Strengthening Democracy

Political action to foster social and political change, as described in this chapter, is the fourth and final element of the book’s four-tiered stewardship strategy. Stewardship that is politically astute can identify a spectrum of strategies to steer possible paths forward. Each strategy requires respectful dialogue that reframes debates across worldviews to identify and act on shared concerns rather than to reinforce blame. Collaboration with like-minded individuals within government and business often reduces barriers to progress. Active engagement in politics (informing, advising, participating, and voting) and in business (consumer action and socially responsible investment) can nudge politics and business toward stewardship. Sometimes, however, direct confrontation is more effective at precipitating transformational change. In this case, clear goals, identification of allies and of strategies to eliminate barriers, and a concrete plan to sustain successes increase the likelihood of successful transformation.

Tackling Climate Change

Rapid climate change affects both nature and society. This chapter describes actions that people can take to understand and minimize climate change. Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide from burning of fossil fuels account for about two-thirds of the energy imbalance that causes Earth’s climate to warm. People born this century will probably experience more climate warming during their lifetimes than has been seen by all of humanity since the beginning of major human civilizations. Climate warming causes increased flooding in wet climates and more frequent droughts and wildfires in dry climates. Rising sea level and more frequent intense storms contribute to more coastal flooding. Climate warming can be slowed by reducing fossil-fuel emissions and by protecting and restoring forests and wetlands. Discussions with others can increase society’s awareness of climate change. More than 9,000 communities around the world have already developed climate action plans to reduce rates of climate warming.

Sustaining Natural Change

This chapter describes foundations for ecosystem sustainability and ways that society can foster these conditions. The road to “human progress” is littered with environmental mishaps and disasters—largely the result of excessive resource extraction. Over the long term, however, ecosystems can be sustained by maintaining the factors that shape their properties. These include soils that supply plants with nutrients, climate, regional flora and fauna, disturbance regime, and time. This formula provides a framework for understanding why every ecosystem occurs where it does and why and how it might change in the future. When society fails to sustain these foundations, new ecological forces, such as climate change, begin to dominate ecological and societal outcomes. Alternatively, society can shape pathways that maintain these foundations through landscape stewardship. People then interact with nature in ways that protect the foundations of ecosystems and provide society with livelihoods.

Collaborating for Shared Goals

Collaboration with others provides a lever that magnifies each person’s impact on the future and is the third element in this book’s four-tiered stewardship strategy. Collaborations often begin by building on consensus around common concerns. Half of Americans (and a much larger proportion of young people) share a self-identity as environmentalists despite differences in worldviews. The critical step is to engage and coordinate actions in ways that resonate with distinct worldviews. Bridging organizations magnify the effectiveness of individuals and groups by fostering communication and collaboration among groups with complementary (or potentially conflicting) objectives. Collaborative governance enables private citizens and other groups to work with government in seeking consensus for public decisions. Collaboration among apparent adversaries requires processes that are fair, inclusive, and transparent and follow rules that build trust among participants. Collaboration with business often benefits from involvement of government to set standards of acceptable environmental and social behavior.

Dialogues for Solutions

Dialogues that respectfully communicate stewardship goals can build trust and shape the social norms and behavior of others. Communicating effectively, as described in this chapter, is the second element in this book’s four-tiered stewardship strategy. Trust and effective dialogue occur most easily when people share worldviews or are open to the opinions of others. Many attitudes and behaviors are, however, socially constructed and may not be responsive to new information. When information campaigns and hazard warnings conflict with the opinions and worldviews of others, they are likely to elicit negative responses or denial, as in many climate-information campaigns. Even in this situation, progress can be made by looking for points of agreement, such as concern for the future of children or care for Creation. In general, positive conversations that focus on common ground and opportunities for solutions rather than blame for problems are most likely to elicit action.

Shaping the Future Wisely

This chapter describes a stewardship framework that would enable society to shift from a pathway of planetary degradation toward sustainability. During the time since about 1950—a blink of an eye in geological terms—the burning of fossil fuels has radically changed Earth’s metabolism. It’s not too late to fix this problem. Understanding and realigning the interactions between people and the rest of nature is the greatest and most urgent societal challenge faced by humanity. Both the causes and potential solutions to global problems are deeply rooted in human nature. Human beings are endowed with instincts to both compete for resources and care for others and cooperate so that all people may thrive together. Stewardship enables people to shape physical, biological, and social conditions to benefit both people and nature so that both may flourish.

Earth Stewardship

This chapter addresses the interactions of individuals with government, business, and other institutions to build upon and support individual efforts. It emphasizes sustainable outcomes at regionally and globally significant scales. Global changes that threaten Earth’s ecosystems and society could be reversed through progress toward four key stewardship goals: reducing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, increasing the extent of forests and wetlands, sustaining ecosystem services, and reducing human population growth and unnecessary consumption. The US Declaration of Independence radically included “pursuit of happiness” as an inalienable right of all people. Since happiness is generally unrelated to consumption or wealth, society’s happiness and well-being can often be enhanced without increasing consumption. The chapter outlines five potential strategies by which government can complement the efforts of individuals to foster happiness. If people decide, individually and collectively, that the planet’s future habitability is important, they will know how to ensure a better life for their grandchildren.

Individual Actions

Actions by individuals that enable people to enjoy and celebrate nature and that reduce human impacts on the planet provide the basic foundation for stewardship. Spending time in nature with family and friends—especially with children—is the most pleasant and effective way to shape identities and values that support nature. Nature’s benefits are often compromised by short-term trade-offs to meet society’s immediate wants and needs. Surprisingly, most human consumption in developed nations does not enhance people’s happiness. The more we have, the more we want! Unconscious conformity to the consumption patterns of others often drives excessive consumption. However, honorable consumption that meets needs and supports personal values can both contribute to life satisfaction and shape the social norms and consumption patterns of others. Reducing unnecessary consumption through intentional decisions need not reduce life satisfaction and can substantially reduce environmental impacts.

Choosing to Live Well

All people need similar things to ensure a happy and satisfying life. This chapter describes how these needs can be sustained today and for future generations. Immediate human needs include food and water, safety and health, love and belonging through social relationships, self-esteem and respect from others, and capacity to address broad spiritual and societal goals. Surprisingly, among people who live above the poverty line, wealth and material possessions are usually less important to life satisfaction than are these other elements. Instead, values that shape people’s goals, education, cultural and social rules that sustain social relationships, environmental and human health, and technology and economy are the most important foundations for long-term empowerment and well-being. International aid has substantially improved people’s material conditions in poor countries but has done less to improve social relations and empowerment.

Linking People with Nature

This chapter describes how to shape the linkages between people and nature so that both may flourish. People shape nature through exploitation, impacts, and stewardship; and nature shapes people through ecosystem services—nature’s benefits to society. These benefits include provisioning services such as food, water, and fiber; regulating services that shape climate, clean our drinking water, and influence disturbance risk; and cultural services such as cultural identity, spiritual connections, and recreation. Two-thirds of Earth’s ecosystem services are being degraded or used unsustainably in the global aggregate, primarily because of land conversion to agriculture and climate change. More thoughtful resource consumption choices by society, slower population growth, and greater respect for nature would reduce these impacts. Building respect for nature often requires collaboration among groups with different views of nature.