"This is a global emergency beyond any doubt."
"Much of the very fabric of life on Earth is imperiled. For many years, a group of more than 15,000 [scientists], have sounded the alarm...Despite these warnings, we are still moving in the wrong direction. In a world with finite resources, unlimited growth is a perilous illusion. We need bold, transformative change…adopting an ecological and post-growth economics framework.”
The 2024 state of the climate report: Perilous times on planet Earth. BioScience (2024)
Where we are now...
Human civilization is deeply unsustainable, deeply inequitable, and on a path to self-terminate on a decadal scale.
This predicament is driven by a global paradigm of perpetual economic growth and a mindset of separation, thoroughly divorced from biophysical reality.
Current response paths, which remain tethered to growth, are simplistic, incompatible with physics, and are accelerating – rather than mitigating – the collapse dynamics.
We are not prepared for what's coming.
OUR MISSION
Equip millions of minds as fast as possible with a good map and a good compass to navigate the interconnected social and ecological crises we face.
We need millions of minds working coherently from a shared understanding of our current crisis landscape, the forces and processes that have shaped it, and the basic design criteria required to make authentic progress for a better future possible.
Our colleges and universities pour millions of graduates into the world each year ― millions of sincere, talented young people who want bold, transformative change, but have not been exposed to the ecological and postgrowth frameworks necessary for authentic progress and are instead taught just the opposite - more of the same but with cooler tech; more complexity; more economic growth; more.
The Institute for Planetary Thinking is about reversing this dynamic.
Our aim is to play a part in changing our path.
Our strategy is millions of minds, as fast as possible, with a good map and a good compass.