It’s time to take collective action now for a sustainable future

Planet Earth is in imminent peril. Humanity is facing a climate catastrophe that will be out of our control if we continue with our business-as-usual way of life, according to the World’s leading climate scientist, Dr James Hansen. We already have vital warning signs. Here are some:

• Concentration levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), which warms the planet, are at their highest in 650,000 years
• January 2000 to December 2009 was the warmest decade on record
• Arctic summer sea ice reached its lowest extent on record in 2007
• Greenland and West Antarctica ice sheets mass loss is approaching a rate of 200 cubic kilometres per year
• Mountain glaciers are melting
• Sea levels are rising
• Dry sub-tropical regions are expanding
• Storms and forest fires are more intense, and
• Competition for diminishing fresh water supplies is increasing

The fundamentals of climate science are sound and have been for a long time. Planet Earth is warming and it’s man-made. The debate must shift to how it will affect humanity and all life on Earth. What’s going to be the impact on people, communities and organisations and what can be done to tackle it?

As social systems scientists (S3s) we have been concerned about this issue for many years. Our recent climate change action research has now produced a solution that will enable people to collectively take action now to adapt to and mitigate the effects of extremely damaging climate change.

This solution revolves around a one-day training workshop known as the Sustainable Future Planning & Design (SFP&D) development program.

The SFP&D development program enables people from all walks of life to collectively make a difference now to take action on climate change.

The program introduces business, education and community leaders to planning and design tools that can be applied in their organisations and communities to develop effective strategies and action plans for mitigating and adapting to climate change.

Using the SFP&D tools, people from all walks of life can work together to take action on climate change. In doing this, they can create – in their community or organisation – a future that is environmentally, economically, socially and culturally sustainable.

Participants of the SFP&D development program learn how to:

• Develop strategic plans for a sustainable ecological future
• Design organisational and community action planning groups that lead to high levels of motivation, innovation and sustained performance improvement
• Use tools and techniques for cultural change that improve organisational and community resilience
• Harness the energy and creativity of people to collectively take action on climate change; and are
• Introduced to advanced socio-ecological processes and concepts for many different organisational or community strategic planning requirements

People from all walks of life can collectively make a difference now to take action on climate change