Let the wise person
1.1 July 2020
“Let the wise person work unselfishly for the good of all the world.”1
What is Alt-Terre
1.2 July 2020
ALT-TERRE simply means – Alternative Earth.
ALT – offers “the possibility of choice.”1 It is an abbreviation of the word alternative which may be defined as “a lifestyle…outside the conventionally accepted ways of doing something.”2 TERRE – is a French word for the planet Earth3 – our only home.
ALT-TERRE seeks to both reveal the destructive effects of human activities on the Earth and explore how we can act together to heal that damage.4
“The world has already lost irrevocably a substantial portion of the biosphere.”5
The two preeminent problems confronting life on Earth today are biodiversity loss and climate change.6 Biological diversity consists of ecosystems – communities of life that are made up from the millions of interdependent species.5 Biodiversity loss is the extinction of thousands of these species as a direct consequence of human activities.7 For example, approximately 20% of all terrestrial vertebrate species are classified as being threatened to some degree.5
“Climate change is the principal threat to…biodiversity.”1
Climate change, due to human greenhouse gas emissions, threatens to alter the composition of the atmosphere and the living conditions of the surface of the planet.7
Human activities are estimated to have already caused a 1.0°C rise in of global temperatures above pre-industrial levels and global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues at the current rate.8 It has been predicted that by 2050 climate change will commit some 15-37% of species to extinction.9
“To prevent extinctions, we must therefore act on both habitat loss and climate change – and do so quickly.”1
National and international efforts are urgently required to reverse the loss of biodiversity. This must include large investments in conservation actions and the creation of immense protected wildlife areas. Similar coordinated global action is required to stop the damage caused by climate change. This needs to include the reduction, and ultimate elimination, of all greenhouse gas emissions and a transition to a renewable energy economy.10
As individuals it is painful to acknowledge that our own high-carbon lifestyle plays a role in this tragic destruction of life. But, paradoxically, this fact also empowers us. We can wake up and see that there is much more to existence than the scramble for profit – that each of us has the power to change and make the transition to simpler and more sustainable ways of life.
“Know that everything you do matters. Every expression of care for self, every act of service to others imbued with loving energy is a vital contribution to the process of healing the Earth.”1
All we need to do is adopt a holistic view – to learn to see ourselves not as separate beings, but part of a greater whole. We need to understand that every human, plant and animal – everything – is interconnected. In the context of this paradigm any small act, undertaken with positive intention and with love and care, can contribute to the greater healing process of the Earth.
“Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.”1
There is currently something seriously wrong with our relationship with the Earth. We can no longer ignore the realities of the rapid extinction of wildlife and the creeping disaster of climate change – “civilization is killing the planet.”13 As individuals, and as a species, we need to abandon the pursuit of business as usual and our destructive way of life. We need to see that as individuals we are not powerless but are filled with imagination and creative energy. We need to believe that there are viable alternatives and that small acts undertaken by millions of us can transform the future into a place where humanity lives sustainably with the planet.
I am not describing some distant dream – it is already here. Just take time to look at the forests and the streams – listen to the birds singing in the tree outside your window. A living and beautiful Earth is already all around you – within you. It is only “a shift in perception away”11 All we need to do is open our hearts to the possibility of alternative futures and then create them. ALT-TERRE is my chosen path. Why don’t you join me? – together we can heal the damage.
Together we can act to heal the Earth and help her, once again, become a place of abundance and beauty.
