Although vast and diverse, the ocean is “out of sight and out of mind” for many. Yet, it drives global systems that make the Earth habitable for humankind and is economically critical to the whole of humanity, from 90% of international trade to offshore energy resources increasingly supplying low-carbon wind energy, the promise of major wave, current and tidal energy, and up to 30% of hydrocarbons. Paul Holthus, Founding President and CEO of the World Ocean Council, offers a valuable look into our blue planet—much of our oceans beyond national jurisdiction and thus constituting our global commons—and its dire need of revitalization. Only through coordinated, international business action can we hope to meet SDG #14: to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.

It has taken the world almost 40 years to (largely) accept that climate change is happening, but the world doesn’t have another 40 years to accept that biological diversity faces accelerating diminution from anthropogenic behaviors. Biodiversity—its successes and its failures—is a critical sounding board for the long-term sustainability of all life, including human life, on our planet. Vicki Brady, MSc, FEIANZ, CEnvP, President of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ) and Environment Business Partner at AGL Energy, shares a call-to-action for environmental and sustainability practitioners everywhere: unite as we have never done before in a global, coordinated, and sustained effort to use the best science we have to advance positive ecological projects.

Without the balanced socio-economic empowerment of women and girls, building a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable future is an impossibility. On the occasion of Earth Day 2022, Shannon P Marquez, PhD, MEng, Dean of Global Engagement at Columbia University; Faculty, Columbia Climate School and Mailman School of Public Health, encourages us all to choose a regenerative future through empowering women and girls and addressing one of the most pressing global challenges in our lifetime—universal access to water and sanitation.

There is no other possible future than a regenerative one. Mathis Wackernagel, Ph.D., Founder & President, Global Footprint Network and ISSP Sustainability Hall of Fame Honoree, explains how the risks of global ecological overshoot — human demand exceeding the regenerative capacity of our natural ecosystem — may well be the second most severe challenge facing humanity in the 21st century. The biggest risk of all: that of not responding.