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We need a system that can coherently address the interrelated crises of warming, waste, and want. Global warming is a pressing crisis that requires urgent action to reduce carbon emissions and avoid worst-case scenarios. While reducing carbon emissions is an important outcome of the Commons Governance initiative, it will also help to account for the true cost of materials at the atomic, molecular, or material and product level.
Without knowing the true cost and value of materials, we cannot properly value anything, and the price of things becomes arbitrary and generally inequitable. This externalises environmental and social costs, which is unsustainable if we are to address the crises of warming, waste, and want.
The Paris Agreement targets are not currently on track to be met, but it is crucial that we achieve them as a minimum to avoid catastrophic consequences. This means that we must halve emissions by 2030, and we need globally coherent systems to achieve this equitably and in an orderly way.
Commons Governance is a coherent methodology and a powerful tool that can help us reach these goals by providing a transparent, universally accessible system for tracking and accounting for the environmental and social impact of products and services. This system has been designed by going back to first principles and asking some basic questions about the purpose of our economy and the ideal economy for a regenerative future.
We have considered what work has been done and is underway to provide guidance towards the equitable and resilient economy that we need in 2030, 2050, and beyond. We have also identified what parts of our existing economic system align with this vision and what does not work.
Through Commons Governance, any individual, business, or government can gain visibility into the impact and opportunities presented through the transition that is underway. This can help us to create an economy that meets our growing and collective needs and aspirations while also being regenerative and in balance with nature.
We need to radically accelerate the transition and ensure it is accessible to anyone and that the benefits are shared equitably.