16 May 2025 – The world is witnessing an ongoing pandemic of devastation, violence and suffering in multiple conflicts. The destruction of Gaza and sacrifice of its inhabitants in the name of security is particularly outrageous and revealing of modern hubris, ignorant of any concept of human dignity. Tens of thousands of lives lost, most of them women, elders and children, even a greater number of injured, hundreds of thousands of displaced, and irreparable damage inflicted to the land, its ecosystems and infrastructures, are an unbearable burden for anyone who had believed in the progress of humanity.
This conflict is not an isolated event, but a symptom of the deeper crises that afflict our global civilisation in the Anthropocene. The root causes of war are complex and intertwined, they are driven by the insane quest for supremacy of some humans over their brothers and sisters, and they involve political, economic, social, cultural, and psychological factors, as well as the pressures of population growth, resource depletion, climate change and environmental degradation. These challenges require systemic and holistic responses, not military interventions that bring us back to the darkest side of our souls and only exacerbate the problems, while creating new ones and the conditions for the perpetuation of violence during generations to come.
The new report to The Club of Rome: Enduring peace in the Anthropocene is a collection of essays from members exploring the potential and limitations for humanity to learn from the nefarious consequences of its actions and start creating the conditions for peace among humans and with the planet. It calls for a radical transformation of our values, institutions, and behaviours towards a culture of cooperation, compassion, and care for all life on Earth.
“There is an urgent need to discover and create global conditions, institutions and human consciousness that will create lasting peace,” says Paul Shrivastava, co-president of The Club of Rome.
Instead of presenting a unified voice or a single statement, the report invites many members of The Club of Rome to express their own views and concerns on peace and war, so that the diversity of voices can reflect the richness and complexity of viewpoints and open up space for dialogue and learning.
“Peace is not just the absence of wars,” says Carlos Alvarez Pereira, secretary general of The Club of Rome. “Peace in the Anthropocene is the continual transformation of life systems (both natural and social), building peaceful foundations that facilitate humans and other species to thrive.”
The publication hopes to inspire and encourage more people to join the conversation and to take action for peace in their own contexts and capacities. It is a step towards a more comprehensive and impactful programme of activities on planetary peace in the Anthropocene, contributing to the global dialogue and action for a peaceful and sustainable future.
Read Enduring Peace in the Anthropocene
