Ideating on the planetary future: Prognosis and prospects

At the Stockholm + 50 (June 2–3, 2022) event, the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres warned the assembled world leaders that we have not kept our promises on the environment since our consumption is “at the rate of 1.7 planets a year” and the “global well-being is in jeopardy.” It set the global alarm bells ringing for the global decision-makers. The gathering storms indicate smoldering of a planetary-level environmental crisis. It appears, the humankind has literally sleepwalked into an existential planetary crisis. Does this planetary crisis cast shadows of the coming events before as we enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century? Can we reverse the planetary crisis? What lies in store for the planetary future with rapidly “depleting time”? This ‘moment of truth’ posits some existential questions for the humankind. It is in this context that this paper modestly engages in preliminary prognosis as well as search for prospects for our planetary future. It calls for ideating on the nature and content of the planetary crisis and moots some initial workable proposals to augment ‘low-hanging’ instrumentalities for securing future of the humankind and the planet Earth. The Pact for the Future, outcome document of the UN Summit of the Future (New York; September 22–23, 2024), reflected in the UNGA (resolution 79/1 of September 22, 2024) is indicative of the limits of multilateralism at work as it is neither inspiring nor adequate for a decisive course correction and attaining the intended objectives for a robust planetary future. With some 59 conflicts raging in the world that jeopardize the lives of one-fourth (2 billion) of the global population (8 billion) and 700 million people (2024) facing undernourishment (hunger), we need many more concrete ideas along with an effective blueprint of international environmental governance to enable walking-the-talk for salvaging our planetary future.