Ancient Wisdom for Modern Challenges: Why Civilization-based Solutions Should Frame the Post-2025 Climate Agenda
By Binbin Wang, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Grim
Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development 68 (2): 43–47.
February 24, 2026
The United Nations climate conference (COP30) in Belém must mark a decisive turn. Convened at the mouth of the Amazon—a living repository of biocultural wisdom—the gathering confronted the stark reality that a governance model treating nature as an asset portfolio has pushed Earth beyond six of the nine planetary boundaries. This imperative frames our launch of the “Ancient Wisdom for Contemporary Challenges” global dialogue at the United Nations Social Forum in Geneva. We argue that stabilizing our climate requires a fundamental paradigm shift—a turn toward Civilization-based Solutions (CbS).
The prevailing approach, epitomized by instrumental frameworks like Nature-based Solutions, seeks to manage symptoms within the growth-oriented logic that caused the crisis. It often sidelines the holistic understanding of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs). The twin crises of climate and biodiversity are, at their core, symptoms of a fractured human-nature relationship. Addressing them requires more than technological fixes; it requires reconstructing a harmonious relationship.