Global Responsibility

Archives

  • Dec 2022
  • Oct 2022
  • Jun 2022
  • Apr 2022
  • Jan 2022
  • Dec 2021
  • Nov 2021
  • Oct 2021
  • Sep 2021
  • Jul 2021
  • May 2021
  • Mar 2021
  • Feb 2021
  • Dec 2020
  • Oct 2020
  • Sep 2020
  • Aug 2020
  • Jul 2020
  • Apr 2020
  • Mar 2020
  • Feb 2020
  • Jan 2020
  • Dec 2019
  • Nov 2019
  • Oct 2019
  • Sep 2019
  • Aug 2019
  • Jul 2019
  • May 2019
  • Feb 2019
  • Jan 2019
  • Dec 2018
  • Nov 2018
  • Oct 2018
  • Jul 2018
  • May 2018
  • Mar 2018
  • Nov 2017
  • Aug 2017
  • Jun 2017
  • May 2017
  • Apr 2017
  • Mar 2017
  • Feb 2017
  • Jan 2017
  • Oct 2016
  • Aug 2016
  • Jul 2016
  • May 2016
  • Apr 2016
  • Jan 2016
  • Oct 2015
  • Jun 2015
  • May 2015
  • Apr 2015
  • Mar 2015
  • Feb 2015
  • Nov 2014
  • Sep 2014
  • Aug 2014
  • Jun 2014
  • Apr 2014
  • Sep 2013
  • Jul 2013
  • Jun 2013
  • May 2013
  • Mar 2013
  • Jan 2013
  • Nov 2012
  • Oct 2012
  • Sep 2012
  • Jul 2012
  • Jun 2012
  • May 2012
  • Mar 2012
  • Feb 2012
  • Jan 2012
  • Aug 2011

Categories

  • Blog
Subscribe
Global Responsibility
Global Responsibility
  • Visit GRLI Website
  • Blog

The luxury of worrying about Bengal tigers

  • 16 May 2012
  • 4 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

We are consuming our planet.

The 2004 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) confirmed that our society has measurably altered global ecosystems over the last 50 years. These changes have brought undeniable economic gains to a minority but were achieved at a growing ecological cost.

According to calculations based on humanity’s ecological footprint, we are using 135 percent of the resources that planet Earth generated in 2011. In other words, the global community currently uses the bio-capacity of 1.35 planets to satisfy current global demand. This 35 percent overshoot indicates that we are using natural capital faster than it can replenish itself.

Further, the ecological boundaries we are crossing are closely linked to one another; crossing one boundary may shift others and even cause a series of collapses, resulting in runaway feedback events on a planetary scale. Right now, we simply don’t know exactly how severe or abrupt these shifts can or will be, but chances are we may not possess the capability to take corrective measures once they commence.

Such doom and gloom! It’s little wonder we suffer from green fatigue which, I might venture, is a distinctly first-world problem — along with obesity, sitting in traffic jams and worrying about insurance premiums (to name but a few of our misfortunes).

Many of us — particularly those who enjoyed the privilege of a well-educated and reasonably wealthy upbringing — grew up in a society where environmental issues were in the forefront of our minds. Chances are that readers of this post are very much at the pinnacle of the pyramid, a relatively small group of people who enjoy a measure of financial stability. At no other point in history has such a society had so many resources at its disposal. We would be the envy of Roman emperors and Persian Kings.

A few of us try our best to ease our collective guilt. We dutifully recycle some of our waste products. We cycle to work if we can. Some of us may even attend protests to urge global leaders to do something about Bengal tigers — or whichever furry, wide-eyed species we think deserves particular attention over a given week.

However, the supreme irony is that our high-consumption lifestyles provide the opportunity for us to worry about the environment in the first place. After all, we initially purchased the products we partially recycle. The metals and plastics in our cheap bicycles are supplied by a massive industrial complex, assembled in sweatshops in some distant land whose name we can’t reliably pronounce. We drive cars — or even catch flights to distant countries in order to voice our displeasure.

We try to make things better — but it will never be enough. Ultimately, very few of us are willing to make changes to our daily lives that would measurably preserve our environment. Many of us secretly want to live like Americans in Florida, circa 1955 (and with the Internet thrown in, if you please).

At least the financially well off have the opportunity to do something about it. As a South African, I see poverty everywhere I look. Poor people have far more important things to do than worry about the aforementioned Bengal tigers, or a young penguin snarled up in a piece of plastic on the other side of the globe. When you’re poor, your priorities are far, far simpler. Chances are you don’t have the time or opportunity to ponder environmental issues, or indeed even read this blog post — at least not when your primary concerns constantly revolve around securing food and shelter for the next twenty four hours. Maslow would have understood.

However, this does not mean that our 4 billion neighbours at the bottom of the social pyramid can afford to ignore environmental issues. On the contrary, they have a vested interest in curbing overpopulation, biodiversity preservation, halting soil erosion, preventing overfishing, and combating air pollution. Why? Because when the environmental changes begin to bite, the poorest among us will be the first to suffer from the effects. For a time, richer folk like us can always fly away like migrating birds — but sooner or later we have to come back down to Earth.

In the end our backgrounds are largely irrelevant with regards to doing our part for the environment. Our planet is distressingly small. It’s the only one we have. In my mind, the most important first step in combating our problems is rethinking education, which is pretty much what 50+20 is all about. We need to change mindsets, create globally responsible leadership, get people from all walks of life to think long term, help businesses see the larger picture — and bring them all together to discuss and resolve the problems we currently face. We can’t do it alone.

Part of the text was derived from the 50+20 Agenda, which will be launched at the UN PRME 3rd Global Forum during the RIO+20 summit.

Total
0
Shares
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Previous Article
  • Blog

Kicking the habit: living big in a limited world

  • 15 May 2012
View Post
Next Article
  • Blog

Occupy Wall Street: a wake-up call for business schools

  • 17 May 2012
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Blog

A message from our Chair

  • The GRLI
  • 9 Dec 2022
View Post
  • Blog

Is insistence on growth the elephant in the room?

  • The GRLI
  • 12 Oct 2022
View Post
  • Blog

A Call to Prospective GRLI Guardians and Board Members

  • The GRLI
  • 26 Jun 2022
View Post
  • Blog

Outcomes: Responsible Leadership Reimagined Conference

  • John North
  • 1 Apr 2022
View Post
  • Blog

Teaching Responsible Leadership, Moral Imagination and Stakeholder Dilemma Reconciliation:

  • The GRLI
  • 26 Jan 2022
View Post
  • Blog

A Message from GRLI Foundation Chair Claire Maxwell

  • The GRLI
  • 21 Dec 2021
View Post
  • Blog

What Transformation Catalysts Do to Catalyze System Change

  • The GRLI
  • 24 Nov 2021
View Post
  • Blog

Teaching Responsible Leadership and Inclusion: Gram Vikas

  • The GRLI
  • 24 Nov 2021
Featured Posts
  • A message from our Chair
    • 9 Dec 2022
  • Is insistence on growth the elephant in the room?
    • 12 Oct 2022
  • A Call to Prospective GRLI Guardians and Board Members
    • 26 Jun 2022
  • Outcomes: Responsible Leadership Reimagined Conference
    • 1 Apr 2022
  • Teaching Responsible Leadership, Moral Imagination and Stakeholder Dilemma Reconciliation:
    • 26 Jan 2022

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

The Global Responsibility blog hosted by the GRLI provides a record of the ongoing collaborative inquiry into the development of global responsibility in how we learn, live and lead.

The Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative is the leading incubator for innovation and new practice in business schools and for collaboration with business in the space of ethics, responsibility, and sustainability.

https://grli.org

  • About GRLI
  • Events
  • What’s important now
Global Responsibility
https://responsibility.global

Input your search keywords and press Enter.