Isn't the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn't it our responsibility to bring this about?
Interpretation
The quote suggests that the collapse of industrialized civilizations may be necessary for the hope of a better planet, urging us to take responsibility for this change.
Maurice Strong's quote reflects a critical view of industrialization's impact on the environment, positing that the current civilization's structure may be detrimental to the planet's health. It challenges us to rethink our role in society and the ecological crisis, implying that we might need to take drastic actions to ensure a sustainable future for the Earth. The quote provokes thought about our collective responsibilities toward environmental issues and the potential necessity of radical change to attain a healthier planet.
In practice
During a conference on climate change, this quote can be used to provoke thought about our current trajectory and the need for drastic measures.
The concept of national sovereignty has been an immutable, indeed sacred, principle of international relations. It is a principle which will yield only slowly and reluctantly to the new imperatives of global environmental cooperation. It is simply not feasible for sovereignty to be exercised unilaterally by individual nation states, however powerful. The global community must be assured of environmental security.
After all, sustainability means running the global environment - Earth Inc. - like a corporation: with depreciation, amortization and maintenance accounts. In other words, keeping the asset whole, rather than undermining your natural capital.
A citizen of an advanced industrialized nation consumes in six months the energy and raw materials that have to last the citizen of a developing country his entire lifetime.
Great changes start with individuals; the basis of world peace is inner peace in the hearts of individuals.
Don't change the world, change worlds.
Disappointment is temporary. Only your thought about it is permanent. Change your mind about what has disappointed you and you will change your life
We ought to approach this challenge [of global warming] with a sense of profound joy and gratitude: that we are the generation about which, a thousand years from now, philharmonic orchestras and poets and singers will celebrate by saying, they were the ones that found it within themselves to solve this crisis and lay the basis for a bright and optimistic human future.
Designing and implementing a strategy for change is a waste of time until you have discovered and embraced the current reality. If you don't know where you really are, it is impossible to get where you need to be.
The future, like everything else, is not what it used to be.
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