They found that climate progress cannot happen without widespread attempts to increase biodiversity, protect intact ecosystems and reverse ecological damage from centuries of consumption.<\/p>\n
For too long, humanity\u2014particularly in the Global North\u2014has viewed the environment as either a resource to mine, or a hindrance to economic growth, said Harvey Locke, the paper\u2019s lead author and a co-founder of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cNature is essential to the functioning of the Earth system, which is in turn essential to people, and people are essential to the economy,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is the hierarchy, nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n
The paper characterized the present global economic order as occurring in the \u201csweet spot\u201d between competing environmental, societal and economic interests, but says that trichotomy has occurred at the expense of other species and the planet. To maintain a habitable planet, humanity must nest its economy within the limits of Earth\u2019s environment, the authors said.<\/p>\n
One of the most severe examples of the current imbalance is climate change, Locke said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve wildly exceeded the planetary boundary for putting CO2 into the atmosphere and we\u2019re wildly destabilizing the Earth system through the destruction of nature,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone in humanity loses\u2014everyone\u2014if we continue to destabilize the Earth system. And everyone wins if we work toward stabilizing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
As an example of how economies can grow while ecosystems are preserved and biodiversity is restored, Locke pointed to the Rockies in North America, particularly the region spanning Yellowstone to Yukon.<\/p>\n
According to the National Park Service, the greater Yellowstone ecosystem is \u201cone of the largest nearly intact temperate-zone ecosystems on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a wider distribution of bears and wolves and bison today than we did thirty years ago. We have more protected areas now than we did thirty years ago. And meanwhile the human population has flourished in that landscape,\u201d Locke said, \u201cin big measure because people value nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
The greater Yellowstone area\u2019s growth has not been without its pains. As more people settle in the mountains, urban and suburban enclaves sprawl into forests, increasing fire risks<\/a>. Grizzly bears and wolves, while magnates for tourists and their dollars, have also become political lightning rods<\/a>, with some arguing that their rising populations are exceeding the capacity that the growing human settlements in the area will accept.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t grow wisely, we will kill the goose that\u2019s laying the golden egg,\u201d Locke acknowledged.\u00a0<\/p>\n This story is funded by readers like you.<\/p>\n Our nonprofit newsroom provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Please donate now to support our work.<\/p>\n
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