Climate change and natural disasters require a new way of acting and leading
Author: Ines Thömel
- Four out of nine life-sustaining ecosystems are already in critical condition
- Regenerative leadership as a leadership model for a life-affirming future
- We have to find new ways and disruptive solutions
The effects of climate change and the increasing number of natural disasters have reached alarming proportions worldwide. Experts warn that four out of nine life support systems on earth are already being pushed into a range that could lead to irreversible consequences in our ecosystems. In this context, in 2022 were alone 421 natural disasters registered, and the overall economic damage amounts to worldwide 251 billion euros. So now is the time for change – and fast.
The good news is that for the first time in human history we are understanding the negative impact of our behavior on our life-supporting ecosystems. This enables us to create change. Leadership is crucial for this. Based on a vision, action must be taken, and not just the realignment of existing resources.
What leads society into a life-affirming future?
On a broader, global level, we need to realize that the way we have organized our societal structures is too extractive and we are using up the resources we have too quickly. The industrial revolutions of the last two hundred years have enabled us, on the one hand, to achieve enormous prosperity, improved health and comfort in life, and, on the other hand, to have many negative effects on the environment. Now it is time to recognize the negative balance of the previous linear "take-make-waste" approach and to take action to strive for the next stage of our development. The principle of regenerative leadership offers a possible solution.
What is Regenerative Leadership?
Regenerative leadership describes a new leadership model that empowers people to lead society into a life-affirming future. The underlying question is how we can behave in ways that enable us as human beings to live healthy and mostly happy lives, and how we can interact with the ecosystems around us to keep them thriving.
Regenerative leadership is based on three pillars:
- Recognizing the VUCA world we live in
- The reorientation of the existing systems in order to delay the negative effects
- Create and implement disruptive solutions
It's also important that we change our mindset and encourage innovation to find new ways of designing and living together in our locally and globally connected ecosystems. The book "Regenerative Leadership" by Giles Hutchins and Laura Storm details the methods of the nature and health conscious model and also demonstrates the business benefits of moving towards regenerative products, regenerative businesses and regenerative communities. Above all, this includes a healthy balance with digital media and tools, circular value chains to protect resources and the promotion of communities and biodiversity.
