Transformation by design, not by disaster

For decades, we* have been living beyond our means and consuming many times the metal, fossil, mineral, and renewable resources that our planet can sustainably provide. 2 The costs are primarily paid for by people in countries that produce and export commodities in the Global South, as well as future generations of people who face the destruction of their habitats and threats to their livelihoods, for example through the pollution of drinking water. At the same time, Germany has committed to become climate-neutral by 2045, to preserve natural diversity, and to almost completely phase out the use of fossil fuels.

* This “we” does not mean that all people in the world are equally culpable. Both on a global and on a national level, income levels and living standards – and thus also resource consumption – are extremely unequal.