On the eve of COP26—the 26th session of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC—the need for ambition is acute. Humanity is recognizing ever more clearly the consequences of inaction. But the social and cultural inertia built up over decades and centuries of consumption-based social organization will take equal, if not stronger, forces to counteract. 

Central in overcoming this barrier will be the combined forces of reason and morality, working in tandem. 

I am reminded of Galileo who, through scientific reasoning and careful observation, was able to recognize that the earth revolves around the sun. This truth contradicted the orthodoxy of the time, which was grounded in narrow interpretations of religious texts. His findings were suppressed and he was charged with heresy and placed under house arrest. 

Today, a similar narrative plays out with different actors. The truth being illuminated by the scientific community this time concerns the existential risks of anthropogenic climate change. In this age, materialism is the orthodoxy that shapes much of the behavior of nations, industries, and individuals. Under its increasingly pervasive logic, success is defined by the accumulation of riches. Nakedly transactional relationships are accepted and expected. Leadership is understood as power over rather than service to. Development is often measured in terms of expanding the capacity to acquire material goods. 

The movement of celestial bodies did not have an impact on humanity’s day-to-day survival (fortunately for those living in Galileo’s time!). Facing the effects of anthropogenic change, we have no such luxury today. Humanity’s material-driven paradigm is unsustainable and devastating both to the climate as well as our social fabric. The narrative defining progress must be re-written before climate change yields consequences cataclysmic and potentially irreversible. 

For this needed transition to take place, the findings of reason must be allowed to freely sketch the outlines of a society capable of functioning in harmony with the natural world. Changes at the margins of the status quo are not necessarily without merit. Yet we cannot afford to assume that current arrangements represent the final evolution of our societies, thereby sacrificing profound transformation in the name of momentary understandings of what might or might not be feasible. The real needs of the hour must not only be clearly articulated, but translated into laws and policies that make the necessary transitions possible. From a planetary perspective, reason also demands that such laws be welcomed as advantageous for humanity as a whole, even by those whose proximate interests might be negatively impacted by any given shift.

The power of reason must be coupled with the motivating forces of principle and morality. It is not enough today to simply decry the excesses and inequities inherent in a materialistic framework. A positive set of values replacing them must be articulated. Moreover, ongoing consideration must be given to how such values are to become the operational and accepted basis of personal, collective, and global action. How, for example, can our deeds increasingly reflect a desire for sustainability, equity, solidarity, and compassion, as opposed to concern for status, wealth, power, and dominance? 

Using the power of reason to construct a pattern of society grounded on the highest and best aspects of the human spirit is an objective to which we all can contribute. Communities of faith have vital perspectives on how noble ideals can be implemented in practice. Artists and the media play a key part in evoking new norms and expressions of culture. The role of governmental leaders in finding the courage to take needed decisions—and societies’ efforts to support and facilitate those decisions—are indispensable. 

As much today as in the time of Galileo, the reigning orthodoxy breeds passivity and stagnation. By integrating the imperatives of reason and morality, leading to an increasingly mature understanding of society, we can help humanity extract itself from its addiction to materialism. Once the necessity of this step becomes clear, action is the only option.

See also One Homeland, One Habitation, a working paper of the Baha’i International Community on recasting humanity’s relationship with the natural world 

 

Daniel Perell is a Representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations