It belongs to neither a particular individual nor a particular nation. Nor does it belong to a single generation such as us, our children or our grandchildren. Instead, it belongs to all living creatures both alive now and in the future. Yet the political and economic institutions of our civilisation are fixated on enjoying the present and unable to account for the consequences of our actions on tomorrow.
This may be all too easily observed in our financial behaviour, where individuals, corporations and governments are forever borrowing from the future in order to improve the present. In the same way, the fossil fuelled party of our capitalist global civilisation is in the midst of a financial and ecological borrowing frenzy from the future.
And not only are the spoils of our mastery over nature enjoyed by only a minority of the planet, but in geological terms, they are being consumed within an extremely short time-span. In a crisis of modernity that could also be re-interpreted as one of ethics and values , how should we reframe our choices and actions in the present, in light of tomorrow? Surely it is just a matter of standing in the shoes of all future citizens and asking ourselves what sort of planet they would like to live on.
Surely our descendants, hundreds and thousands of years into the future, would wish for, and have a right to, the same stable climate and ocean levels that have allowed the attainment of such an advanced and flourishing civilisation today. It is none other than this consideration for future human beings and other life forms that should form the yardstick by which we set our mitigation targets — not merely what is politically and economically feasible for the industrialised world today.
Climate Change: What Happens after ? He is currently researching the potential of research universities to address the climate and sustainability crisis as part of a Ph. He is also director of the Environmental Learning Institute , a climate change educational initiative for Japanese businesses and corporations. The flexibility allows her and other public-health researchers to compare and contrast the health benefits from climate policies that simultaneously reduce carbon emissions and result in cleaner air.
They were shaped before the political upheaval of , when the United Kingdom voted to exit the European Union and the United States elected President Donald Trump, who promised to put America first and withdraw from the Paris climate treaty. But the teams that drafted the SSPs imagined a storyline that is very close to the path that the United States and other major powers are taking.
It sees concerns about economic competitiveness and security lead to trade wars. As the decades progress, national efforts to lock down energy and food supplies short-circuit global development.
Investments in education and technology decline. But that is the point. Change 42 , — Article Google Scholar. Google Scholar. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Press, Climate Change Synthesis Report. Moss, R. Nature , — PubMed Article Google Scholar. Hausfather, Z. Download references. Career Column 12 NOV News 12 NOV News 05 NOV Article 20 OCT University of Washington UW. Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.
Advanced search. Skip to main content Thank you for visiting nature. Illustration by Acapulco Studio. You have full access to this article via your institution. Download PDF. References 1. Article Google Scholar 2. Author: Andrew Trabulsi is a consultant, author, and entrepreneur with a background in technology forecasting, geopolitics, and economic development policy. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
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