Imagine a world... with over 1 billion people actively engaged in regenerating our planet by 2050 - maybe even by 2040 - and the restoration of at least 2075 million hectares, at least 200 of the world's major watersheds, and at least 60+ Gt of carbon removed annually from the atmosphere.
That would be an extraordinary, survival-focused shift for our climate, planet and civilization, right?
Well, we feel that the times call for this bold, accelerated, upscaled, global goals-driven effort - since everything we know and love is at stake. And nearly a decade ago, we've written urging that the restoration of this planet and climate - rather than the plundering and polluting - must underlie a future economy.
So in Stable Planet Alliance, we've initiated a parallel venture, a bold global collaboration of ecosystem restoration, climate restoration and youth leadership alliances to upscale, accelerate, and align action around the world in the next decade to 2030, and the next 27 years to 2050. After all, we have a brief, one-time-only opportunity of political momentum with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Please check out this global collaboration and its proposed interim goals. It's at an early stage, and on a temp page on our own website until we can find it an organizational home.
This is an important complement to the human-impact-reducing ecological overshoot work we do in Stable Planet Alliance on public policy and public perceptions and narratives, through 'bending the curve' on our human numbers, appetites, and mindsets.
And we'd like to encourage you to accept the invitation from a new and much valued colleague, Dr Dennis Garrity (former Director-General of the CIFOR-ICRAF World Forestry Centre, and founder of the Global Evergreening Alliance), to a conversation he's holding on April 4 with Peter Fiekowsky on the urgency of restoration. Register here.
Please see the event invitation below, and register if you possibly can. And please let me know if you'd like to be involved in the global restoration collaborative. You can contact me by email at phoebe.barnard@stableplanetalliance.org. I'll share more, and get your inputs, with Stable Planet Alliances' full team at our next meeting (Thursday, March 30th).
The most recent science shows that achieving the global net-zero emissions target is inadequate to produce a stable climate. Vast amounts of CO2 must be removed from the atmosphere - and soon - if humanity is to have any chance in stabilising and reducing global heating, to avoid the triggering of numerous critical earth system tipping points. Solutions to remove large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere, including many nature-based solutions on land and in the oceans, have been identified. But these need to scaled-up at a greatly accelerated rate to ensure success.
Peter Fiekowsky, author of the 2022 book Climate Restoration: The Only Future That Will Sustain the Human Race will be in conversation with Dr Dennis Garrity, discussing his book and how to restore a safe and stable climate for the flourishing of humanity in the future. The interview will be followed by an open Q&A. Don’t miss the opportunity to participate in this critical discussion.
You can contact Phoebe Barnard at phoebe.barnard@stableplanetalliance.org for more info, or to support this bold, ambitious global work.