The “shadow of futurity” in the age of climate change
Kim Stanley Robinson opened his lecture by describing the current moment as an “emergency century“, warning that humanity may be approaching dangerous tipping dynamics in the Earth system without fully knowing how close it is to losing control.
“We are too close to catastrophe,” he said, stressing that the climate crisis must be treated with far greater seriousness and urgency.
Robinson pointed to the physical reality underpinning all political, economic and cultural life. No matter how much climate science is denied or ignored, he argued, “reality is reality” – and it must be confronted. For him, the crisis exposes a central weakness in today’s global order: neither the nation-state system nor contemporary capitalism was designed to address a planetary emergency that transcends borders.
Why global cooperation still matters
Yet, Robinson also insisted that existing international cooperation, however imperfect, remains essential. He highlighted the importance of the United Nations and the wider treaty system as the best framework currently available for collective action. While such agreements often rely on trust and voluntary commitments rather than enforcement, he argued that they remain indispensable in a fragmented world.
In this sense, the author framed science as one of humanity’s greatest collective achievements. The fact that 8 billion people can be sustained on Earth, he said, is itself the result of extraordinary advances in science, technology, medicine and cooperation. Despite public distrust or political denial, he noted that most people ultimately place their faith in science when their lives are at stake.
read more: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/designing-just-climate-future?hub=701
