We are change

Leonardo DiCaprio, a UN messenger of Peace on climate change, addressed the leaders of today at the Paris Agreement in December 2015 in his recent documentary stating "The world is now watching, you will either be lauded by future generations or vilified by them. You are the last, best, hope of Earth. We ask you to protect it, or we and all living things we cherish, are history." In the documentary he questioned whether they will change our course to one of greater sustainability, but most of all, whether it will be in time. Twenty years ago, this sense of urgency was not present. So what has changed?

Climate protests have been gaining momentum over the past 2 years with the Global Climate March in December 2015 being the largest environmental movement in history with approximately 785 000 protesters in 175+ countries taking part in the event. In Paris, protesters were banned from marching and left 20 000 pairs of shoes in the street, demonstrating their participation. 

Foundations for failure

As mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, the most recognised definition of sustainability to date is that of the Brundtland Report

“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts: 1) the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and 2) the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.” 

It is fine as a broad definition but lacks focus on the more modern outlook of the different pillars of sustainability as discussed by the World Summit in 2005. This outlook of sustainable development needs to be embraced by mass governing bodies such as the IPCC, that is measurable and more encompassing of the three pillars which are defined by Thwink.org as: