There is no such thing as a Fourth Industrial Revolution with 9 billion thriving co-citizens in the world if it is accomplished on linear economic principles. We need a transition to circular economic principles and practice.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the need for a shift from traditional economic models to sustainable practices for future growth.
Johan Rockstrom highlights that the concept of a Fourth Industrial Revolution cannot be realized under the existing linear economic framework, which often leads to unsustainable resource consumption and depletion. Instead, he advocates for a transition to circular economic principles, which emphasize sustainability, resource efficiency, and responsible production and consumption, ensuring that all members of society can thrive in harmony with the planet's ecological limits.
In practice
In discussions about sustainable development, this quote can serve as a cornerstone for advocating for circular economic practices.
Emissions of greenhouse gases warm the planet, altering the carbon and water cycles. A warmer ocean stores more heat, providing more fuel for hurricanes. A warmer atmosphere holds more water, bringing dangerous deluges. Rising sea levels threaten coastal zones.
There is an old belief that solving environmental problems can only be achieved by first building enough economic wealth so we can 'afford to save the environment.' This 'Kuznets Curve' thinking has never been correct and must be abandoned once and for all if we are serious about economic development for a thriving humanity on Earth.
Either we leave our descendants an endowment of zero poverty, zero fossil-fuel use, and zero biodiversity loss, or we leave them facing a tax bill from Earth that could wipe them out.
Global sustainability is now the only avenue to future inclusive progress that can deliver the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate agreement.
Even the wealth of the U.S. cannot protect against the levels of environmental destruction that we are unleashing.
Living through times of rapid change can be exhilarating, but it also can be very difficult.
Procrastinatio n will delay your change!!! Today is a very good day to change; don't let YOU stop yourself from growing!
I believe the equal rights amendment is a necessity of life for all citizens. The cabinet sometimes felt that I shouldn't be so outspoken.
What we need is a tough new kind of feminism with no illusions. Women do not change institutions simply by assimilating into them. We need a feminism that teaches a woman to say no - not just to the date rapist or overly insistent boyfriend but, when necessary, to the military or corporate hierarchy within which she finds herself. We need a kind of feminism that aims not just to assimilate into the institutions that men have created over the centuries, but to infiltrate and subvert them.
I know people can change-right down to my bones, through every cell, in every fiber of my body-I now that people can change. It is just a question of when and in what context.
Just try walking very slowly, and you will be surprised - a new quality of awareness starts happening in the body. Eat slowly, and you will be surprised - there is great relaxation. Do everything slowly... just to change the old pattern, just to come out of old habits.
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