Downfall of the Imperial Mode of Living

In the Anthropocene era, which is the geological epoch dominated by humans, humans are the driving force. Ten per cent of Humanity produces half  of the emissions regarding the entire world population. An economic model that is neither just nor sustainable states Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Sachs, Senior Researcher at the Wuppertal Institute, in his article "Fratelli tutti in the shadow of the Anthropocene" for the "Grüne Reihe", a publication of the relief organisation "Franziskaner helfen".

In the encyclical "Fratelli tutti" Pope Francis devotes himself to the idea of fraternity and pleads for a just and fraternal world. Wolfgang Sachs continues this thought and transfers it to the relationship between humans and nature: The collective connection obliges us to care for the basis of livelihood of all creatures of the earth. "We must engage ourselves for a future suitable for grandchildren in which the earth remains habitable in the long term!" explains Wolfgang Sachs. His article connects the Christian guiding ideas of the papal doctrinal letter with current problems and thus formulates an important guiding question: How can collective loss of control be turned into communal action potential again?

The article is available free of charge via the following link and is published in the journal "Grüne Reihe 121: Fraternity and Social Friendship".