Page 16 - Perspective Paper

5 Final remarks

The climate is the consequence of an immeasurable amount of processes occurring at all spatial and
temporal scales. Many of these processes are controlled by Earth’s living systems (the biosphere) through
their energy, water and carbon cycles, which are the connecting agents between the terrestrial and
atmospheric domains. Thereby the composition, temperature and dynamic state of the climate is largely
controlled by the state of the biosphere and vice-versa. Humanity makes up part of the biosphere.

For as long as humans have roamed the Earth we have been transforming the landscapes which we inhabited
through subsistence practices, from foraging to fully agriculture-dependent economies including animal
husbandry. The availability of food played a key role in the pace and nature of migrations, but also gave rise
to the first complex social systems that would control the distribution of resources amongst a growing
population. Naturally, the development of Neolithic culture to the point of profound global land cover change
has set us apart from the rest of Earth’s living systems, and has catapulted humanity into the role as being
the apex species of this planet. However true our position as the dominant species is, we have always been
and will always be interdependent on the environment around us; we impact the environment, the
environment impacts us. Our socio-technical systems continue to evolve on the path of domination,
exploiting resources for short-term gains. In the rush to feed our communities, we have become blind to the
reciprocity between humanity and the natural world, and are now starting to feel the first consequences
through climate change.

On the other hand, however, we have also developed a vast amount of technological tools that have given
us great insight into the natural world, and is increasingly enabling us to understand the functioning of
ecosystems and quantify the true value of natural resources. The possibilities there are today to incorporate
the natural world into our socio-technical systems is interminable, and blatantly exciting to say the least. The
acknowledgement of our power as modern humans to impact the global climate carries great responsibility.
Consciously resituating ourselves as active agents in the Earth System is the key to redirect our policies and
ethical principles towards the development of a fully regenerative global society, in which indigenous
communities will likely be our teachers.

Fortunately, alongside technological advancements, we have also become increasingly able to reflect upon
the socio-technical systems that have come forth from these advancements. Some of these systems may
have served us in the past, but now show to be unsuitable for the long-term. Our technological capabilities
combined with our increased self-awareness puts us in a position not only to take ownership of our faults,
but also to act upon them. The growing realisation that we are already transgressing the planetary
boundaries that demarcate the safe operating space for humankind challenges our existing paradigms on
economic growth, sovereignty and anthropocentrism (Wang-Erlandsson et al., 2022). Just as society at large
is interdependent to the environment - the governments, companies and individuals that make up society
are similarly interdependent on one another. This mutual dependence has positioned us in a causal nexus -
an endless loop of waiting to see who makes the first step in tackling the consequences of our actions – of
which the climate crises is one. The wait is often driven by the looming risk to lose money, status or power -
which makes perfect sense in a world where wealth is measured by precisely those variables. Having found
ourselves in an endless concoction of crises, it leaves us wondering whether we have misunderstood what
wealth truly equates to. Jointly exploring alternative definitions of wealth may help in breaking the vicious
cycle we are in. Such transitions, from the current consumption-focused economic paradigm to one that
embodies the vision of earth stewardship, are critical for transforming societal goals from increasing material
wealth to instead fostering built, natural, human and social capital (Chapin et al., 2022).

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