Many see the Industrial Revolution as its own kind of Renaissance, which enabled, over the past 300 years, an accumulation of wealth that the world has never before seen. Yet, industrialization and the fossil fuels that aided its growth did not come without a price. As a recent report warns, six of nine planetary boundaries have been exceeded. This unprecedented material abundance is only enjoyed by some, yet has polluted and put at risk the whole world’s air, rivers, oceans, forests, and food, and has caused two of humanity’s largest crises: climate change and biodiversity loss. The era of the industrial civilization is foreclosing on itself, and many are now pointing to the need for an ecological civilization to take its place. This would be a true Renaissance, where human and ecological flourishing alike are at the center of everything we do.
An Ecological Civilization is the renaissance we’ve been waiting for
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