Fixing climate change means measuring what we care about

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ideas are fundamental to how we see the

world

but what if the core ideas were used to

navigate the world were fundamentally

flawed

ecosystem collapse and a rapidly

changing climate are symptoms of these

ideas

our current thinking imagines the

economy as completely separate from the

natural world where economic activity is

exempt from natural laws

in reality the economy is embedded

within and entirely dependent on the

natural world

and this slide shifted mindset can

change how we think about the future the

goals we set

how we measure progress

and what we value

we’ve inherited an unusually stable

planet providing

all the conditions for life to thrive

within a single lifetime we have

transformed the earth this has led to

technological breakthroughs a booming

population and an overall increase in

human well-being

however

this has come at a price

we value short-term financial wealth

over the planet’s natural wealth

discounted the future at the expense of

the present and demanded physically

impossible exponential growth this has

created an immense amount of ecological

debt that we now need to repay

and unlike banks

nature doesn’t offer refinancing

on our current trajectory climate change

ecosystem collapse and pollution

threaten to take us beyond the earth’s

capacity to sustain human life

now there is a safe path forward for

humanity but

how do we navigate it

well

the solutions aren’t purely

technological

but conceptual

imagine driving a car late at night down

a windy road with a dashboard that only

displays how fast you’re going

without a fuel gauge headlights rear

view mirror and a sense of direction

it probably won’t end too well

a lack of meaningful information in a

complex world can lead to systems

collapse or in the case of the car

a fatal crash

this is compounded by the fact that our

actions and their impacts are often

separated by time and space

for example actions taken today in

europe can impact the amazon rainforest

tomorrow which can further increase the

chances of extreme bushfires in

australia decades from now

our actions also impact people distant

from us

a recent study showed that the lifetime

emissions of you

you

myself and half of you

three and a half people living in high

emitting countries will cause the death

of someone in the world between now and

if this person was sitting next to you

you might be more concerned

but we are wired to focus on the here

and now

throughout most of human history

life was slow and simple

we had close contact with our

surroundings and shared an intimate

relationship with both the natural world

and our peers

we didn’t evolve to consider existential

risk so we fail to appreciate the full

long-term costs of our actions

we lack meaningful feedback on how our

actions today will impact our ability to

thrive on earth tomorrow

we’ve never had so much information at

our fingertips yet we are increasingly

disconnected from both the natural world

that sustains us and each other

we need a new approach one that is

guided by science-based targets and

brings together both human health

and planetary health a guide to act

locally while thinking at a planetary

scale

what you’re looking at here is our city

in the shape of a donut it’s one of the

many data-driven tools my colleagues and

i are developing as part of our mission

to build open source technology to

support long-term sustainability

this model conceived by kate rayworth

puts people at the center of economic

development while acknowledging the

planet’s physical limits

thanks to breakthrough in earth science

big data and machine learning we can now

bring this model to life

as confronting as it may seem at first

this data paints an accurate picture on

how our community’s collective actions

contribute to global impacts such as

climate change deforestation

biodiversity loss and pollution the

inner ring defines a social foundation

where going into the red

indicates a shortfall in providing the

basic human needs

in essence

green is good and the goal is simple

create a space where all can thrive

within planetary means

these tools can help us better

understand ourselves and the active role

we all play in protecting the planet

creating a shared understanding of the

current challenges and the opportunities

for positive change

it can fundamentally shift the way we

see the world challenging our priorities

how we value the long-term future

even our concept of growth

we believe this is the beginning of a

new era where open data and intelligent

systems

empower local communities

through meaningful information mass

collaboration radical transparency and

with the guidance of science-based

targets we can guide humanity to a safe

space

we all play a role in transforming our

systems

and i encourage you to take that

seriously

when we measure what is important

rather than simply what is easy

we change what we care about

our mindset

and how we see ourselves in the world

thank you

[Applause]

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you