Management manifesto for the future of our society and planet

Why are we only paying lip service to the wellbeing of our children, grandchildren, and their offspring? Why are we only marginally mindful of the state of our planet? We know that we cannot do without a healthy and diverse natural environment and yet we do everything in our power to wrack it. Of course, when challenged by future generations, we listen. We affirm the importance of the issues they raise and commit ourselves to a few pro forma changes. Fundamentally, however, nothing changes as the world slowly but gradually recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic. The IPCC challenges are sidelined, biodiversity rapidly declines, and human dignity and rights are ignored, all in the name of economic progress that is based on the will to power of the ruling elites.

The call for change is not new. In 1972, the Club of Rome pointed to the limits to growth. The World Commission on Environment and Development followed suit in 1987 with Our Common Future, an agenda calling for the simultaneous pursuit of environmental, social, and economic prosperity. More recently, the Sustainable Development Goals are providing us with a clear agenda for change. These attempts have led and continue to lead to marginal changes only because we do not fundamentally reconsider the basic principles for our global society — now and in the future. This starts with respect for the planetary boundaries but takes it beyond the idea of preserving the planet. We should come to respect all life on earth as having worth in itself instead of just treating it as an instrument to further the interests of the happy few.