{"id":610,"date":"2019-12-31T14:46:22","date_gmt":"2019-12-31T14:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/?p=610"},"modified":"2020-04-06T16:03:47","modified_gmt":"2020-04-06T16:03:47","slug":"is-there-a-future-for-our-planet-or-how-not-to-lose-hope-in-a-world-with-dystopic-visions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/31\/is-there-a-future-for-our-planet-or-how-not-to-lose-hope-in-a-world-with-dystopic-visions\/","title":{"rendered":"Is there a future for our planet? Or: How not to lose hope in a world with dystopic visions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Emergency\nto act!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently,\nmore than 11\u2019000 scientists from 153 countries signed a paper in which they warn humanity that the planet earth\nis facing a climate emergency unless major transformations are made in global\nsociety (1). The scientists point out that the climate crisis is strongly\nlinked to the excessive consumption of a wealthy lifestyle. Thereby, the\nmajority of greenhouse gas emissions responsible for the climate warming come\nfrom the most affluent countries. The scientists clearly call to urgent action based\non scientific facts! In the paper they propose a list of important and\nessential steps that need to be taken in order to ensure a sustainable future for\nthe planet. Among the actions proposed are the implementations of a transition to energy efficiency, use of\nclean energy resources and the replacement of fossil fuels with\nlow-carbon renewable energies. Moreover, the scientists underline the duty of\nwealthier countries to support poorer countries in these transformations. To\nincrease sequestration of atmospheric CO2<\/sub> our ecosystems need protection\nand restoration. But actions proposed are not only supposed to happen on a\npolicy level but also on an individual lifestyle level.  Changes towards a mostly plant-based food and\nreductions of the huge amount of food waste are necessary (1). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why ecosystems\nare important and why rethinking is needed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earth\u2019s\necosystems such as phytoplankton, coral reefs, forests, mangroves and many\nmore, contribute to the sequestration of tons of atmospheric CO2<\/sub> (1).\nTo achieve the Paris agreement, which aims a temperature increase of less than\n2\u00b0C by 2030, ecosystems have to be restored and protected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the\nvalue of ecosystem and nature is not only given by their functionality or economic\nvalue. The value dimensions given also reflect an anthropogenic perspective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The primary\nvalues are the ecological values such as biodiversity, stability and\nfunctionality of ecosystems (2). Second, instrumental values are related to\necosystem services. These are defined as the direct benefits that people obtain\nfrom the ecosystems and if these ecosystems are lost, they pose direct loss to\npeople. Third, non-instrumental, intrinsic values do reflect people\u2019s\nrelationship to nature, such as cultural but also non-anthropogenic values (2).\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loss of nature and ecosystems therefore will affect all these levels of values. Their irreplaceability should rise strict protection legislation (2) and not a discussion about compromises we potentially find with nature. If we not manage to protect these ecosystems, we will lose this fundamental base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, is all\nthis new? Not really! Already 40\nyears ago, in 1979 at the First World Climate Conference in Geneva, scientists\nfrom 50 nations agreed on the alarming trends for biodiversity loss and climate\nchange and discussed the importance to action (1). In the following years\nsimilar conclusions and alarms have been released through the Rio Summit 1992,\nthe Kyoto Protocol 1997, the Paris Agreement 2015 and last in the UN Climate\nChange Conference COP25 the past month in Madrid (1). What did effectively happen\nafter these conferences and why has this repeated important facts and urgency\nnot moved politicians and decision makers to act together? The outcome of the COP25 conference showed\nthat that solutions raise complex conflicts of interests between policy makers\nof the participating countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perspectives\nand transitions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can\neasily lose hope with all the pessimistic news we are fed every day. The world\nis full of dystopic visions that likely inhibit our ability to move towards an\nEarth sustainable for life (3). But despite and amidst this negative news we\ncan find some hope. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, focusing\non nature as a valuable resource, the worlds protected areas are increasing and\nreflect the progress of the Aichi Target 11. From the prospected protection of\n17 % of terrestrial and 10 % costal and marine areas by 2020, 15% and 7 % has\nbeen reached by today (4). And not only protection but also abandoned and\nrewilded areas have increased (5). In Europe, as an example, more than 50 Mha\nhas been rewilded within the last 40 years. Even if rewilding also has it\u2019s\ndownside, such as biodiversity loss for some species, this has led to a\ncomeback of already displaced animal species such as wolves, lynx and bears (5).\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a\nsocio-political level, the recent famous movement as Greta Thunberg\u2019s \u201cFridays\nfor Future\u201d, rise a bit of hope and let us feel that change in peoples mind is\nhappening. It opened people\u2019s eyes on a broad scale. People started to\nrecognize how their own lifestyle and choices impact the environment. Suddenly,\nthe consumption behavior and lifestyle are questioned by a broad mass of\npeople. With her restrained and concerned way, Great amazingly brings together\npeople to strike, give pressure to policy makers and raise awareness of individual\ncontribution to the climate crisis.\nPeople suddenly have to justify their non- climate friendly behavior. Politicians\nand companies cannot hide any more so easily. They are observed. And they can\nbe blamed. What started in a small protest of a single teenager in Sweden,\nmotivated, inspired and mobilized todays\u2019 youth around the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Friday\u2019s for Future was not only the big movement that bring us closer to the goal of sustainability. Other transitions are happening: Activities on a small scale all around the world, a thousand individual idealists, innovative projects and local initiatives show us how a transition is possible. It begins with small steps and cultural changes. Rising awareness in the society: reuse, recycle and fix things instead of replace it, against the capitalistic and exploitative propaganda of economic growth. More and more, people start going to the local markets instead of buying food in supermarkets that serve us with products that traveled a whole continent. More and more, people buy seasonal, eat more vegetarian, even vegan food. All of this is creating change. Our meat consumption poses a major threat to biodiversity globally. With a reduction in meat consumption, the land used for agriculture and devoted for pasture could be reduced and therefore the pressure on biodiversity, pollution and over-fertilization (5).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not losing hopeful perspectives and counterbalance the dystopic view, this is what the project \u201cSeeds of a good Anthropocene\u201d intends to do (3). On their website they collect ideas, innovative projects, technologies and initiatives of people that are changing the planet. Among these initiatives we can find permaculture projects and innovative ways of farming such as a project called \u201cGreen wave\u201d, a way of ocean farming, where the whole marine column is used to produce sustainable seafood. Other projects show solutions for ethical traveling or engagement for trans-boundary water management in political instable regions. The collection of the \u201cseeds\u201d convinces by solacing, exploring and developing an alternative plausible \u201cGood Anthropocene\u201d, communicating the stories and show the results to generate hope (3). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no\ndoubt the way to a sustainable future is long. And there is no doubt that we\nhave to act now! It is our future and this is about finding solutions facing\nthe climate crisis, about finding sources for alternative energy and about step\nby step impact on the policy makers on a small scale. With an impact on the\nlarge scale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

References:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. William Ripple, Christopher Wolf, Thomas Newsome,\nPhoebe Barnard, William Moomaw. 2019. World Scientists\u2019 Warning of a Climate\nEmergency. BioScience.<\/em><\/li>
  2. David Moreno-Mateos,\nVirginie Maris, Arnaud B\u00e9chet, Michel Curran. 2015. The true loss caused by\nbiodiversity offsets. Biological Conservation.<\/em> 192 (12): 522-559. <\/li>
  3. Seeds of a\ngood Anthropocene: https:\/\/goodanthropocenes.net\/map-of-seeds\/<\/a> <\/li>
  4. Protected\nplanet: www.protectedplanet.org<\/a>\n<\/li>
  5. We\u2019re\nconservation scientists- here is why we haven\u2019t lost hope for the future: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/were-conservation-scientists-heres-why-we-havent-lost-hope-for-the-future-110155<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Emergency to act! Recently, more than 11\u2019000 scientists from 153 countries signed a paper in which they warn humanity that the planet earth is facing a climate emergency unless major transformations are made in global society (1). The scientists point out that the climate crisis is strongly linked to the excessive consumption of a wealthy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6949.jpg",640,480,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6949.jpg",640,480,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6949.jpg",640,480,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6949-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6949-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6949.jpg",610,458,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6949.jpg",640,480,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6949.jpg",640,480,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6949-640x330.jpg",640,330,true],"evolve-post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6949-640x330.jpg",640,330,true],"evolve-slider-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6949-400x300.jpg",400,300,true],"evolve-tabs-img":["https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6949-50x50.jpg",50,50,true],"evolve-testimonial-avatar":["https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6949-80x80.jpg",80,80,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Kathrin Holenstein","author_link":"https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/index.php\/author\/kathrin\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Blog<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Emergency to act! Recently, more than 11\u2019000 scientists from 153 countries signed a paper in which they warn humanity that the planet earth is facing a climate emergency unless major transformations are made in global society (1). The scientists point out that the climate crisis is strongly linked to the excessive consumption of a wealthy…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":668,"href":"https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610\/revisions\/668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science4wildlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}