First Pathway: Transforming Humanity’s Interface with Nature, Building on Indigenous Values

At Replenish Earth Ltd, we’ve moved away from narratives that reinforce reductionism, the scarcity of resources or insufficiency. For a number of years we’ve showcased how positive behaviours can encourage systems change, rather than supporting retrofits to systems that are topical. For us, reality is limited only by our imagination.

This year we partnered with the UNFCCC’s Resilience Frontiers, a foresight initiative that has resulted in the creation of eight pathways covering the themes of ‘Drivers of Change’, ‘Basic Needs’ and ‘Institutional Setups’. With over 100+ thought-leaders from incredibly diverse backgrounds, the Resilience Lab, one of the pavilions at COP26 in Glasgow, is focused on shifting minds. Their stance on encouraging paradigmatic change is an opportunity to be limitless.

The first pathway is ‘Transforming Humanity’s Interface with Nature, Building on Indigenous Values’. The global business sector craves economic growth and one of the ways it does this is by exploiting Earth’s resources. As consumers, the more wealth one has, the wealthier one feels. Political leaders prioritize this behaviour to win elections but in return they devalue Earth’s biodiversity and ecological health. Earth’s environmental degradation has led to accelerated climate change which in turn affects humanity by exasperating poverty and inequality. This ever-growing demand for natural resources has led to the degradation of the environment. However, we need to understand that we are an integral part of the ecosystem. And we need to adopt values from indigenous peoples. The Māori concept of ‘Kaitiakitanga’ which supports that ‘humans belong to nature’ helps us recognise our responsibility for looking after it. We can replicate these values of interconnectedness. One simple way is expose people to nature through raising awareness whilst restoring ecosystems, increasing eco tourism and creating green spaces to strengthen the human-nature relationship. These transformative values are embedded and reinforced in politics, economics, society, culture and media so each one of us can make a positive change globally. We can make these decisions and help prioritise new frontier innovations that deliver accessible, real-time information to people. If we prioritise the wellbeing of the planet, we all benefit. By developing a holistic understanding of our planet and our part in it we can create a net-positive effect.