No Result
View All Result
Friday, March 5, 2021
Chinese (Simplified)EnglishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseRussianSpanish
Near future
  • Home
  • Tech
  • Medicine
  • Society
  • Environment
  • Spazio
  • Transportation
  • Weather
  • concepts
  • H+
Near future
No Result
View All Result

There is a serious global threat, but that's not what you think.

Gianluca Riccio di Gianluca Riccio
July 25 2020
in Society
Send to FacebookPin on PinterestSend on TwitterSend on Whatsappon Linkedin

Wealth is the biggest global threat according to a new scientific report. True sustainability will be achieved only through drastic changes in lifestyle, the report says.

The World Economic Forum has called for a major restructuring of capitalism in the wake of the pandemic: it is one of the main conclusions of a team of scientists from Australia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The team warned that the fight against excessive consumption must become a priority.

Maybe you are also interested

National currency for learning: how culture can make us rich

Because the Great Covid pause will be remembered as a revolution

3 industries will soon disappear in the emerging new economy

The future of the economy: the world begins to deglobalize

The report, titled "Scientists' Warning on Affluence," explains that true sustainability requires significant lifestyle changes, not the hope that more efficient use of resources is sufficient.

“We cannot rely on only on technology to solve environmental problems existing such as climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution ". This is what the lead author of the report, Professor, writes Tommy Wiedmann of the Australian University of New South Wales Engineering, in an article on Phys.org. "We need to change our rich lifestyles and reduce excessive consumption, in combination with structural changes."

Global threat
Sustainable lifestyles are a life between an upper limit, or "environmental limit", and a lower limit, or "social foundation".

An increasingly difficult global challenge

It is widely recognized that the planet could face an ecological tipping point.

"To take care of humanity, we must take care of nature," said the UN secretary general António Guterres on the occasion of World Environment Day in June.

Guterres stressed the importance of making changes as the world recovers from the recent pandemic: "As we work to rebuild better, we put nature in its place, that is, at the center of our decision-making process ".

About half of global GDP is related to nature

In addition to the many millions of environmentally dependent jobs, there are also billions of people intimately connected and totally dependent on natural remedies and medicines.

The threat of human-caused environmental damage was highlighted in the World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report 2020, where it is located in the top 10 most probable and most impactful risks.

Consumption, a threat of species

The main problem outlined by the report is that any increase in resource efficiency and environmental protection offered by technology-based solutions has been outweighed by growth in consumption. To the point that it might be time to rethink traditional ideas about supply and demand.

In capitalist societies, the theory states that consumer needs drive the rest of the economy: firms will only produce things for which there is demand. (One of the reasons why in the middle of the Covid disaster there were no masks around)

The reality of 21st century global capitalism is a little more complex than that. And a little bit worse, too. Some economists argue that growth itself is the problem.

Wealth is a global threat
Global emissions, shown as a green dotted line, keep pace with increasing production (purple) and global GDP (orange). Image: Nature

It is time for a reset

An economy must be created in which the market pursues fairer results for all, supported by changes to fiscal, regulatory and fiscal policies and new trade agreements. Investments are needed that promote shared objectives, such as equality and sustainability. It is already happening in some parts of the world, those where economic stimulus programs are being implemented. We need greater public / private collaboration in the pursuit of the public good.

The pandemic devastated families and blocked major economies. But by directing resources towards new and improved systems and processes, rather than supporting existing ones, a lasting change for the better is possible.

A global threat

This belief is echoed in the scientists' report, which shows that wealth is "actually a dangerous global threat and leads to planetary-scale destruction." The co-author states this Julia Steinberger, professor of ecological economics at the University of Leeds.

To protect ourselves from the worsening of the climate crisis, in other words, we must reduce inequalities and challenge the idea that wealth and those who own it are inherently positive role models.

This is the real global threat to be faced.

tags: economy
Previous post

China and the USA: it's the new (hopefully) cold war, baby

Next article

Do you want an unassailable password? Have a laugh

Gianluca Riccio

Gianluca Riccio

Gianluca Riccio, born in 1975, is the creative director of an advertising agency, copywriter and journalist. He is affiliated with Italian Institute for the Future, World Future Society and H +, Network of Italian Transhumanists. Since 2006 he directs Futuroprossimo.it, the Italian resource of Futurology.

Maybe you are also interested in:

Nevada bigtech bill
Society

A bill can allow BigTech to form "techno-governments"

sexuality
Weather

The future of sex and sexuality

bill gates avoid disaster
Society

Climate, how to avoid a disaster. Bill Gates talks about the fate of the world

Next article
Do you want an unassailable password? Have a laugh

Do you want an unassailable password? Have a laugh

Chernobyl reactor mold tested as a shield on the ISS

Chernobyl reactor mold tested as a shield on the ISS

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Collaborate!

We are open to visions about the future. Submit an article, disclose the results of a search or scientific discoveries, shows points of view on a theme, tells about a change.

Contact us
The last
  • Wolverine, Alphabet's secret project to create superhuman hearingMarch 4 2021
    Alphabet's most pioneering company secretly develops a device that delivers superhuman and selective hearing. After the first rumors, we await developments.
  • Pesticide "ghosts" haunt organic crops for decadesMarch 4 2021
    As in a Dickens story, "the ghost of past pesticides" continues to haunt the fields, even those of organic farming.
  • An implant in the inner ear restores balance to those suffering from vertigoMarch 3 2021
    The modification of an existing implant allows a Johns Hopkins team to counteract vertigo in those suffering from bilateral vestibular hypofunction.

Most read of the week

  • Levitating plastic discs

    Scientists levitate a plastic disc using only light

    62 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • M1, the huge 165-inch MicroLED TV vanishes into thin air when turned off

    60 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • World population growth will stop after centuries

    3128 shares
    Share 1251 Tweet 782
  • V90 Villa Edition, camper with terrace on the second floor

    225 shares
    Share 90 Tweet 56

Futuroprossimo.it is an Italian resource of futurology opened since 2006: every day news about the near future. Scientific discoveries, medical research, prototypes, concepts and predictions about the future for free.

Tag

Environment Architecture Communication concepts Advice Energy Events Gadgets The future of yesterday The newspaper of tomorrow Medicine Military Weather Robotica Society Spazio Technology transhumanism Transportation Video

Categories

The author

Gianluca Riccio, copywriter and journalist - Born in 1975, he is the creative director of an advertising agency, he is affiliated with the Italian Institute for the Future, World Future Society and H +, Network of Italian Transhumanists.

Collaborate! Are you interested in writing a post on Futuroprossimo? Click here for contacts.

Home / Author / IDEA / archive / Promo on FP

© 2020 Futuroprossimo - Tailored by Be Here

© 2020 Futuroprossimo - Tailored by Be Here

  • Home
  • Contact
  • archive
  • Technology
  • Medicine
  • Transportation
  • Weather
  • Society
  • Environment
  • transhumanism

© 2019 Futuroprossimo - Tailored by To be here

This site uses cookies. By continuing to read it, you consent to their use.