Need to ease back — no quick, easy solutions

Roger Handford

Opinion

One of the hardest, basic lessons to learn in tackling the planet’s environmental problems is, first, DO NO HARM.

In blunt terms, that means doing absolutely nothing that will make the situation worse.

Humans everywhere are still choosing to ignore the simplest, cheapest and best solution — which is, to STOP doing those things that are damaging the one planet we can live on.

It also means stop looking for quick, easy answers — THERE ARE NONE.

Tinkering with the atmosphere or oceans, as some have suggested, is foolish beyond belief — the risk is monumental.

But it is typical of our species that rather than cease what we are doing, we try to engineer our way around the problem.

It has taken a mere few thousand years for humankind to push us to the environmental brink — and along the way we have ignored many warning signals about our headlong rush.

Now we cannot afford to slam on the brakes for an emergency stop, but what we can do is take our foot off the accelerator and ease back to what the planet can sustain.

Population and consumption are the root causes of where we are at — and the painful truth is both must be addressed if the planet is to still be liveable for the next thousand years.

I have said before, and will keep on repeating to my dying day, humankind must give up its consumptive lifestyle — at the very least, reduce considerably the production and pursuit of unnecessary “stuff” and activities.

The easiest way to achieve that, of course, is to reduce the world’s population — in other words, reduce the demand.

Sadly, people everywhere resist giving up what they have already got — humankind thinks it has a divine right to breed without restraint; to conquer and shackle nature for its selfish use.

Our clever brains have created the monster (technology) that has run out of control. And science alone does not have the ability to turn it off.

In the recent past a small but growing number of people have recognised things cannot continue in this way and that we must make a lot of tough decisions to secure the future of the species.

The plain truth is, without a planet, there are no people.

So instead of looking for some kind of plaster to bandage the problem, are we prepared to take a new path?

Are we prepared to demand our leaders and politicians step away from the mantra of economic growth?

Are we prepared for the hard tasks and pain involved to ensure life for our descendants?

If we cannot face this together — if we persist with our selfish ways — those to come will inherit a ruined world.