(Mays and Scheidegger 2020)

In the past, the concepts of ‘social’ and ‘ecological’ have been thought of as separate entities; but for sustainable science to develop, people must recognize the interdependence of humans and nature within academic, civil, policy, and business spheres (Simon et al. 2020). Sustainability science will only yield solutions following an epistemological break in economic thinking. This entails breaking down the worldview underpinning the consensus of sustainable development, including the technological dream of dematerialization and the case for an expansionary economy rooted in the desire for unconstrained growth. As long as sustainable science continues to try solving environmental problems by treating nature as a machine that can be governed, it will only become part of the force that led to this global crisis in the first place (Gonzalez-Marquez and Toledo 2020). As sustainable science has developed, it has proven that one of its most important findings is that natural and anthropogenic resources, together with the dynamic relationships among them, must be treated as the joint foundations on which well-being can be built (Clark and Harley 202).

Emphasizing interdependence and the destruction of dichotomies, such as between humans and nature, is the solution for both the decolonization of knowledge and the further development of sustainability science. Other ways of knowing, which highlight the knowledge of ‘othered’ peoples, can best be shared through the interconnection of people and through the interconnection of people with nature. Interconnecting people with nature is essential for improving the field of sustainability science and making it more effective at dealing with the sustainability challenges that face the world today. There are also multiple documented health benefits of interacting with nature. Nature has physical and psychological benefits for human wellbeing. Exposure to nature has been linked to a number of benefits, including improved attention, lower stress, better mood, reduced risk of psychiatric disorders, and even increases in empathy and cooperation. Studies have also shown that the sense of connection that people have with the natural world contributes to the happiness that they feel even when they are not physically in nature (Weir 2020).

Sustainability science would also benefit from increased interconnection between the various perspectives that contribute to the field. Humans are interconnected in the sense that everyone experiences the climate crisis in some way and humans are interconnected with nature in the sense that humans are responsible for the destruction of nature and humans are now experiencing the backlash from their destruction of nature. Therefore, the solutions to the climate crisis should also be rooted in interconnectedness and it should elevate voices and knowledge systems that have historically been suppressed (Simon et al. 2020).

In addition to recognizing the interdependence of humans and nature, it is also important to recognize how the different approaches to fighting and adapting to climate change are also interdependent. Identifying adaptation needs and developing strategies for adapting to climate change is a complex task. Therefore, it is important to understand and address the interdependencies between climate change risks and policy responses in order to ensure that relevant policies and actions are coordinated. For example, individual infrastructure elements are usually dependent on other infrastructure, which means that one infrastructure element affected by climate change may also cause impact on other elements. Infrastructure is controlled and regulated by many different actors, which include the government, government agencies, local authorities, state-owned companies, and privately owned companies. It is crucial that all of these actors cooperate to implement infrastructure that contributes to fighting climate change. It is also important that these actors work together to ensure that infrastructure is well suited to withstand the effects of climate change, such as an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events (Undorf et al. 2020). In general, there is a dire need for approaches that facilitate the sharing of expert understanding between politicians, scientists, environmentalists, social justice workers, and all people who are dedicated to fighting climate change and creating a society that can adapt to the effects that we are already experiencing as effectively as possible. Each subset of people has expertise that is needed to combat climate change and it is essential that as many people as possible are given a platform to share their knowledge and contribute to this cause.

The need to recognize the importance of interdependence has also become more obvious after the pandemic and with the growing understanding of the spillovers from the degradation of nature into human health. A new framework for addressing climate change and human health issues is comprehending human health and the conservation of nature as one and the same. Operationalizing interdependence is an innovative and natural way to address the issues currently facing humanity. One example is that protecting forests is beneficial for both the climate and our health. It is beneficial for the climate because forests sequester carbon and contribute to biodiversity, and it is beneficial for human health because forests release oxygen which contributes to clean air (Jennings and Webb 2021). Humans converting to plants based diets is another example of a change being beneficial to health and the environment. This conversion is beneficial for human health because animal based food, especially red meat, is linked to various cancers and heart disease. People converting to a plant based diet would benefit the environment because farming uses much less land and resources to produce the same amount of food that raising animals does. This means that less land would need to be converted to farmland and more land can be saved as forests and natural habitats for other organisms. 

Finally, the specific example of protecting tropical rainforests highlights the positive impact of operationalizing interdependence. In addition to lowering global temperatures by drawing carbon, protecting tropical rainforests also decreases the probability of pathogen spillover. Both of these results are incredibly beneficial for the environment and human health, which is why investing in rainforest communities is so important. Investing in the wisdom and science of rainforest communities also helps to improve their healthcare access and increases the job options available to them. This lowers the infant mortality rate in these communities and allows families to make more money by doing safer, better-paid, environmentally friendlier jobs. In this case, investing in marginalized communities helps to keep Earth’s rainforests intact. Intact forests reduce the risk of global pandemics and significantly decrease the national healthcare expenditures of citizens and government because the air is cool and less polluted, which leads to healthier global citizens (Jennings and Webb 2021). This is one specific example, however, if approaches like this are applied all over the world, everyone will eventually benefit. Just as people are interconnected with nature and the environment, all people are also interconnected. The environment and all people will benefit from meeting the needs of marginalized people and communities.

Works Cited

Clark, William C., and Alicia G. Harley. “Sustainability Science: Toward a Synthesis.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 45, no. 1 (October 2020): 331–86. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-012420-043621. 

González-Márquez, Iván, and Víctor M. Toledo. “Sustainability Science: A Paradigm in Crisis?” Sustainability 12, no. 7 (February 10, 2020). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072802. 

Jennings , Jonathan, and Kinari Webb. “What Will It Take to Save the Planet? Embracing Interdependence.” The Hill, September 9, 2021. https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/571464-what-will-it-take-to-save-the-planet-embracing-interdependence/. 

Mays, Keith, and Julie Scheidegger. “Embracing Our Interdependence.” Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Kauffmanorg, April 20, 2020. https://www.kauffman.org/embracing-our-interdependence/. 

Undorf, Sabine, Simon F. B. Tett, Joseph Hagg, Marc J. Metzger, Chris Wilson, Graham Edmond, Miranda Jacques-Turner, Stuart Forrest, and Marion Shoote. “Understanding Interdependent Climate Change Risks Using a Serious Game.” AMETSOC. American Meteorological Society, August 20, 2020. https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/101/8/bamsD190177.xml. 

Weir, Kirsten. “Nurtured by Nature.” Monitor on Psychology. American Psychological Association, April 1, 2020. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/nurtured-nature#:~:text=From%20a%20stroll%20through%20a,upticks%20in%20empathy%20and%20cooperation. 

West, Simon, L. Jamila Haider, Sanna Stålhammar, and Stephen Woroniecki. “A Relational Turn for Sustainability Science? Relational Thinking, Leverage Points and Transformations.” Ecosystems and People 16, no. 1 (2020): 304–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2020.1814417.