeep. Reproduction of the same, without permission will amount to Copyright Infringement. Appropriate Legal Action under the Indian Laws will be taken.
If you would also like to contribute to my website, then do share your articles or poems at adv.aishwaryasandeep@gmail.com
We also have a Facebook Group Restarter Moms for Mothers or Women who would like to rejoin their careers post a career break or women who are enterpreneurs.