To satisfy the needs and desires of 8 billion people, we currently need 1.8 planet Earths. But because there is just one planet, we are overshooting its capacity by using more resources than Earth can regenerate and dumping more waste than it can assimilate. And because this has been going on for quite a few decades now, we also have to deal with the consequences – climate change, resource depletion, soil degradation, pollution, the sixth mass extinction, and ocean acidification. Even though the economists and politicians try to convince us that things are going to be fine, that we can grow forever and technology will overcome any barriers in a place with finite resources, this is a lie. And if we want to make living on Earth sustainable not just for our generation but for the posterity, we must talk about real solutions.
In this revealing interview, we talk to two veteran environmentalists, William Rees and Richard Heinberg about:
Dr. William Rees is an ecologist, ecological economist, former Director and Professor Emeritus of the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning in Vancouver. He has authored hundreds of academic papers and popular articles on humanity’s (un)sustainability crisis. Bill is best known for originating and co-developing ecological footprint analysis (EFA) with Mathis Wackernagel and other graduate students. EFA is now widely used by scientists, businesses, governments, and institutions to monitor human demands on ecosystems and document population overshoot.
Richard Heinberg is Senior Fellow of Post Carbon Institute, and is regarded as one of the world’s foremost advocates for a shift away from our current reliance on fossil fuels. He is the author of fourteen books and hundreds of articles on society’s current energy and environmental sustainability crisis. His latest book is Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival. He has also delivered hundreds of lectures on energy and climate issues on six continents.
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