This is an urgent video message by Fritjof Capra, Ph.D., renowned physicist and systems theorist, about the critical importance of systems thinking as a means for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The “heart of the matter” is the realization that our global problems are systemic problems — all interconnected and interdependent — and that the SDGs, therefore, must also be seen as systemically interconnected. Indeed, the shift from a fragmented, piecemeal approach to integrated, systemic solutions will be essential for the very survival of human civilization.

Four transformative actions are crucial to assure a sustainable future:

• Shifting from quantitative to qualitative growth, inspired by the systems in nature.
• Becoming ecologically literate in order to design sustainable communities;
• Recognizing the nature of systemic solutions, with agroecology as an outstanding example; and
• Adopting a new Earth ethics, such as the one summarized in the Earth Charter.