Johan Rockstrom Quotes
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Even the wealth of the U.S. cannot protect against the levels of environmental destruction that we are unleashing.
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If we don't succeed on the climate change agenda, we risk getting feedbacks that undermine everything else.
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We've moved from a small world on a big planet to a big world on a small planet.
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Just because we are not seeing a collapse today doesn’t mean we are not subjecting humanity to a process that could lead to catastrophic outcomes over the next century.
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Decarbonization has already begun, and the appeal of a fossil-fuel-free world is growing - not only because it would limit climate change, but also because it would be more technologically advanced, democratic, resilient, healthy, and economically dynamic.
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There is an old belief that solving environmental problems can only be achieved by first building enough economic wealth so we can 'afford to save the environment.' This 'Kuznets Curve' thinking has never been correct and must be abandoned once and for all if we are serious about economic development for a thriving humanity on Earth.
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The value of biodiversity is that it makes our ecosystems more resilient, which is a prerequisite for stable societies; its wanton destruction is akin to setting fire to our lifeboat.
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This is a great challenge for H&M whose trademark is cheap clothes at good quality ... The fact it's cheap means there's a risk people buy and throw away, or buy too much.
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There is no such thing as a Fourth Industrial Revolution with 9 billion thriving co-citizens in the world if it is accomplished on linear economic principles. We need a transition to circular economic principles and practice.
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During the Holocene, we undoubtedly altered our environment significantly, clearing land, diverting water and building great cities.
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Emissions of greenhouse gases warm the planet, altering the carbon and water cycles. A warmer ocean stores more heat, providing more fuel for hurricanes. A warmer atmosphere holds more water, bringing dangerous deluges. Rising sea levels threaten coastal zones.
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We see evidence that lakes and forests and wetlands can have different equilibria - so you have a savanna system that may be stable and thriving, but it can also tip over and become an arid steppe if pushed too far by warming, land degradation, and biodiversity loss.
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We are at a point where we may see abrupt and irreversible changes due to climate change.
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If we are serious about our human wellbeing - from local communities to the global world economy - we need to now reconnect our entire world to the planet.
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Paleoclimatic records show clearly that the past 10,000 years, the Holocene, is a remarkably stable period in which we went from being a few hunters and gatherers to become more sedentary agriculture-based civilizations, which then moved us to the current populated modern era.
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It is essential to ensure that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a sustainable one for people and planet. It could even drive greater innovation, not only for short-term benefits and solutions for human wealth but also long-term solutions that benefit all and enable planetary stability.
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Global sustainability is now the only avenue to future inclusive progress that can deliver the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate agreement.
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We live on a human-dominated planet, putting unprecedented pressure on the systems on Earth.
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By decarbonizing the global economy and limiting climate change, world leaders can unleash a wave of innovation, support the emergence of new industries and jobs, and generate vast economic opportunities.
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World leaders need to realize that the cost of transforming the global energy system is far less than coping with the consequences of burning the planet's remaining fossil fuels.
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To reduce the risk of a global environmental catastrophe, and to avoid reversing the course of human progress, the world must urgently bend the curve of global emissions away from fossil fuels.
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The number of children in the world is not growing, and so we eventually have a chance to stabilize the population at around 10 billion. We have the technology and wherewithal to feed and provide energy for this many people.
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Fundamentally, we need a mind-shift that reconnects our development to the biosphere to ensure good and safe lives for all in the future.
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Under stable and incremental conditions, a free-market economy spurs entrepreneurship, ensures efficiency, and generates wealth. Those conditions no longer apply.