We're never going to scare people into living more sustainably! We have to be able to demonstrate just how dynamic and aspirational such a world could be
Jonathon PorrittRead
The collapse of the world's banking system and the impending disaster of accelerating climate change are not separate phenomena. They are simply the most visible symptoms of a particular model of capitalism that will bring civilisation to its knees. But those symptoms will not get sorted unless and until we commit to a radical transformation of the way we create and distribute wealth in the world today
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the interconnectedness of economic systems and environmental crises, suggesting that both issues stem from an inadequate capitalist framework.
Jonathon Porritt's quote emphasizes that the significant challenges posed by the collapse of banking systems and the urgent threat of climate change are not isolated issues; rather, they are intertwined results of a flawed capitalist model. To address these profound problems, Porritt argues for a comprehensive overhaul of our approach to wealth creation and distribution. Without such a radical shift in our economic paradigms, neither the financial system nor the environmental issues can be effectively resolved.
Themes
CapitalismClimate ChangeBanking SystemTransformationWealth DistributionCivilization
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech about the necessity of sustainable economic practices during a climate conference.
More from Jonathon Porritt
All quotes →Any regeneration project that fails to put environmental and social benefits at its very heart is unlikely to achieve anything more than a very short-lived spasm of spurious prosperity
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As more and more people wake up to the fact that further growth does not necessarily bring improvements in quality of life (and often exactly the opposite), sustainability is going to become one of the key characteristics with which places want to be associated.
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...the core values that underpin sustainable development - interdependence, empathy, equity, personal responsibility and intergenerational justice - are the only foundation upon which any viable vision of a better world can possibly be constructed
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The future will be green, or not at all
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