According to a study by the Weizmann Institute, the anthropogenic mass - man-made objects - exceeded the weight of living biomass - the set of animals and plants - for the first time in 2020 (Visual Capitalist, 2021).
This is an alarming figure for the planet, and one that is surely at the root of the environmental imbalances that have been occurring in recent years and that are part of the much larger and disturbing picture of climate change.
While it is true that the consequences of this phenomenon affect the entire world-particularly future generations-it is equally fair to point out that perhaps not all people have participated in this negative milestone, at least not in the same way.
The World Inequality Report 2022 indeed showed how the richest 10 percent of the world's population is responsible for nearly 50 percent of total emissions, while the poorest 50 percent of the world's population produces barely 12 percent of total emissions. Let's say that if in a famous Italian indie song the Nuclear Tactical Penguins wondered "how long will Pareto's law hold up," looking at these numbers I would say with no small amount of bitterness "just a little longer."
The precarious balance of the current production system therefore affects not only the environment but also the social sphere, where year after year economic and thus social disparities between the populations of different countries and within the same country have been increasing.
I recently came across some very interesting reading through the research activity I am doing with Ca' Foscari University within the European project Bauhaus of the Seas Sails. The book "What would animals say if we asked the right questions?" by Belgian philosopher Vinciane Despret, investigates in an unusually ironic and light-hearted way the anthropocentric misconception that society has of our planet, taking again the point of view of nature. A concept-that of giving voice to all living things-which ties in with the Zoöp model developed by the Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam and which aims to promote a more regenerative and inclusive economy.
One example at a time, the author shows how almost all the scientific knowledge about animals that we possess is actually built on completely artificial assumptions that have nothing to do with nature. In fact, the vast majority of alleged discoveries about animals are derived from laboratory studies or situations specifically created by humans to trigger some reaction in the animal, completely erasing, like the greatest of paradoxes, the possibility of natural behavior.
And so this is how wolves immediately become dominators by nature, when they are forced with bait to choose among themselves who will eat and who will not, forcing into our heads an idea of hierarchy that does not actually exist and would immediately crumble when analyzed in more detail, seeing how in reality in their natural habitat communities are based on principles of unity and cooperation.
Although as an example it may seem misleading, after all what do wolves have to do with capitalism, there is actually an answer, because the mechanism behind this behavior we impose on animals is actually a large mirror that highlights our behavior as citizens and as consumers. Instead of using animal behavior as an inspiration to build a more balanced relationship with the planet, we project our worst behaviors onto them.
In light of these reflections, it becomes necessary for us today to rethink the relationship we have first and foremost with the planet and consequently with ourselves and our society, in order to bring about positive change in that perhaps 15 percent margin of impact that most of us have-if you are in the famous 10 percent then an extra effort awaits you.
Fortunately, our society is moving in this direction, and the first attempts at a more responsible and inclusive production model are beginning to flourish. In a word: fair.
From wine-based regeneration in Piacenza to the "solar" turn of the Meru Herbs cooperative in Kenya (Altreconomia.it), success stories of this new mindset that is based on the fair trade are piling up more and more around the world.
At Upskill 4.0, we have also been able to see and participate in this phenomenon, starting from training accessible to different age groups (from students to adult workers) to actual projects of "digitized" regeneration, as in the case of the digital label for the Social Cooperative Together in Vicenza, of the new collection of upcycled also available in augmented reality for the Quid Social Cooperative in Verona, or even a new platform for online orders and sales for the Hortus social cooperative in Mantua - to name just a few.
For the future, of course, the hope is to support more and more of these kinds of projects and realities that take charge of bringing about "fair" change, to contribute in our own small way to the development of a more conscious and responsible trade.
Who knows if with the many realities similar to Upskill 4.0 around the world and the hundreds (if not thousands) of other realities active in the fair trade we can actually return to a more natural collaboration-as the wolves of Vinciane Despret would tell us if we could ask them-to abandon that hierarchical structure that only makes us more "boring and habitual." And who knows if the "great global game" that runs our lives by creating ever greater imbalances with its concept of competition might not make way instead for a more balanced collaboration between companies and between people - but I'll leave that for you as a provocation.