Richard Heinberg: Why building resilience should be our top priority

In an age of a warming planet, vanishing species, growing polarization, and deepening inequality, it is clear that our systems are no longer coping. Climate shocks, geopolitical tensions, supply-chain breakdowns, spiralling energy costs: the crises overlap and amplify one another, exposing the limits of the fossil‑fuelled global order that shaped the last century.

This is the terrain that Richard Heinberg discussed in a recent presentation for The Climate Dialogue Group. In this talk, he explained that humanity is now firmly in an era we now refer to as the polycrisis, a convergence of ecological, economic, and social disruptions, rooted in our dependence on fossil fuels and the devotion to endless growth.

Energy, he reminds us, is at the heart of everything we do. Without it, life simply can’t continue. With a surplus of cheap fossil energy, however, industrial civilization was able to multiply its impact many times over. Economic activity shot up exponentially over the past hundred years, and with it our collective pressure on the planet, leading us to “the disappearance of wild nature, the loss of mammals, vertebrates and invertebrates,” he cautioned, as well as the destabilization of climate systems. There is a cost for continual growth of both economies and populations, and “that cost includes climate change,” he said.

Heinberg’s message is stark but not fatalistic. There are “no easy answers here”, he says. Because the challenges we face are deeply interconnected, there can be no quick fixes, whether technological or political. Instead, he argues, the most meaningful work now lies in building resilience, particularly at the community level, for long-term sustainability. Rather than chasing ever-greater profits, societies will need to strengthen local ecological, food, and distribution systems, among others, to ensure communities can endure shocks and adapt to a more turbulent, less predictable future.

Can we transition to other forms of energy before we embark on catastrophe, for example, solar and wind? Why is climate change such a major issue? What happens as energy, food and supply chains become less reliable? How will climate‑driven disasters reshape cities? And what kinds of social fabric will we need if we are to navigate collapse without descending into chaos? These are among the questions Heinberg addresses in this session.

This webinar is moderated by polycultural systems scientist Alexander Laszlo, chair of A Growing Culture Robert Corman and peacebuilder and the Programme Coordinator and Officer for the Friends United Meeting (FUM) Africa Ministries Office, Getry Agizah.

For anyone trying to make sense of the polycrisis and to find constructive discussions beyond despair, this presentation offers a sober perspective. It does not promise easy answers, but it does suggest a different set of priorities: less about maximizing growth, more about nurturing the capacities that help communities hold together when former certainties fall away.

You can watch the full presentation and discussion here: