Powerful Times: Rising to the Challenge of Our Uncertain World

Chapter 8. People and Planet

In the coming decade, we will develop a deeper understanding of how to meet our growing needs and wants while protecting our planet and its ability to provide a home for future generations. We will begin to see the interrelatedness of the human economy and Earth's ecosystems more clearly and realize that there may be planetary limits to our growth. As a result, we will take the concept, if not the practice, of sustainability more seriously. However, we will also begin to understand the profound autonomy of the planet—its long cycles of change and transformation that occur independently of our presence and our actions. We will then reach a collective realization that is more ancient wisdom than modern worldview—that ...