Society

All human societies depend on services and solutions provided by Ecosystems, Life and the Earth. It is in our interest to ensure the sustainability of that provision. We are critical drivers of change and are also directly impacted by change. Thus, we play a key role in shaping environmental change and developing strategies for adaptation, for ourselves and for the other components of the Earth System. 

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We can use our knowledge of the adaptive process in a range of beneficial ways, for example:

• to future-proof crops to future climatic changes
• to harness biological processes to act as biofactories to produce cleaner chemicals
• to extract metals from waste to recycle for use

At the same time, we can integrate scientific information to assist individual and group decision making that matches long-term sustainability goals. Ultimately solutions are fundamentally social, economic and political ones. 

How can we employ our collective drive and expertise to ensure adaptation in an equitable and socially just way?