[MUSIC] Welcome back. We closed our discussion last week by talking about the image of the world known as the pale blue dot that was taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft, when it was 4 billion miles way from our planet. In addressing the image, Carl Sagan made the point that for the foreseeable future the Earth is where we make our stand. This is powerful stuff. There is no plan b. We have got to figure this out. One way to start the process of figuring this out is to liken our planet to a spacecraft. Now from Earth's orbit it becomes apparent that our world really is a spacecraft and each and every one of us is in space already. Now this should really make you wonder about the life support systems on spaceship Earth. Now one of the goals in spacecraft design is to develop closed life support systems. That is life support systems that do not require resupply or the addition of other resources. Life support systems that reuse 100% of their resources required. At the moment, spaceship earth does not have a close life support system. Which means, we're using up resources faster, than they're being replenished. And this puts our global society in a trajectory that is unsustainable. And therefore, on our current trajectory there will come a point when we will run out of resources we need to sustain life. You don't have to be in orbit to realize that we live on a planet to find that resources and we need to do something to reduce the rate that we are using up non renewable resources. Now this is not just a way for us to ensure that future generations will have the access to resources they will need, it turns out that this is also a very solid business approach. Businesses and organizations they need to find ways to decoupled business practices from scarce and constrained resources. Companies that do not take a sustainable business approach and are overly focused on the short term versus the long term are going to be at a massive disadvantage as key resources in the value chain become more and more scarce. And as individuals, we can do our part too. The first step to being able to make a difference and lead a more sustainable life is to flip our perspective. To take in the true reality of the world that we live in. Now during my work in sustainable development, I at times became frustrated with how we keep trying to address issues such as climate change, poverty, deforestation, access to clean water, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, etc, etc. As stand alone issues, when in reality they are symptoms of an underline root problem. The problem is, we do not see ourselves as planetary. So, what I mean when I say planetary? Why planetary and not global? Well, we don't live on a globe. Global is our computer networks. Our financial networks. It's abstract lines covering our planet. If we zoom out and look at sustainability from the orbital perspective, somethings become clear. Now, when we define sustainability development? We can talk about three core areas, society, environment and economy, sometimes referred to as the triple bottom line. However, these three are not equal but rather nested. When I looked out the window of the International Space Station, I saw an iridescent biosphere teeming with life, I didn't see the economy. Yet our economy is our primary reference, our primary system, our primary focus. Our social and political organization is based on the idea that everything is a subsidiary of our economy. But our economy and our financial systems are embedded within our human society, which in turn is embedded within the biosphere called Earth. That means our global economy is the wholly owned subsidiary of the biosphere and not the other way around. Sustainable development can be summed up this way. We move from thinking economy, society, planet, to planet, society, economy. Our society is dependent on our planet, our economy is dependent on society, not the other way around. But since our political, business and social systems are based on precisely the opposite of that reality. We are living a lie. To be planetary entails including the biosphere in the decision making process because we are embedded in our planet and intertwined independent on all of life's support systems. Sustainable develop from the orbital perspective is essentially that we organization reprioritization. Of these systems, not out of any ideological or eco-philosophy but rather because this is the reality of the world that we live in. The reality of this lack of a closed life support system on spaceship Earth is dawning on us much quicker than we ever anticipated. And we are going to have to do something and work together to put our planet on a more sustainable path. Now let's say, someone watching us has a great idea about how to increase sustainability, positive social impact or maybe someone has come up with a breakthrough innovation. It must first be noted that ideas are highly overrated. Now [LAUGH] what I mean by ideas are highly overrated is, well, every great accomplishment starts with an idea. An idea without action is empty. Any worthwhile endeavor requires hardwork and dedication for sure but it also requires at times stepping outside of our comfort zone. It requires stepping outside of the way we've always done things, look at things from different angles. And to realize that anyone of us or any one organization will not have all the pieces of the puzzle. However, it's precisely those people and organizations that truly commit to making a positive change and step outside of their comfort zones. And it's precisely at those moments when they have the courage to embrace new and innovative ideas, approaches and partnerships. And collaborate across different disciplines, industries, cultures, boundaries, and borders. Those are the ones that affect positive change in this world disruptive positive change. Now any change involves some level of risk. In our next lesson, we will discuss how to manage that risk and how at times we need to find a balance between risks and a potential benefit, so we'll see you next time.
