Humanity should shift focus from managing the signs of environmental crises to tackling their root causes by basically altering societal values, assumptions, and constructions, a UN University report mentioned on Wednesday.
The 2025 Interconnected Disaster Risks report, Turning Over a New Leaf, ready by the Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), critiques present approaches as typically being “superficial fixes.”
Instead of primarily asking the best way to recycle extra plastic baggage, society ought to prioritize lowering plastic use altogether, the report suggests.
Similarly, quite than focusing solely on mitigating the results of worldwide warming-like experimental atmospheric cooling-the precedence have to be addressing its trigger, specifically drastically slicing fossil gas consumption.
“We cannot expect real change unless we explore the reasons behind our actions and question why we are doing what we are doing,” the report mentioned. It argues that many well-intentioned efforts, like recycling, solely assist “to a certain extent if we continue to produce ever-increasing volumes of garbage.”
– ADDRESSING ROOT CAUSES
The report contended that a long time of warnings about local weather change and biodiversity loss have yielded inadequate progress as a result of efforts typically solely intention to stop the worst outcomes, quite than actively making a fascinating future.
To obtain significant progress, the report proposed making use of a Theory of Deep Change. This framework emphasizes concentrating on the underlying assumptions and constructions guiding society, quite than merely altering the outcomes of current methods.
The report mentioned actual transformation requires combining “inner levers”-fundamental shifts in mindset, equivalent to viewing humanity as interconnected and chargeable for planetary well-being-with “outer levers,” which embody systemic adjustments like worldwide governance, coverage shifts, and training reform.
– INDIVIDUAL, SYSTEMİC ACTION NEEDED
The report requires societies to rethink waste towards a round financial system valuing sturdiness and reuse; realign humanity’s relationship with nature away from separation and superiority, rethink accountability by shifting from individualistic views to collective motion, reimagine the long run with long-term views, and redefine worth away from purely financial wealth towards planetary well being.
Changing particular person mindsets — shifting away from fixed consumption and the “new is always better” angle — is essential, however have to be supported by systemic authorities motion, the report concluded.
By addressing points “at the root,” societies can remodel interconnected dangers into alternatives, it mentioned.
Source: www.anews.com.tr