Club of Rome’s new project, No Limits to Learning

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

by Bob Hughes

The other day here I attempted to explain to critics how “eco” was a big part of economics. Now this — the 50th anniversary of the Club of Rome’s landmark report “The Limits to Growth” was marked two years ago. 

Bob Hughes

First published on March 2, 1972, this report was the first to model our planet’s interconnected systems and to make clear that if growth trends in population, industrialisation, resource use and pollution continued unchanged, we would reach and then overshoot the carrying capacity of the Earth at some point in the next 100 years.

Some 50 years on, the call for a change in direction was more urgent than ever.

The report’s modelling was remarkably accurate and prescient, as the world declared the climate emergency to be real and global ecosystems to be at breaking point.

The 50th anniversary offered an excellent opportunity to look back, and forward, at the trends examined in The Limits to Growth report, and listen to leading international thought leaders, scientists and politicians on how we create a new critical framework for living and thriving within the limits of planet Earth.

In February 2024, the Fifth Element programme of The Club of Rome and The World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) joined forces to collaborate on a new project . . . the report No Limits to Learning.

This collaboration to address multidimensional challenges of the current “polycrisis” was announced at the opening ceremony of the 12th edition of the WEEC in Abu Dhabi. One of the aims is to understand better what is still blocking the potential of human communities everywhere to learn by themselves their pathways to regenerative and hence sustainable futures. It will focus on the transformative and regenerative function of learning at its full potential.

Overcoming the challenges that humanity is facing today will require a cultural transformation with collective learning at its heart. The Fifth Element’s vision is to explore and facilitate the recognition of blind spots and help catalyse the emergence of a revolution of mindsets towards equitable wellbeing on a healthy planet.

Sustainability thrives when we all actively engage and collaborate. Each of us bears the responsibility to initiate actions within our area of influence and, even with limited impact, to urge those in positions of power to address environmental and social concerns.

Every social problem has an economic dimension, but there are also non-economic considerations to consider. All need attention: Can efficiency and equity be reconciled? How can the common interest prevail over the special interest? How can social costs be minimised? Indeed, what are the opportunity costs, the trade-offs in every relevant dimension of doing something? Can employment or productivity be increased by doing it?

All politicians and those with the power should seek answers here — instead of focusing on actions that have failed.

The 1972 Limits to Growth report highlighted the Club of Rome’s philosophy on the new challenges such as climate change, and the then crisis of democracy.

I add here, the previous government of Aotearoa New Zealand recognised the gravity of climate change by adopting a Climate Emergency declaration, passing the Zero Carbon Act (2019), and asking the Climate Change Commission to chart a pathway towards a carbon-zero future. The climate emergency necessitates a transformation of the practices and visions of individuals and society towards a sustainable future. Education must be recognised as a key enabler for this transformational process. More here: www.nzcer.org.nz/nzcerpress/set/articles/building-capacity-climate-change-education-aotearoa-new-zealand-schools

You live, you learn, you move on.