Dismantling the Ecological Divide: Toward a New Eco-Social Contract: UNRISD Policy Brief for the Global Research and Action Network for a New Eco-Social Contract

Without nature our economies cannot function, and our societies cannot survive. The shift from an ego-centric to an eco-centric social contract requires a fundamental reassessment of the purpose, goal and vision of our societies and economies, and what this means for the relationship between people, between people and power, and between people and nature. This brief considers the critical pathways needed to build a world where all life flourishes and identifies possible avenues to break from the dominant social paradigm fuelling the ecological divide, one of the greatest fault lines of our time.

UNRISD Issue Briefs aim to improve the quality of dialogue around social development issues. They interrogate a particular topic, drawing on UNRISD research, and contribute to wider social development debates. As with other UNRISD briefs, they provide this information in a concise format that should be of use to policy makers, scholars, activists, journalists and others.