Photograph by Katrine Noer / Connected Archives
WORDS BY JASON P. DINH
A United Nations report published today presents a bold strategy for addressing the climate and environmental crises.
The report challenges us to imagine solutions that not only avert catastrophes but embody radical possibilities.
Rather than merely limiting negative outcomes, such as “preventing biodiversity loss” or “limiting climate change,” the report authors advocate for creating a future we actually want to live in—and they develop a new theory of systems change to get there.
“What is psychologically helpful is to have a vision and to be able to imagine something that is not rooted in the here and now of all the things that are wrong, but to imagine ways that the world could be that would be healthy, happy, and joyful,” said Dr. Christie Manning, a psychologist studying climate action at Macalester College who wasn’t involved in the report.
The 2025 Interconnected Disaster Risks Report authors argue that building a future we want to live in requires “deep change” to our beliefs and values, not just surface-level fixes. They identify five fundamental changes for a sustainable world: rethinking waste, realigning with nature, reconsidering global responsibility, reassessing environmental impacts far into the future, and redefining value from economic to planetary health.
“Rotten roots produce rotten fruits,” said Caitlyn Eberle, study author and senior researcher at United Nations University, a think tank and academic arm of the UN. “To get at the problem, you have to address the root causes.”
Consider what that might look like for plastic waste. Surface-level solutions like recycling are valuable but fail to address the root of the problem. Single-use items and mass-production structures allow waste to proliferate. That entire system is propped up by the belief that consumption brings happiness and that Earth offers an unlimited supply of resources and can absorb an unlimited amount of waste.
“What is psychologically helpful is to have a vision and to be able to imagine something that is not rooted in the here and now of all the things that are wrong, but to imagine ways that the world could be that would be healthy, happy, and joyful.”
Deep change starts at those roots; it requires us to accept that material goods won’t bring happiness and that resources are finite and precious. The authors say that if enough people adopt that mindset, it will lend itself to circular economies where materials are reused and repurposed, which will ultimately build toward a world with no waste.
Of course, societal transformation won’t be easy, and powerful actors have a vested interest in stymying it for monetary or political gain. But the authors write that change starts with individuals, and every small step matters.
“Systems change has to start with individual change,” said Manning.
Dr. Anders Hayden, a political scientist at Dalhousie University who wasn’t involved in the report, studies several of the deep changes the report authors call for, including the politics of sufficiency and economies of well-being. He agrees that attitudinal shifts are valuable for mobilizing change and that individual actions matter. However, he thinks of transformation more as a social project.
“Individuals have their part in making that change. But that’s largely about policy,” Hayden said. “We need broader structures, infrastructure, building our cities and our societies in ways that enable people to do this—to live well with lower levels of consumption.”
Progress can be painfully slow, especially for the big ideas the report authors propose like challenging human exceptionalism and disavowing consumerism. But it’s coming, the authors say. “Politics are changing, and we need to prepare for the time when those ideas can be taken up,” said report author and UNU environmental scientist Dr. Zita Sebesvari.
“It is time for boldness, and I am glad to see that the authors of this report felt comfortable—maybe not comfortable, but courageous—to be bold and to question things that are normally not questioned.”
Sebesvari is encouraged by the societal transformations that have come before. She points to cigarette smoking: It’s impossible to fathom smoking in public indoor spaces these days, but that wasn’t always the case. Our norms and governance structures changed in the late 20th century thanks to science and public health campaigning. The same could happen for environmentalism.
Untethering from the confines of social norms opens up endless possibilities. It allows people to actualize worlds once reserved for climate fiction.
“It is time for boldness, and I am glad to see that the authors of this report felt comfortable—maybe not comfortable, but courageous—to be bold and to question things that are normally not questioned,” Manning said.
The world the report authors imagine is certainly ambitious. As they write in the report: “Imagine a world that has realigned with nature, where all life is valued and cared for… A world that has rethought waste, where the planet’s resources are used mindfully… A world that has reimagined the future, where our choices today ensure quality of life and opportunities for the generations of tomorrow… An interconnected world that has reconsidered responsibility, where national borders are no longer barriers to kindness and support… A world that has redefined values, where society is based on compassion and care; where every person is valued, regardless of their background or circumstances.”
“It sounds unachievable if you just phrase it like that, but the real value of the report is showing us that it’s totally achievable,” said Eberle.
After all, she said, what was made can be unmade. Ideas once considered idealistic can become realistic. Unshackled from entrenched social constructs, utopian futures don’t have to be so, well, utopian.
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The UN’s Bold New Guide for a Green Utopia
