Last chance to change our behaviour

…However far removed from nature the human race may seem, we are inextricably linked to it.

The Earth’s natural systems provide many essential goods and services that ensure our survival and enhance our lifestyles and well-being – such as food, medicines, building materials, climate regulation, flood defence and leisure opportunities.

The ecosystems that provide these services are rapidly decaying to the point of collapse. Human-induced climate change, infrastructure development, the loss of forests and agricultural production are primary drivers of these losses.

The prevailing economic model that exacerbates these problems, rather than counteracts them, is fundamentally flawed.

“GDP is unfit to reflect many of today’s challenges, such as climate change, public health, education and the environment,” was the conclusion of Beyond GDP, an international conference on gross domestic product held in Brussels in November 2007.

Despite this recognition, governments have spent trillions of dollars around the world in the past year to get out of “recession” and get back to GDP growth at any cost, it seems.

Why? …

BBC