STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, May 18, 2011 (National Geographic): The idea, a bold one that excelled in publicity potential, was to put the human species on trial, literally. Several Nobel laureates gathered to be the jury for a trial where Earth, represented by Her counsel, decries the environmental excesses of humans and their results.
In the opening press conference, Johan Rockstroem, Director of Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University talked about how business as usual will no longer suffice and common sense must prevail to carefully manage the Earth in this new “Anthropocene” or age of man.
The Swedish Minister for the Environment, Andreas Carlgren, called attention to our natural capital being used up as though we could rely on multiple planets, and Harold Kroto, Nobel Laureate and chemist, took on the practicalities of effectively presenting scientific evidence to this effect. Indeed, the debate began on what is tractable, and knowable, and indeed sensible, in climate change and other effects on our diverse life systems.
The general conclusion was that humans are impacting the Earth and profoundly. The question is how badly and what can be done about it. Mario Molina, a Nobelist in Chemistry from the University of California, San Diego, emphasized that the time is limited and the greatest challenges were in accurately assessing and communicating the risks at hand.
The verdict was an unemotional conviction of humankind, but the jury’s resolution did not prescribe a punishment, and rather presented an intelligent plan suggesting what could revert the situation. It states,
“We recommend a dual track approach:
a) emergency solutions now, that begin to stop and reverse negative environmental trends and redress inequalities within the current inadequate institutional framework, and
b) long term structural solutions that gradually change values, institutions and policy frameworks. We need to support our ability to innovate, adapt, and learn.”
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