A forest is usually worth more money after it’s cut down – which is a particular problem for countries transitioning to a market-based economy. The economic failures stem from the basic problem that environmentally damaging activities are financially rewarded. So what’s going wrong with sustainability initiatives? We found that three types of failure kept recurring: economic, political and communication. We’re already halfway to this limit and could pass it in the next few decades. If we allow average global temperatures to rise 2℃ above pre-industrial levels, for example, feedback mechanisms will kick in that lead to runaway climate change. If crossed, these could lead to irreversible changes. Furthermore, humanity is fast approaching several environmental tipping points. The rate at which these indicators deteriorated was largely unchanged over the two decades either side of the Rio summit. The world has lost more than 48% of tropical and sub-tropical forests. Greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change have almost doubled while the impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly apparent. The biodiversity index has fallen by more than 50% as the populations of other species continue to decline. Humanity’s ecological footprint has exceeded the Earth’s capacity and has risen to the point where 1.6 planets would be needed to provide resources sustainably.
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