Planetary Environmental Boundaries

Moderator: Bedřich Moldan

Panelists: George Monbiot, Stefan Behnisch, Ladislav Miko, Peter Thum

 

 

 

Moderator Bedřich Moldan introduced the panel by questioning the validity of environmental boundaries, how their relevance can be determined, the consequences of mankind’s interaction with such boundaries and how a balance can be achieved between regulatory policy and basic civil liberties.

 

George Monbiot opened his keynote address by describing the Nine Planetary Boundaries: loss of biodiversity, dispersal of manmade materials, climate change, stratospheric ozone, land use, fresh water consumption, ocean acidification, nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to the biosphere, and atmospheric aerosol loading. All these, as established by Johan Rockstrom and his team in 2009, are ways in which mankind is pushing the limits of the Earth’s ecosystem to a point of no return and irrevocable damage. Mr. Monbiot bluntly argued that the root cause of the lack of progressive policies in this matter was a direct result of powerful corporate lobbyists, who have promoted extrinsic values with their emphasis on individualism above intrinsic values which benefit the whole of society.

 

Stefan Behnisch joined the discussion by stating that the “change we are looking at is…a rethinking of ideals…a change of parameters”. If we want to change the outcomes, we must first change the parameters of the playing field. He stressed his belief in creating fundamental change from the bottom-up. In order for this change to occur, individuals, interest groups and politicians must step up and take action, rather than rely on the established government structure. Mr. Behnisch argued that politicians are simply interested in the outcome of the next election, rather than in long-term goals and sustainability.

 

According to Ladislav Miko “an important element that humans have to accept is that they are strongly influencing the planet, but they are not running it.” He argued that mankind is complacent and relatively conservative, which allows for manipulation to instill fear of job losses, food etc. When people are afraid, they refuse to leave their comfort zone and act only when it´s too late – when catastrophe occurs. We don´t have time to wait for everyone to join the movement but instead must take preventative steps on our own and teach others. People need to be better informed about the current environmental situation. He went on to urge the meeting of bottom-up initiatives with top-down action to achieve better and faster results.

 

Peter Thum opened his speech with a question to the audience: “How many of you drive luxury cars?” The overwhelming “yes” responses sparked his following remarks that people want to enjoy themselves and to own desirable things. Regarding environmental issues, he said “It´s clever to make change sexy”. In political life it is very difficult to be progressive and we need to work in terms of what is possible, be realistic”. Thum concluded by stating that it is up to us as individuals to decide how we want to leave the state of this world for the next generations, and that this will shape our actions.