The Earth recently hit a grim milestone: a full year with temperatures 1.5C higher than pre-industrial times. Scientists call this a stark “warning to humanity” about the accelerating environmental crisis, a reality that serves as a reminder of our utter dependence on a healthy planet.
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Missed Opportunity
The 2023 COP28 meeting in the United Arab Emirates was an unprecedented opportunity to recognize and act on the full extent of the global ecological crisis. Almost 100,000 attendees – far more than at any previous COP meeting – gathered to discuss ambitious steps to advance the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Unfortunately, the opportunity was largely squandered. The final intergovernmental declaration held up the global energy transition as a goal but was short on specifics. Corporate and national interests trumped the well-being of the planet.
If the planet’s survival depends on short-sighted calculations of self-interest, we are doomed. Unrestrained human population growth, heavy industrialization, and a broad spectrum of related destructive forces are and will continue to drive rapid climate change and the mass extinctions of species.
The failure of COP28 to seriously address the changes that are needed is just one more salient reminder that the solutions to the climate crisis are not merely political, nor solely technical. We have to have a fundamental shift in mindset to ultimately motivate the changes needed for a sustainable relationship with the planet – such as generating the political will necessary to make the energy transition a reality. Without a greater appreciation of our interdependence with nature – a strong sense of ecological belonging – we will not be able to fully face the needs of a sustainable future.
More on the topic: Did COP28 Succeed or Fail?
Calling For a Paradigm Shift
interconnectedness with nature – demands not just a shift but a fundamental transformation in our individual perspectives and understanding of the ecosystems we are part of. It might sound unconventional to some, but to confront climate change and species extinctions, a recalibration, grounded in personal reflection and new ways of educating about the environment, is a critical first step forward.
It may seem simple enough to recognize our interconnectedness with nature. Yet, this represents a massive paradigm shift from the human regard for nature that has dominated the last few hundred years: that humans were separate from nature, exceptional as a species, and free to extract from nature whatever it needed. Now we know the consequences of that older paradigm.
The new paradigm requires at least three significant shifts in mindset: 1) to recognize the damage we are doing and the changes that are taking place; 2) to understand the world as a set of complex systems – and our place in them; and 3) to reconnect with the rhythms and cycles of nature, from which most of us have become disconnected. That reconnection can be found not only through new forms of encounters with nature, even in urban environments, but through many of the wisdom traditions we inherit.
Biodiversity Perils and Threats
For the first needed shift in mindset, which is recognizing the damage being done to our environment, a greater understanding of burgeoning threats to biodiversity is a case in point.
The biodiversity crisis hits very close to my home in North America, where we have lost one-third of our breeding bird populations over the last 50 years – that’s almost 2.9 billion birds, some of them common, backyard species. These distressing declines mirror patterns among bird populations globally.
In a world grappling with environmental crises, scientists and policymakers are now struggling to find policy solutions and the most cutting-edge technologies and innovations to address the scars of the Anthropocene – the age of significant human impact on the planet.
I believe the critical first step toward global environmental recovery, whether climate or species, is actually much simpler: acknowledging and addressing the cataclysmic effect of our fundamental disconnect from the natural world as an existential threat demanding immediate attention. If we don’t understand and respect nature and our place within it, how can we expect humans to protect and cherish our environment rather than dominate and destroy it.
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A New Water Consciousness
The second needed shift in mindset comes with seeing critical environmental problems through a holistic approach to ecosystems.
Late in 2023, I traveled to Georgetown University’s campus in Doha, Qatar, for a conference on water security. Side by side with some of the region’s top experts, we looked closely at the ecological vulnerabilities around water security that are confronting the Gulf region.
In the Middle East, this means coping with severe water scarcity, made worse by climate change. Gulf countries face exceptionally high water stress but consumption levels are also among the highest in the world.
The conference included a wide variety of perspectives, disciplines, and holistic ways of seeing problems. As we turned to the solutions, it became clear that such an interdisciplinary approach is fundamental to more responsible consumption and conservation of our resources. Water, for example, becomes more precious when we understand its journey from source to tap.
Because the real risk, unless there is behavior change along with responsible management of groundwater resources, water reuse, and a “new water consciousness,” is a greater dependence on desalination for water security. That comes with additional impacts.
With about 97% of the Earth’s water in our oceans, converting seawater to freshwater through desalination presents an obvious solution for countries like Qatar which can afford it. There are approximately 16,000 desalination facilities worldwide, the largest growth in global desalination has taken place in the Arabian Gulf.
While the focus on developing the cost-efficiencies of this process intensifies, equal priority must be given to the associated ecological costs, specifically, mitigating the adverse effect of desalination waste to safeguard our marine ecosystems.
Thus, adopting a more holistic, transdisciplinary approach to water sustainability must inform both decision-making and personal choices that can help preserve this finite resource for future generations.If we consider the potential impact of desalination on Qatar’s sensitive marine ecosystems and coastal mangrove forests, we see that these mangrove and nearby marine ecosystems provide a powerful natural defense against sea level rise and strong storms, and are nursery grounds to many fish species that are ultimately harvested for food as adults at sea. These interdependencies between humans and marine ecosystems powerfully illustrate how closely our survival is connected to the well-being of our ecosystems – especially mangrove habitats. Thankfully, this was recognized by delegates at the COP28 as they committed to restoring and protecting 15 million hectares of mangrove habitat. Of course, actions must follow.
Cities as a Focus for Repairing Ecological Belonging
The third needed shift has to focus on reconnecting us with the rhythms and cycles of nature. The disconnect between nature and development becomes especially glaring in our urban landscapes. Concrete and steel structures rise into the sky replacing trees, dulling the vibrant green and blue resources vital to the delicate balance of natural ecosystems. And since most of us are concentrated in cities, places mostly devoid of nature, feelings of ecological belonging and nature connectedness are easier to lose. It is in fact in these places where we, as individuals, must act on the glaring deficit and seek to heal our relationship and connection to the natural world.
Experiences with biodiversity can help ordinary people living in our urban expanses nurture their appreciation and connection to the natural world, and rekindle a sense of stewardship for living organisms and the ecological threats they face. Spending time with birdlife, for instance, helps in nurturing such a connection while bringing mental health benefits, including reduced anxiety, stress and depression.
Ultimately, the occasional physical reconnection with nature needs to be reinforced with new ways of thinking about human-nature dependence. And for that, we can turn to non-scientific sources of wisdom and inspiration. Religion and many of life’s rituals still carry the vestiges of the ways humans used to live within nature’s cycles – the harvest, the seasons, the reciprocity needed to live in balance with available resources. Changing behavior and mindset needs to be rooted in new forms of education.
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Knowledge Roots
At Georgetown’s Earth Commons Institute, we champion ecological belonging through our coursework and hands-on, experiential learning opportunities. We are reshaping the way our students and future generations think about and interact with nature. Our programs reinforce the understanding that we are part of nature and the broader ecosystem, and empower them to be change agents.
Education has a transformative power, and is crucial for producing original interdisciplinary scholarship and research, as well as programs that address the need for a transformation in mindset from a young age. Incorporating natural history in our curricula can also help foster a more intuitive understanding of biodiversity.
We all need to recognize ourselves not as detached entities, but as part of a frail, interconnected ecosystem with the power to heal the wounds we have inflicted and reclaim nature’s resilience.
We are not without agency. Restoring our ecological belonging should no longer be the subject of endless debates but a call to action to collectively protect the oasis that is our common home.
