Yvon Chouinard’s bold donation of his $3bn company for the public good (Yvon Chouinard – the ‘existential dirtbag’ who founded and gifted Patagonia, 15 September) felt like oxygen to all of us working to ensure a livable planet for the future – and raised questions about which moneyed leaders might follow. But how should such investments be made in humanity’s and the planet’s future?
As I and my colleagues argued in the World Scientists’ Warnings series of papers and action framework, our planetary and societal crises are just symptoms of overshoot, with relatively simple root-cause solutions: stabilising and reducing human numbers and appetites. Climate change, road rage, water insecurity and plastics pollution aren’t independent crises – we shouldn’t be fighting them as if they are.
