There is enough global evidence demonstrating the reality of ecological instability in dramatic proportions, mainly provoked by our lack of awareness about the environment and selfishness toward that which surrounds us, with the presumption that all of the planet’s resources self-regenerate and that there is no remote possibility that this will stop to be the case.
It is the responsibility of this generation to confront these dire and unsustainable social and environmental problems, which will have terrible consequences for humanity. Our moral and social responsibility to act in a balanced and equitable manner to thwart the drastic changes about to occur on the planet must be coordinated by international, national, and local policies capable of generating positive change in the current development model.
The building blocks we need to face these challenges are right there before our eyes: technologies, ethics, and science. It is hard to imagine the quantity of resources that we could guarantee for the future should we be conscious today of the “ecological ransacking” that we are carrying out daily in our bid to satisfy our own needs.
Morality and justice must jointly constitute the foundation in stopping the barbarities currently being committed . What are we doing wanting to change, if we are not authorized to do so? We need radical, positive, and effective changes in transport, food production, and energy systems, both in developed nations and those that are developing.
It is highly important to understand that our degenerate actions toward the environment are harming all of the societies’ development systems. It is for this reason that nature can live without us but humanity cannot live without nature.
We cannot leave aside the palpable existence of an intrinsic and exponential relationship between economic inequality and environmental degradation. This is why the words of Thomas Friedman in his book “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” come to mind: “There will be no large-scale innovation in renewable energy while a barrel of oil remains cheaper than a barrel of water or milk.” [retranslated]
We have the technical, scientific, and human disciplines to supply the world with “green energy“ (I am not only referring to electricity generation), but our planet desperately need for political and social will to spread, and for us to admit that we need a change in the global development model.
I think (and I sincerely remain optimistic) that we are currently taking the first steps toward encountering the necessary keys and therefore being able to extend our hand toward a better understanding of the environment. We find ourselves in the famous green transition, so needed by our planet, because we now do not see it as an alternative but rather as a necessity.
We must be consistent with this green inclination that moves and inspires us. Every day we find more news reports and information of environmental interest that cannot be censured, whether on “how to save the planet in only 100 steps” or “how to practice eco-sex with your partner“. This is because, far more than a social myth or a mere fashion, these developments are key to the rehabilitation of environmental values within the citizenry’s ethics, which have drifted so far astray over the years.
It is not impossible to change our life style, it is only a question of attitude and the civil responsibility, of avoiding the selfishness of a humanity that “without noticing it” is intent on extracting even more our of a world that already gives it absolutely EVERYTHING. Let’s be, then, intelligent on the green front.
“We are just in time if we start right now.”
Dana Meadows
Maria Eugenia Rinaudo
B.S., Environmental Studies and a Specialist in Environmental Management
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