How we treat our environment. According to the dictionary, the word refers to “the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives, operates, and survives,” as well as “the natural world, as a whole or in a specific geographical area, especially as affected by human activity.”

It’s a complex concept with equally complex implications. A century ago, much of the world’s population likely didn’t know — or perhaps didn’t care — what “the environment” meant. People simply lived on Earth and went about their daily lives. From the moment humans first appeared, we’ve been preoccupied with countless other pursuits: fighting among ourselves over absurd issues such as religion, politics, and the desire to seize what others possess. Humans have long been a destructive force, not only toward one another but toward everything else on the planet.

Despite our ability to evolve, explore, educate ourselves, build lots of stuff, and invent tools & implements that make life easier, we still struggle to grasp some of the most basic aspects of existence—such as respecting the Earth, protecting our environment, and living peacefully with one another. Any discussion about the environment inevitably leads to a web of interconnected issues, each overlapping and influencing the next.

The central question of this blog article is this: Why are we knowingly—almost deliberately—pushing our planet toward destruction? Scientists have warned us for decades that we are heading toward disaster, yet we continue down the same path. We trust experts in engineering, education, safety, and medicine, so why aren’t we listening to the experts who understand what is happening to our planet?

They are telling us exactly what we are doing wrong, yet we continue to ignore them. We are overpopulating the planet at an unsustainable rate, destroying forests that function as the Earth’s lungs, and burning carbon-emitting fuels at levels that are rapidly degrading the atmosphere.

At times, it seems as though we couldn’t push the planet closer to collapse even if we intentionally tried. We are doing nearly everything wrong, and our leaders across the world either don’t seem to care or struggle to prove that they do. It often feels as though they have little concern for the kind of world they are leaving to their own children and grandchildren.

Most people appear to assume that the severe damage we are inflicting on the planet is a problem for future generations — not an issue we must confront now.

The main destructive influences on the Earth’s environment are climate change & habitat destruction, which are primarily driven by human activities like pollution (air, water, and land), deforestation, fossil fuel consumption, and overexploitation of resources. These factors lead to severe consequences such as biodiversity loss, soil degradation, water contamination, and more extreme weather events. 

So how does all of this come together, and how do we begin addressing the challenges of protecting our planet’s ecosystems and keeping Earth livable for us, its human inhabitants? This is where the true complexity begins.

We live on a planet divided into many individual countries, each with an autocracy or elected representatives in democracies to govern, create laws, and shape policies that influence our daily lives. While these structures may appear controlling, some form of law and order is necessary to prevent chaos — a system that ensures people don’t act recklessly without considering the collective good.

Despite this, there are individuals who claim to value democracy yet hold the contradictory belief that their personal authority should override that of a democratically elected government. These people often identify as “sovereign citizens.” If everyone adopted such a mindset, society would descend into anarchy almost instantly.

Therefore, the most stable and sensible alternative is to rely on our governments, which attempt to oversee and manage societal issues as responsibly as possible. If we disagree with their policies or decisions, we have the ability — and the right — to vote them out at the next election.

So why does any of this matter when it comes to environmental issues? At this point in our world’s evolution, politicians of most systems — democratic or autocratic — want to appear environmentally conscious. Consider the Paris Agreement: a legally binding international treaty adopted in 2015 by 196 parties to combat climate change. Its central goal is to keep global warming well below 2°C — ideally 1.5°C — above pre-industrial levels by strengthening the global response to climate change. It requires countries to set their own climate action plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and to work toward peaking emissions and achieving net-zero in the second half of the century.

All I can say is: good luck. We have virtually no chance of fully meeting those commitments. Our world is slowly but steadily deteriorating under the pressure of human-created causes — causes we all understand yet seem unwilling to address meaningfully. Nations around the globe want to appear as though they are trying, but in reality many are doing the bare minimum to give the illusion of commitment. Temperatures are rising, sea levels are climbing, ice caps and glaciers are melting, and weather patterns are changing, yet collectively we continue to bury our heads in the sand while scientists are shouting warnings about the planet’s condition.

What steps should we take as stakeholders on our planet? Well, we could sit back and wait for Armageddon—as many of us are doing now—or we could, as individuals, begin forming meaningful habits that create a real, positive impact on the planet. Many people take the position of, “Why should I do anything when our politicians can’t even be bothered?” In my view, this is a gutless, apathetic attitude adopted by those who can’t be bothered and who continue their destructive habits. What kind of example is that? It seems like a poor attempt to avoid facing a serious problem that we are leaving for future generations.

The answers lie in actually getting off our arses and getting on with the job now—not tomorrow, next week, or next year. Now. Get rid of your gas-guzzling, internal-combustion-engine cars. Install solar power and home batteries to reduce demand on coal-fired power stations. Develop good recycling habits, reduce consumption, conserve energy and water, and support sustainable practices. This includes actions such as reducing, reusing, and recycling; choosing sustainable foods; driving less; and using less energy at home.

At the other end of the ledger, governments around the world must start practising what they preach. They need to close coal-fired power stations and invest heavily in low/zero carbon-emitting alternatives. These include renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydropower, and geothermal—and, dare I say it, perhaps even certain forms of nuclear power, which produce zero emissions.

Additionally, civic engagement—advocating for environmental policies, volunteering for cleanups, or donating to environmental organizations—can create a broader, lasting impact.

If you think this is all too hard, stop reading now. If you fall into that category, simply continue with your current lifestyle habits, because you appear unwilling to change and incapable of caring for anyone but yourself. Sorry to be blunt, but that’s the reality of the situation we face on this planet.

There is far more we must do to pull ourselves back from this seemingly self-destructive course, and we must do it for the sake of future generations. Many people—climate-change deniers, skeptics, and those who refuse to understand what’s happening—either cannot grasp the urgency or choose not to because of ignorance or vested interests. Some will probably remain in denial even when their own hair is catching on fire. The consequences are unmistakable. But we need to get the ball rolling now, before it is too late.

As I finished compiling this article today, the Australian Federal Labor Government announced a historic agreement with the Greens to pass major reforms to national environmental laws. The question now is whether these reforms will bring meaningful change or simply result in weak legislation—laws that fail to protect ecosystems or prevent pollution due to poor enforcement, inadequate funding, and loopholes that prioritize short-term economic gains over long-term sustainability.

How effective these reforms will be remains to be seen.