issuesComplex, interconnected issues must be dealt with rapidly and effectively if we are to achieve a resilient future.
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The Bill McKibben Reader
We've only begun to appreciate in the last fifty years how complex — and fragile — ecological systems are. Even more recently we've realized how interconnected the health of those ecological systems is with our social and economic systems. We used to drain swamps to claim land for development and to control pesky mosquitoes, but now we understand that wetlands are crucial for flood control and for providing habitat to countless species. We used to think the oceans and atmosphere were too big to be polluted, but we now realize that we risk setting off catastrophic and self-reinforcing changes if we strain these systems too hard.
Our deepening understanding of ecology has taught us another important lesson: healthy systems do not remain the same for years and years, but instead adapt to change over time by cultivating resilience.
Are current corporate-dominated international institutions inadequate to the task of meeting the multiple planetary survival challenges they themselves have helped create?
As headlines proclaim that COP15 was a 'catastrophe,' that a global climate deal is 'all but impossible in 2010,' and progressive NGOs,' "The forces trying to tackle climate change are in disarray, wandering in small groups around the battlefield like a beaten army," according to one diplomat, Richard Heinberg of the Post Carbon Institute, talks about the factors contributing to the stalemate in the Copenhagen climate summit, the other 'game ending' challenges confronting the current economic system, and the bottom-up steps necessary to move to a post-carbon economy. Interviewed by EON's James Heddle.
Reports from the Gulf of Mexico just keep getting worse. Estimates of the rate of oil spillage from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead just keep gushing (the latest official number: up to 60,000 … >>
In an effort to broaden the conversation about the horrific Gulf Coast oil spill, nine Fellows of the Post Carbon Institute offer their perspectives on largely underreported aspects and outcomes … >>
Twenty years ago, with The End of Nature, Bill McKibben offered one of the earliest warnings about global warming. Those warnings went mostly unheeded; now, he insists, we need to … >>
A must-read collection by some of the world’s most provocative thinkers on the key issues shaping our new century. Receive a 20% discount for ordering early.
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what is pci?Founded in 2003, Post Carbon Institute is leading the transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world. The Institute has gathered 29 of the world's leading experts on a wide range of interdependent social and scientific issues.
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