Mapping the Human Enterprise
Part 2 of Creating a Science of the Metacrisis
To rescue the human enterprise in the long run requires strong action in the short run directed toward saving biodiversity and bringing the human enterprise within sustainable limits – Paul Ehrlich
What is the decision-making that is creating the planet’s ecological crises?
The decision-making that is creating the planet’s ecological crises is a decision-making system that may be called “the Human Enterprise.”
What is the Human Enterprise?
The Human Enterprise is …
… the sum of all the human decisions to extract things from the biosphere …
… things like forests, fresh water, wildlife, soils and minerals -- that may be called the “Things-We-Extract” …
… plus all the physical flows of all those Things-We-Extract – things like forests, freshwater, wildlife, soils and minerals -- from the biosphere and into the Human Enterprise …
… plus all the human decisions to use all those Things-We-Extract -- in the forms of energy, water, materials & chemicals, food & fiber and manufactures & structures …
… things like energy, water, materials & chemicals, food & fiber and manufactures & structures that may be called the “Things-We-Use” …
… plus all the physical flows of all those Things-We-Use – things like energy, water, materials & chemicals, food & fiber and manufactures & structures -- within the Human Enterprise …
... plus all the physical flows of pollution from all those Things-We-Use from the Human Enterprise back into the biosphere …
The exponential growth of the Human Enterprise …
… has reached a point where the exponential damage to the biosphere from the exponentially growing extraction flows and pollution flows of the Human Enterprise is outstripping the biosphere’s capacity to regenerate itself …
This exponential damage to the biosphere is showing up as the big nine global ecological crises identified by the Stockholm Resilience Centre.
These big nine planet-scale eco-crises are mapped as the orange areas beyond the Doughnut created by humanity’s “overshoot” of “planetary boundaries” …
The exponential damage to the biosphere from the extraction flows of the Human Enterprise (shown in blue-gray) …
... is showing up as …
… eco-crises of freshwater depletion …
… eco-crises of deforestation and expanding deserts …
… and eco-crises of species extinctions and biodiversity loss …
The exponential damage to the biosphere from the pollution flows of the Human Enterprise (shown in orange) …
… is showing up as …
… eco-crises of global warming and climate change …
… eco-crises of synthetic pollutants such as herbicides, pesticides and microplastics …
… eco-crises of ozone layer depletion …
… eco-crises of aerosol pollutants such as dust, smoke and sulfates …
… eco-crises of ocean acidification …
… and eco-crises of phosphorus and nitrogen pollutants in rivers and coastal seas …
The human decision-making that is creating the planet’s eco-crises can be mapped – within the doughnut-shaped space – as the Human Enterprise Decision-making for meeting human physical needs, which is creating the planet’s ecological crises …
Mapping the simple decision-making system – called “the Human Enterprise” – that’s creating the planet’s eco-crises allows you to design a simple decision-making process for reversing the planet’s ecological crises as a whole.
In Part 3 of this 5-part series, you will learn how to map the decision-making system – called “Political Economic Decision-making” for deciding who-gets-what -- that is creating human society’s who-gets-what crises.
When you read my simple e-book, We Can Reverse the Planet’s Eco-crises, you’ll learn how to design and use a simple regenerative decision-making process for winning trillions in avoided cost savings and reversing the planet’s eco-crises as a whole.
When you read the articles in my Regenerative Decision-making newsletter:
… you’re giving yourself essential tools and skills for your successful career in reversing the planet’s ecological crises.
I’m super grateful for your kind attention.
Thank you for reading and aloha!
P.S. I cross-posted this article on Medium to give it greater reach.