My colleague Paul Kershaw is a professor of public health at UBC and founder of Generation Squeeze, a “Think and Change Tank” that promotes wellbeing for all generations.
A reasonable point — one would like to think these issues are already well understood, at least in principle. What they are not hearing or understanding is really very simple: We only have one planet, and its natural ecosystems are the source of all life — not just humanity but every single living thing. And yet our demands considerably exceed the biocapacity and resources of the Earth.
Now it’s hard to believe that governments and corporations are not hearing or understanding this; indeed, I am sure they are. But what Paul is saying is that they are not behaving as if they have heard or understood what is going on. But I suspect that for many of our so-called leaders, they don’t want to change because they get so much benefit — wealth, power, status — from the way things are.