7 Billion Humans, 1 Earth

I was looking up something related to Brazil for work the other day on Google Maps and while glancing over the vast expanse of thick forests in the satellite view mode, had a rapid fire series of thoughts all related to sustainability. I thought about how enormous Brazil is in terms of land area and how huge the Amazon is and even how large the planet is overall when you think about it, even with only 30% of the earth actually land!

Then I thought about how with 7 billion of us scuttling about we are on the verge of managing to screw even all that up. Fertility rates in the developing world popped into my head next, specifically how maybe it is better to race ahead with development so that the world-over will get to stable/falling birth rates and we can stabilize our use of resources, minerals, consumption…but by then might it not be too late? 7 billion humans consuming like the developed world?

And the last thought focused on how to reinvent the economic model that is based on “growth” driving everything. Can we shift to a regenerative economy while there is still something to regenerate? Will we have to? How? Interface / Cradle to Cradle / Ecology of Commerce / Natural Capitalism ?

[Image by author]