Hot on the heels of hurricane Helene is a second hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, hurricane Milton. It is the fastest developing system ever recorded and meteorologists didn’t predict how quickly this would occur. As the overall temperature of Earth goes up it creates greater extremes of cold and warm temperatures, as well as a surplus of moisture which drives winds. The biggest extremes of climate have become too unpredictable for our most sophisticated weather models. Even if we invest in more technology, by the time we’re ready to launch, the climate will have progressed. We seem to always be one step behind. It’s lessons from nature that we need now.
Recouping what we’ve lost
It’s only natural that science can’t prove what it cannot see. So, what do you do if you’re driving and become temporarily blinded by oncoming headlights? You slow down. It doesn’t take a genius to know what to do.
However, there are those who worry that this means ‘degrowth’ and returning to living in the stone age. The reality is we’re already halfway there. It turns out we’ve lost up to 38 times our wealth in the last few decades due to decline in biodiversityWhat is the definition of biodiversity? When we ask, what is the definition of biodiversity? It depends on what we want to do with it. The term is widely and commonly misused, leading to significant misinterpretation of the importance of how animals function on Earth and why they matter a great deal, to human survival. Here I will try to More … which by the way, leads to climate upset.
The fact is, that nature was providing us with a lot of value before – value that is currently invisible because it’s gone now.
The quality of life that we have become accustomed to was built on nature’s resources. The services that we took for granted have been frittered away and that is why we suffer a cost of living crisis today. Unfortunately, we are still spending 30x more money on nature-degrading actions than we are on actions that restore nature [1].
The good news
The good news is, that nature restoration is worth a fortune. This is why the biggest companies in the world are now investing in it. There is even a Global Nature Positive Conference happening right now in Sydney, Australia, to discuss this.
It’s commonly accepted that for each dollar we spend on nature restoration, we can recreate at least $7-30 of value back to communities [1, 2].
Far from degrowth putting us into the stone age, therefore, investing in nature will become the fastest way to recoup lost wealth and make our civilisation resilient to the changes happening all around us.
Oh, and this all amounts to the fastest way to settle down the climate too.
The action of slowing down is only to give ourselves enough time to work out what’s happening and avoiding crashing out completely. We are quickly working out that we could be spending a lot less money for a lot more value.
Lessons from nature
While most of us may spend our days doomscrolling the latest Donald Trump announcements, there are countless others busy getting on with rebuilding a habitable world. Actions are taking place all around you that you probably haven’t even noticed yet. It wouldn’t hurt to star reading and taking your own lessons from nature.
Which is why I’d like you to bookmark this page.
If you haven’t yet bought a copy of ‘Wildlife in the Balance’, please do! Then be ready to read my forthcoming book ‘How to Survive the Next 100 Years: Lessons from Nature’ (out next May) which reveals Earth’s softer underbelly and nature’s rapid revival – it’s not a lesson of hope for the sake of it. It’s real. It’s happening and we have a lot to look forward to.
I hope you enjoyed reading : )
Cheers,
Simon.
- Restoring degraded land can yield 7-30 times more benefits for every dollar invested (Ding, H., et al., ROOTS OF PROSPERITY The Economics and Finance of Restoring Land. 2017).
- The European Union Nature Restoration Laws were adopted on the principle, that for every euro invested in land restoration, brings an economic return of EUR 8 to EUR 38 (European Commission, Nature Restoration Law: For people, climate, and planet. 22 June 2022 #EUGreenDeal).
- The United Nations Environment Program says global investment in nature-degrading activities, outweighs investment in nature-based solutions thirty times.
