Living a Regenerative Life: Falling in Love with a Sustainable Future with Paul Hawken (Episode #79)
Few people believe we can come together to start fighting climate change, but Paul Hawken is one of those people. An environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author, Paul has dedicated his life to environmental sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the planet.
Episode Highlights
About Our Guest
He believes in the power of regeneration, which to Paul has two meanings: regenerating life on Earth, and a new generation of humanity coming together to restore our environment. His latest book contains the most comprehensive plan ever proposed for reversing climate change. This conversation provides a fresh perspective on what feels like an old topic and gives us all the tools we need to play our role in healing the planet.
Paul is the founder of both Project Drawdown and Project Regeneration; he writes about nature and commerce, and consults with heads of state and CEOs on climatic, economic and ecological regeneration. He has spoken at countless Universities, and has worked with a multitude of impressive organizations and people from Martin Luther King Jr. to the King of Sweden, and has been featured and profiled in hundereds of national and international publications. He has written nine books including six national and New York Times bestsellers: Growing a Business, The Next Economy, The Ecology of Commerce, Blessed Unrest, Drawdown, and Regeneration.
Let’s dig into living with a regenerative way of thinking!
Resources Mentioned:
Books:
Links:
Connect with Paul on LinkedIn . Make sure to check Regeneration. The world’s largest, most complete listing and network of solutions to the climate crisis. And how to do them!
Show Notes
[00:01 – 10:28] Opening Segment
- Paul introduces the ecological regeneration concept.
- The climate dialog.
- Future existential threat to humanity.
- Opportunity thinking instead of threat thinking.
- A language to tackle and combat climate change.
- The extraordinary science.
- IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
- Reverse the thing that is causing global warming.
- Looking for possibilities, not emphasizing only on the problem.
- Changing what to do for how to do.
- Having social intelligence and being active.
- The climate dialog.
[10:29 – 32:29] Thoughtful Measure Voices: Talking About Regeneration
- Necessities are the way of invention.
- Listen to get the understanding and create the sense of connection and take action.
- Establish deeper connections to be more effective.
- How we find the trust on the measure voices on climate change.
- A heart response.
- Regeneration is the default mode of life.
- We are innately regenerative.
- We can do anything about climate change.
- Nature never makes mistakes.
- Paul’s outlook about the concept of generative and regenerative.
- There’s not a distinction between these concepts.
- Use regeneration as a way to help people that were lost.
- Eg. Cristian religion.
- Regeneration applies to everything: culture, children, biology, society, inner city, etc.
- Having energy and an understanding of other people.
- The economy and social media are without exception extractive.
- Taking life is harming life.
- There is a place on the internet created to bring out our best impulses and our collective genius. Visit The Goodness Exchange and get unlimited access to exclusively news and bonus content!
[32:30 – 51:40] Living a Regenerative Life: Falling in Love with a Sustainable Future
- Paul’s insights about cascade of solutions.
- The rewilding concept.
- Getting out of the way to create conditions for life.
- Keystone species.
- Understanding how the ecosystem works.
- Cultural appropriation.
- Paul shares what is the next step.
- The most important thing is the website – Nexus.
- We are all part of a network, we don’t exist as an individual.
- We are all amateurs when it comes to planet-saving.
- The importance of creating conditions in which people can change their mind.
- The natural outcome of our community.
- Our beliefs don’t change our actions, our actions change our beliefs.
- If you find yourself stuck, start doing something.
[58:44 – 1:03:02] Closing Segment
- Everything opens up when you have unreasonable goals.
- How to connect with Paul and his work
- Links below
- Give a review and rating, and share this episode with others
- Final announcements
