Of Planetary Boundaries and Limitless Humans

Following a round of introductions, we will look at the Earth’s 2026 Health Report, looking at it through the wholistic Planetary Boundaries approach. The symptoms (disasters, persistent poverty) are aligned with the lab results (7 out of 9 boundaries have been crossed). We will discuss in more detail two specific boundaries (nutrients cycling & climate change), that directly condition humanity’s ability to feed itself.

Modern economies – and in particular our food value chains – are still highly dependent on fossil fuels, that are becoming ever more costly to extract. But what is and who controls the food system? Can it be oriented towards providing affordable healthy diets through adaptive agroecological approaches? What are the short- and long-term prospects for Egypt’s food security and sovereignty?

We are in a global emergency. A strong El Niño is on us and we are dangerously close to multiple tipping points. But we don’t react (or very badly). Why? To understand our paralysis, we will need to consider: vested interests, a failing international order, global inequalities, technical realities, systemic inertia and a global epidemic of cognitive dissonance.

Key global development pathways (Club of Rome) will be presented, with their ranges of potential outcomes on the global environment and human well-being. We will downscale these pathways, focusing on Egypt to understand how diversely they condition the country’s future. Degrowth as societal projects will be presented for debate.

A modest but rapidly growing share of the population believes that civilization is already doomed because of global warming’s self-amplifying feedback loops. Such existential uncertainty is new to humanity and hurts young people hardest. We will talk about our fears (if any), their impact in our lives, and discuss how to enhance our personal resilience and sense of purpose.

The final session will be developed with participant feedback.