There is no planet B
Mike Berners Lee
Cambridge university press
Any book that proclaims “in the 21st century it is totally unhelpful to have organisations that exist primarily in order to make profit” is going to pique my interest.
Being a Cambridge university press publication I had some trepidation in that it would be coated in academic dialect as 400 words would be used where 10 would be more than enough. Much like the worlds resources Berners Lee gets this and speaks to us in this book in a language we would use in our everyday dialect.
The issue is clear, so obvious even flux of pink Indians were singing about it many years ago. There’s enough for all of our need but not for all of our greed. But how do we change it. When we see that a person living in Ireland on average has a the same carbon footprint as hundreds of Malawi citizens then something is amiss. Especially if countries like Malawi feel the effect of the climate catastrophe quicker than their richer western friends.
At times it’s so vast. We look on with admiration at Greta, the school climate strikers and all those trying to protect their future. We wonder what can we do when military and the top 100 companies contribute so much to the problem. We can only hope our pebble causes a ripple if there’s enough of us.
Berners lee breaks it down into different parts. Food – less meat and dairy, less waste and we are heading somewhere
Climate and environment – plastic and fossil fuels
Energy – just because we move to renewables doesn’t mean we can use more
Travel and transport – boats, bikes and airplanes
Growth, money and metrics – why GDP, why not wellness bearing measure
People – the population just keeps on growing
Business and technology – re-evaluate the way we do Business. It can’t be about profit first
Values, truth and trust – always speak and follow the truth, in everything we do and support
Thankfully it’s not just a book telling us about the issues. There are suggestions for a new way of life and a new way of thinking. A world we can all love and breathe in, where we look at the big picture, have global empathy and future thinking. Where we appreciate small, simple and local and rent afraid to self reflect. Thinking should be critical and complex. We can change our minds and evolve but always have a joined up perspective.
Excellent and essential – please join in
