We look at the new book, by Tim Christophersen see more about it here.
Generation Restoration: How to Fix Our Relationship Crisis with Mother Nature reviewed
This is an important and challenging book. At first we were a little pessimistic about it, due to so many negative indicators and bad actors in terms of anti renewables globally and in positions of power. Christophersen is thankfully well aware of these challenges and the dire need for immediate and effective action. He has also walked the walk, both in the public and now, with Salesforce, in the private sector. He is aware of the difference between over optimistic statements, green washing, and achieving actual, real significant change.
There have recently been a series of books that we have reviewed striving to make the point that it is not too late to save the planet. While, at the same time battling against so many negative indicators, Christophersen accurately contributes to this conversation and shows we really do need to make large and significant changes. On page 60, his photograph of Biodiversity Jenga, with humanity’s children perched at the top, really makes the point well, that, while nature has built in redundancy, this capacity is not infinite either. To paraphrase, as he mentions on page 86, it is, it truly is, “the ecology stupid”.
By the later sections of the book, we were making notes, and the resources section has definitely encouraged us to look up some of the sites he mentioned. Christophersen also details a series of positive and effective restoration projects. These have had an effect thankfully. Who knows how long the fossil fuel lobbyists and the people on their payroll will continue to have a disproportionate impact, however, there are positive projects detailed in this book which will do offer inspiration and hope. It seems crazy that the anti renewables and reforestation lobbies still have impact, what air do they plan to breathe, and which depleted vacuum do they wish to live in?
This is an important, but thankfully also positive and inspiring book too. Definitely get, give to others, and also take what steps you are able to do.
More about the book
In Generation Restoration: How to Fix Our Relationship Crisis with Mother Nature Vice President of Climate Action at Salesforce, Tim Christophersen, delivers a clarion call for a new kind of global ecological literacy. You’ll discover how we can reset our relationship with nature, conceiving of ourselves as an integral part of it, rather than apart from it.
The book explains how we can change the way we interact with the world around us and rapidly increase the effectiveness of all “green” initiatives. It’s filled with stories and case studies of environmental success stories and failures from around the globe.
The book calls for a century of ecology, which will reconcile humans and nature through a better understanding, including the recognition that humans are part of nature. Making peace with nature in the 21st century is a logical progression from the 20th century, which focused on chemistry and physics and has brought us amazing progress, but also enormous ecological challenges. We now have to solve them through a deeper ‘knowledge of our common home’, which is what the world ecology means.
More about Tim Christophersen
Tim Christophersen is a leading global voice on ecosystem restoration, with over 25 years of experience in climate and biodiversity advocacy. He is the author of ‘Generation Restoration’, a roadmap for restoring nature at planetary scale. His career includes pivotal roles at the International Union for Conservation of Nature and 15 years as a diplomat with the United Nations Environment Programme. From the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement to the 2022 Global Biodiversity Framework and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, Tim has been at the forefront of global environmental action.
In May 2022, he joined the private sector as Vice President of Climate Action at Salesforce, where he drives sustainability initiatives with major corporations and public institutions. Tim also explores regenerative practices on his family farm in Denmark, continuing his personal mission to restore planetary abundance and beauty.
More information: timchristophersen.com
Can we achieve ecosystem restoration? Tim Christophersen
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