Extract

Our global society stands at a junction in a road. We can either continue playing the economic game of musical chairs, avoiding responsibility when and where we can, while hoping others will lose the game in our stead. This is a dangerous path that will lead toward a disrupted, chaotic world – far more so than it is today. The alternative is to attempt something fundamentally different, namely to focus on the well-being of all of us – and indeed of all living things – while respecting the limits of the planet. In some respects our society is better off today than it was in 1972, when the Club of Rome published its Limits to Growth report that made us aware of the world’s finite capacity to support us. Forty years later, we find that fewer of us live in poverty. More children are attending school, of which increasing numbers are girls. Such improvements have been achieved despite a growing world population, which is finally showing signs of slowing – but therein lies a problem. Slower population growth does not equate to population stabilization; we still expect the world to grow increasingly overcrowded. Barring any disasters, the overall population will reach about 9 billion by 2040.