Our society and planet face critical challenges, for example our ecosystem is being treated as a dumping ground for myriad wastes such as carbon and plastic and exponential species loss, particularly in rainforests and corals. A powerful and quick summary of these challenges is on this fantastic page produced by CNN. 

My three favourite words represent my approach to how we can work to transcend these challenges and take the opportunities available to support the flourishing society that we live in. Working together, the first two words, or attitudes as I like to think of them, of abundance and exponential open up a tremendously exciting new narrative for inspiring sustainability if the final attitude, of action, is taken.

Abundance

In light of the challenges we face you may be surprised that ‘abundance’ is one of my three favourite words: I don’t just see a glass half full; I see it’s potential to overflow with goodness. It wasn't always like this; part of the reason why I became interested in sustainability 30 years ago was because I saw scarcity and lack everywhere. 

Therefore, it is part of my journey, as well as that of our society, to transform our current situation, and see it from abundant eyes.  For example the current linear economic model of 'take, make, dispose' is inherently scarce.  A circular economy can be eternally prosperous, as the wastes of today are automatically the feedstock of tomorrow.  Furthermore circular thinking doesn’t just help solve the direct problem, but can also be transformative in other areas. For example, distributed and decentralised clean energy systems both radically reduce carbon footprint but also empower local communities to take charge of their own energy generation.

Exponential

The challenges we face are rapidly escalating.  For example the current rate of global species extinctions is estimated as 100 to 1000 times "background" rates, while future rates are could be 10,000 times higher. Therefore, the solutions need to grow exponentially to keep pace and in fact outstrip the challenges. 
 
Exponential growth in solutions inspires me. One example is that of the ability of humanity to communicate: mobile phone subscriber numbers have grown from 7 million in 1989 to 7 billion in 2016; a million-fold increase in 27 years.  I don't think anybody in the late 80s would have predicted that and it demonstrates what is possible if people want something enough.  Two exponential examples that are inspiring me are how we generate energy, particularly via the renewables revolution; and how blockchain technology is being used to rapidly scale up solutions.

Action

The abundance is manifested and the exponential solutions happen when we focus on action.  I could spend paragraphs, or even pages, detailing why it is important to focus on action, and in fact I'll be releasing a book in 2017 about this very concept. But here, I think it's enough to say that I like to get on with things, and I love supporting and celebrating those people and organisations who are taking action!

Having spent 25 years considering the challenges our society and ecosystem faces and where action is most critical, the areas I'm most interested in are those concerning climate impacts and biodiversity.   Specific examples would be helping drive the renewables revolution and motivating rainforest protection / restoration by using cutting edge approaches such as circular economy thinking and blockchain technology.