“I believe the 21st century will be dominated by the concept of natural capital, just as the 20th was dominated by financial capital,” said Achim Steiner, head of the UN environment program.
Even so, would that be enough? Civilizations rise — and collapse — for many different reasons. If there is a simple lesson to be drawn from Central America’s abandoned ruins it is to protect the environment and control population growth, said Michael Coe, author of the seminal 1966 text, The Maya.
“No civilization lasts for ever. Most go for between 200 and 600 years,” he said.
The Maya, Romans and Angkor of Cambodia lasted 600.
And us?
“Western civilization began with the Renaissance, so we’re hitting 600 years,” Coe said. “The difference is we have a choice whether to let things get worse or fix them. That’s what science is about. But it takes will on the part of those who govern and those who are being governed.”
Coe, one of the world’s leading experts on civilization collapse, pauses. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know if we have that.”
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