1 A Call to Climate Resilience: The Vatican Climate Summit
The Vatican Climate Summit, titled “From Climate Crisis to Climate Resilience” (“the Summit” hereafter), was held from May 15 to 17, 2024, at Casina Pio Ⅳ in Vatican City. Organized under the guidance of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS) and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (PASS), the Summit convened a diverse group of global leaders, including Pope Francis, government officials from various levels, top scientists, belief leaders, and an indigenous leader from the Amazon.
[1] This event was pivotal in galvanizing global action towards climate resilience, reflecting a broad and inclusive engagement across disciplines and cultures to address the pressing challenges posed by climate change.
The Summit highlighted the alarming status quo of the climate crisis, focusing discussions on the urgent realities of global warming. Reports presented at the Summit underscored the record-breaking temperatures of recent years and projected a troubling future with potential temperature increases leading to extensive ecological and societal impacts. The current trajectory threatens significant health, safety, and economy worldwide, highlighting the imperative need for immediate and robust actions. A landmark achievement of the Summit was the introduction and adoption of the
Planetary Protocol for Climate Change Resilience (Fig.1)
①[2]. This comprehensive framework calls for global cooperation to enhance climate resilience through the implementation of the MAST principles—mitigation, adaptation, and societal transformation
[2]—laying the groundwork for a strategic approach to climate action.
① The Planetary Protocol for Climate Change Resilience was signed by all the participants of this Summit: V. Ramanathan (PAS Academician, Co-Chair of the Protocol Document), Marcelo Suarez-Orozco (PASS Academician, Co-Chair of the Protocol Document), Joachim von Braun (President of PAS), Sr. Helen Alford OP (President of PASS), Cardinal Peter K. A. Turkson (Chancellor of PAS and PASS), Orjan Gustafsson (PAS Academician), Mohamed Hassan (PAS Academician), John Schellnhuber (PAS Academician), Virgilio Viana (PAS Academician), Hoesung Lee (Former Chair of IPCC), Gina McCarthy (Former EPA Chief, White House National Climate Advisor), Sunita Narain (Director General of CSE), Gabrielle Dreyfus (Chief Scientist of IGSD), Jeremy Farrar (Chief Scientist of WHO), Joyce Kimutai (Climate Scientist at University of Cape Town and Oxford University, IPCC Lead author on desertification), Melissa Hoffer (Climate Chief of Massachusetts), Carola Suarez-Orozco (Professor at Harvard University), Soumya Swaminathan (Former Chief Scientist of WHO, President of Swaminathan Foundation), Romina Picolotti (Former Environment Minister of Argentina, Scientist of IGSD), and Kongjian Yu (Professor at Peking University).
1) Mitigation: the Summit emphasized the necessity of rapid emission reductions and the implementation of strategies to decrease existing atmospheric greenhouse gases, including advancing technologies and policies that curb emissions and transition towards renewable energy sources.
2) Adaptation: recognizing the inevitability of some climate impacts, the Summit advocated for strengthening resilience across public health, infrastructure, and ecosystems, which involves preparing communities and natural systems to better withstand and recover from climate disturbances.
3) Societal transformation: this principle, calling for a cultural and educational shift towards sustainability, is perhaps the most ambitious. The Submit stresses the importance of fostering climate literacy, encouraging sustainable practices across all sectors of society, and developing partnerships that promote equity and justice in climate responses.
These MAST principles encapsulate the Summit’s holistic approach to climate resilience, stressing the interdependence of environmental sustainability and social equity. The outcomes of the Summit, aimed at guiding both immediate and long-term strategies, signify a crucial step forward in global efforts to address the climate crisis and build a more resilient future.
2 The Call for Revolutionary Change in Global Leadership Education for Planet Stewardship
Participating and being inspired by the Summit, the author has witnessed first-hand the urgent need for revolutionary changes within our institutions. This transformation is crucial not just for addressing immediate challenges but for fostering a paradigm shift in education to nurture a new generation of global leaders committed to planet stewardship.
2.1 Understanding the Complexity of Climate Change
The planet functions as a complex system, where each component interacts with and impacts the others in myriad ways. Climate change exemplifies this complexity, arising from diverse interconnected ecosystem changes. Unfortunately, traditional approaches to addressing climate issues have often been narrow and fragmented. Singular-goal solutions such as carbon-focused mitigation strategies, carbon credits, geoengineering or conventional grey-infrastructure adaptations are not only insufficient but would sometimes exacerbate the underlying issues. Such methods often fail to address the systemic nature of environmental changes, leading to unintended consequences that further complicate the ecological and social fabric of our societies.
Therefore, it requires an integrated approach to climate action that considers not only the environmental impacts, but also the socio-economic and cultural contexts. For instance, while carbon credit aims to reduce emissions, normally, it does not address the community displacement or biodiversity degradation along with large-scale environmental projects. Similarly, geoengineering solutions may alleviate the symptoms of climate change but could potentially create new environmental challenges, disrupting local climates and global ecosystems in ways we do not fully understand.
As tackling these complex issues, the role of education in developing informed, thoughtful, and proactive leaders for planet stewardship becomes increasingly significant. We must cultivate a generation of leaders who understand the complexities of the planet’s ecosystems and be prepared to make decisions that prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term gains. This means integrating climate science with policy and ethics in educational systems to ensure that future leaders can devise solutions that are as comprehensive and inclusive as the problems are complex.
2.2 The Imperative for Climate Design
In response to these challenges, I advocate a comprehensive approach known as “climate design.” Rooted in design thinking, it systematically tackles complex problems through innovative, holistic solutions. Climate design goes beyond mere technical fixes by integrating mitigation, adaptation, and crucially, societal transformation.
Mitigation efforts should extend beyond carbon to consider broader ecological impacts, promoting biodiversity and system resilience. Adaptation strategies should be designed to enhance the ability of communities, especially the most vulnerable, to cope with changes while preserving the integrity of local ecosystems. Crucially, societal transformation must underpin these efforts, cultivating a global mindset that values sustainability, equity, and community-led initiatives, which are critical for long-term resilience.
By fostering an integrative approach, climate design encourages the development of solutions that are both environmentally sound and socially equitable. The efforts leverage cross-disciplinary research, engage local communities in the decision-making process, and prioritize nature-based solutions that harness the inherent capabilities of natural systems to address climate challenges.
2.3 A Paradigm Shift in Education
The current global education system often resembles a labyrinth of segregated rooms, each with a different key, training students to navigate isolated paths without ever converging in a common hall. This fragmented educational paradigm breeds specialists disconnected from the broader implications of their expertise. To counter this, we must revolutionize how we educate future leaders for planet stewardship.
The new educational paradigm should focus on interconnectivity and universality, equipping students with a “universal key” that unlocks multiple doors. This key is an interdisciplinary and holistic understanding of planet stewardship that emphasizes the interconnectedness of human and ecological health. Such education will not be confined to traditional environmental science but incorporate principles of economics, sociology, and political science, etc., through the lens of sustainable development.
This transformative educational approach will prepare leaders who can think globally and act locally, recognizing that the health of local communities is inextricably linked to the global ecosystem. These leaders will be pioneers of the “One Planet” philosophy, acknowledging that a just and sustainable world is beneficial for all, not just a privileged few.
3 Conclusions
The call for a new generation of leaders equipped with holistic and integrative thinking skills is not just a necessity but urgent. As global challenges like climate change continue to evolve, so too must our approaches to leadership and education. By fostering an educational system that emphasizes comprehensive, planet-centric stewardship, we can nurture leaders capable of navigating and solving the complex problems of tomorrow. This vision for a sustainable future is what we, as part of the global community, must strive to implement.
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