How do we save our planet?

The Earth is getting hotter, the ice is melting, the oceans are rising, and they’re filling up with plastics. We need to acknowledge the profound and dramatic effects of human activity on all of life on Earth and on the Earth system as a whole. We are losing species, building up greenhouse gases, and running out of time. It’s easy to feel downhearted. And yet there are so many reasons to be cheerful: the watchword is “sustainable” and it’s being applied to every area of human activity – energy, food, clothing, travel, cities – you name it. But even if everything was 100% sustainable there’d still be work to do to repair the damage we’ve done. Where to start?

Our planet’s shared natural resources, such as the deep oceans, the atmosphere, space and the polar regions are global common goods. Effective climate policy requires all countries to be bound into a global climate treaty. To be sure, what is meant here is a treaty which is not only worldwide but which includes binding reduction requirements. The UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement, if fully and urgently implemented, are an opportunity to fundamentally shift the way we produce, consume and safeguard our natural wealth. But what we are doing is not enough. Business as usual has the planet at a breaking point. We must see a quantum leap in the speed and depth of change. Companies can be both profitable and socially and environmentally sustainable by delivering triple bottom lines (see later): planet, people and profit.

Our world needs transformational change. It’s time for the world to hold sectors accountable for their role in our environmental crisis while also calling for bold, creative, and innovative solutions. This will require action at all levels, from business and investment to city and national government. That is where we come in: as an individual, we yield real power and influence as a consumer, a voter, and a member of a community that can unite for change. Don’t underestimate our power. When our voice and our actions are united with thousands or millions of others around the world, we create a movement that is inclusive, impactful, and impossible to ignore.

Protecting our planet starts with us – Ten simple choices for a healthier planet.

Sylvia Earle – “Everything we care about depends on taking care of the natural systems that underpin our existence. We know what to do and we have to make choices to support the idea of protecting the earth and use our voice to take care of the natural world.”