Just came across this quote1 by Gus Speth, a professor of law and former administrator of the UN Development Programme, in the latest issue of Tearfund’s Tear Times:
I used to think the top global environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought with 30 years of good science we could address those problems, but I was wrong.
The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy - and to deal with these we need a spiritual and cultural transformation and we scientists don’t know how to do that.
I don’t think politicians and political or environmental activists know how do to that either.
I’m becoming increasingly convinced that the only means of bringing about this transformation is the full, unadulterated gospel of Jesus Christ, proclaimed “not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
1 Compare Ken Wilson’s chapter in Practicing Sustainability, which appears to give some context to the quote.