Another Planet
Look at our beautiful blue marble.
How lucky we are to have emerged on this remarkable planet, to learn of our place in the universe and to understand what made our Earth so very unique, so very special.
But now we find ourselves in a very different place.
Imagine that we humans just landed on a planet very similar to the Earth we once knew, but just not quite. It’s too hot, and it’s getting hotter. We understand that if we applied our most advanced scientific and engineering methods as well as indigenous and nature-based practices, this new world could become a perfect home for us. We could turn it into a thriving, living planet.
The idea that this planet is still the Earth we once inhabited — with its familiar biological, geological, and meteorological dynamics – is now sadly misguided. Most of us though are still pretending that we are on a planet that is in some kind of familiar balance, when in reality we are now a species that is finding itself in a very different and unfamiliar place, one we have never experienced in our entire evolutionary history.
Now imagine that we landed on a planet where a great deal feels familiar. There appears to be great potential for turning this planet into one that could support human life and the life of the plants and animals we know. But it will require an effort beyond anything humanity has ever done. This planet and its atmosphere will need to be actively and rapidly transformed in order to become a livable place for us and for the diverse species on which we depend.
What would we humans do if we found ourselves on a nearly viable version of Earth? We would most likely say something along these lines: "Let’s do what we need to do so this planet can sustain life! Let’s go!” If we landed on a planet and discovered that it was nearly perfect for life as we knew it, but just not quite, we would inevitably apply transformative technologies as well as nature respecting practices like those of our indigenous ancestors. We would develop systems to clean up the existing messes and immediately stop anything that made things worse. We would use our science and technologies to increase albedo – the planet’s capacity to reflect solar radiation back into space – and to refreeze the glaciers and polar ice; to oxidize methane; to actively draw down massive amounts of CO2; to return the pH of our oceans and the microscopic life on the oceans’ surface to livable concentrations; and to ensure the restoration of habitat for the rapidly dwindling species so they can thrive again. We would immediately go to work. We would invent an economic system that would not exacerbate the problem, but instead would be designed to actively contribute to the creation of a livable atmosphere and biosphere.
Our capacity to realize that we are finding ourselves on a planet that is not currently capable of sustaining lifeas we know it is fundamental to our capacity to come up with the required solutions.
From Awareness to Action
It’s time for us to be unwaveringly honest about the present reality and what’s ahead.
Humans are an imaginative and courageous species: when we find ourselves in difficult situations, we naturally engage with them with all the intelligence and strength we can muster. And we typically do this in collaboration with others. We join together and everyone contributes what they can.
But we can't tap into our abilities to rise to the occasion if we ignore the reality of what we are facing.
It’s a bit like this: if you suddenly find yourself at an accident site, you may decide to drive by and pretend that it didn't happen. Or – and we believe that’s much more likely for most of us – you would choose to stop and step in to help. In times of crisis, there is a deeply ingrained capacity in humans to actively engage, to come together and to support each other’s efforts. Our ability to step into troubling situations with clarity and courage is a noble and powerful dimension of who we are as a species. We need to stir that capacity and connect to that natural inner strength. That means creating a story that does not deny reality.
There are many precedents in human history for facing and overcoming global crises. The current moment requires all of us to step in and step up to a challenge humanity has never faced before.
We are, after all, the first generation to understand the realities of this climate emergency, and we are also the last generation that can do something about it.
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Herman Gyr, Ph.D. and Lisa Friedman, Ph.D. are Co-Founders of EDG / Enterprise Development Group, based in Palo Alto, California - working with innovation leaders around the world.
Adrian Dolatschko is Founder of Forum Verde.
