While in the United Kingdom in November 2014 in support of the MEMO Project, E.O. Wilson and the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation engaged in a number of public events. Watch below an extraordinary panel on the topic of “What Is Stewardship …And Why Does It Matter,” held at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
November 6, 2014
Crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral, St. Paul’s Institute, St. Paul’s Churchyard, London, UK
Organized in partnership with the MEMO Project, Long Finance, the City of London Corporation, and the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation.
The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation’s mission to “foster a knowing stewardship of our world” through scientific understanding is in-line with notions of humanity’s responsibility for stewardship that run strongly throughout the Christian tradition and the theological understandings of numerous religions around the globe. More recently, it is becoming increasingly clear that our economic and financial systems are greatly dependent on the state of the world’s environment. In the words of Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, who spoke recently at St Paul’s Cathedral:
…humans have the power – intentionally or not – to transform our planet Earth for good or for ill. At this moment in history, we have catapulted ourselves to a crossroads of two possible paths for mankind. We have developed the technology and amassed the financial capability to go either way. The direction we take cannot result from inertia but rather intentional choice…This choice will be informed by our technology, our financial systems and our policy, but it must also be indisputably steered by the overarching moral compass innate to all of us.
With such a pivotal crossroads before us, the concept of stewardship has become an important vehicle for fostering a shared sense of responsibility and collaboration between often disparate groups. To ensure that we steer ourselves down a path that transforms the Earth for good, we need to develop a universally recognized notion of stewardship. This can then be applied throughout all levels of society in ways that promote the vast array of opportunities that lie before us whilst mitigating the devastating risks of environmental calamity.
By bringing together one of the world’s leading experts on biodiversity and environmental science into dialogue with different sectors, we can begin to form a clearer vision of the scientific, moral and economic imperatives that underpin the need for a shared sense of stewardship for the world in all of its natural diversity. What is Stewardship?…and Why Does it Matter?
Speakers:
Edward O. Wilson FMLS – Biologist, Researcher and Pulitzer Prize winning author
David Adjaye OBE – Principal Architect, Adjaye Associates
Helene Winch – Director of Policy and Research, UN Principles for Responsible Investment
Chaired by Alderman Prof. Michael Mainelli – Co-founder of Z/Yen and Long Finance
