Declaration on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Blue Planet Prize
Imagine a society organized around the three pillars of sustainability for a nature-positive
future that leaves no one behind. The natural world would be preserved and reintegrated into
our lives, agricultural landscapes, and cities. Social justice and equality would be core valuesin political decisions to avoid the extreme forms of social inequality that are prevalent today.
Diverse economic opportunities would be offered to all so everyone could strive to fulfil their
aspirations and potential, and live a dignified life. Such a society would embrace core valuesof empathy, justice, sustainability, and knowledge.
Realizing this vision is a journey that requires maintaining a focus on our values and goals.
By cultivating optimism and deploying immense creativity we will find solutions that areconsonant with a society’s culture, thus achieving short-term successes, and ensuringpersistence. The point of departure of this journey is the realization that our current trajectory
is unstable and unsustainable and endangers future generations. Future uncertainties preclude
us being able to define the exact, best path forward. We can, however, more readily identify
futures we do not want, and hence avoid undesirable pathways leading to such futures fromwhich it may not be possible to return. Doing this will allow us to remain within a set ofacceptable pathways, the particular ‘best’ one of which will depend on cultural values and thestate and dynamics of the world at the time.
The solutions for a sustainability transition are largely known. They include switching torenewable energy and to healthier and environmentally beneficial diets, making buildings
more efficient, greening our cities, preserving biodiversity in a greatly expanded network ofprotected areas, helping farmers in low-income countries sustainably increase productivity,
electrifying vehicles, managing forests and agricultural lands to enhance biodiversity and theprovision of ecosystem services, investing in a fairer world, and encouraging solutions basedon cooperation rather than conflict. Many innovations exist but their implementation needs tobe rapidly scaled up. In parallel, the existing, unsustainable systems need to be actively
phased out. There will be many breakthroughs, setbacks and surprises along this journey,
hence the need to build resilience in our systems.
Some of the required changes will be difficult and, as occurs in complex systems, may be
more likely to be achieved after some small disturbance has initiated a “collapse” phase that is
rapidly followed by reorganization. This short re-organisation phase is a time when crucialchanges can be made. Understanding these dynamics and being prepared for theopportunities they provide is an important part of effecting transformational change.
Such a profound transformation of our societies and of our relationship with nature can only
be achieved through partnerships between civil society organizations, public governmentsfrom the local to the international levels, and the private sector. These different individuals
and organizations need to form coalitions and join forces to address specific challenges forwhich they develop common interests. These partnerships will require cultivating trust
between these partners.

Civilizations are defined over the long term and need to have the welfare of future generations
as a central goal. We need to listen more carefully to the voice of the young generation andpay attention to their messages. We need to encourage communication across generations andwalks of life. We need to talk about the future and make it a subject of widespread debate thatworks its way up in society, to influence decisions by today’s leaders. We cannot continue tomake decisions that undermine the future of our own children or the quality of theenvironments in which they will live. Our future needs to be defined by the moral values wewant to enshrine in our human existences.
Eric Lambin, David Tilman and Brian Walker,
former laureates of the Blue Planet Prize