Too often, we are oblivious to interconnectedness and our relationship with nature. Over the last three years, me and over 100 leading experts from over 40 countries have been working on changes needed to halt biodiversity collapse. It was a massive undertaking, and the week before Christmas, 147 governments approved this report, and a second, by the UN founded Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The report covered the Transformational Change needed to tackle the root causes of the biodiversity crisis. The second report focussed on the ‘nexus’ between the multiple global crises we face.

The IPBES Nexus Report, was widely covered by major news outlets such as the New York Times and the BBC, but the Transformative Change Report received little similar attention. Looking at major news outlets I only found coverage in Le Monde and a little later, a column by William Hague for The Times (more on that in the box below). Broadly, the Nexus report shows that the global crises are interconnected. Secondly, the Transformative Change Report shows that the root cause, our unsustainable focus on the domination and consumption of nature, requires a fundamental shift in how people view and connect with the natural world. It is an essential story of our time.

The Unseen Crises of Human-Nature Connection

The current mainstream narratives for saving the planet include recycling and reducing emissions, for example by not flying, or stories of expensive schemes to capture carbon. But these IPBES reports tell us we mostly need to change how we think and feel.

When looking for solutions we tend to let more tangible single issues dominate. Climate change, with its increasingly dramatic impact and technical solutions receives over eight times more press than biodiversity loss. Yet, the Nexus report highlights the need to tackle the five interlinked global crises in biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change in unison. The key messages of the report captured how biodiversity is essential for food and water supplies, our health, and stability of the climate – yet the rapid loss of biodiversity continues, with wildlife populations plummeting by 73% since 1970. The Nexus report highlights how society’s fragmented approach exacerbates the problem. Continuing with compartmentalized, “siloed” responses and focussing on one element above another, will lead to greater negative outcomes and financial costs.

The Transformative Change Report offers a different, yet equally critical perspective. To deal with the biodiversity crisis, it calls for fundamental shifts in how people view and interact with the natural world. Challenging the pervasive, unsustainable relationship of domination and consumption of nature ingrained in society and institutions. This aligns with the views often held by Indigenous Peoples, advocating for practices that respect and are in harmony with nature. Relational worldviews that lie submerged beneath centuries of modernity. A situation that will persist if it goes unreported.

Both reports share a common theme: interconnectedness. The lack of coverage of the Transformative Change Report underscores the key messages of both reports, the need to appreciate interconnectedness and shift dominant societal views to recognise and prioritise human-nature connection because it can unite both human and nature’s wellbeing. The current unsustainable relationship with nature is so deeply embedded it is unseen by many and unchangeable by a few.

Even if the timing of the reports was not ideal, the oversight of this report reflects a lack of consciousness of our failing relationship with the rest of the natural world. It is also a missed opportunity to inform, to play a role in creating a positive vision of a flourishing future with nature. The report found that visions are fundamentally important to inspire transformative change and that there is a role for every person and organisation to create change.

However, rather than interconnectedness, our collective focus, both in policy and public discourse, has been predominantly on managing symptoms — restoring habitats, mitigating pollution and, overwhelmingly, reducing carbon emissions. The latter often a negative story of a life without things we are accustomed too. Yet, such actions are merely bandages on the deeper wound of our relationship with nature. This relationship, rooted in viewing nature as a resource for human use rather than a partner in our existence, perpetuates the very problems we seek to solve.

Even when there are calls to reconnect with nature, they often frame nature as a resource for human well-being, perpetuating a human-first mindset. True relational thinking doesn’t focus on a dose of nature being a ‘pill to pop’ for our wellbeing. It sees nature as interconnected with human life and fostering this interconnectedness unites the wellbeing of people and planet – and can even improve relationships between people.

Policy tends to focus on tangible features, reducing nature to terms like “green infrastructure,” taking the subjective decisions to focus on ‘objective’ physical and measurable aspects and thereby failing to inspire visions of human-nature connectedness. Even when included, the less tangible concept of nature connectedness is often overlooked. For instance, the UK Government’s Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity, considered and noted the importance of nature connectedness, but this was lost in policy summaries. Yet policy recognises that relationships do exist – marriage makes them tangible in law.

Understandably, the news focuses on reporting the (increasing) symptoms also. The lack of coverage of the Transformative Change Report is a stark reminder of the widely neglected crises of our disconnection from the rest of nature. A sustainable future is not just about saving habitats or reducing carbon footprints; it’s about rethinking our relationship with the natural world at a fundamental level. The second IPBES report shows that we must delve deeper into these narratives and make them more visible, presenting visions of integrating nature connection across the public realm and encourage more people to play a role in making them a reality.

Thanks to Dr Carly Butler for comments on a draft of this blog.