Ecological Overshoot Speaker Series Part 1: Dr. Bill Rees

Dr. Rees introduces the concepts of Earth’s carrying capacity and ecological overshoot, and the many environmental problems that are symptoms of this overshoot. We humans tend to fixate on a few major problems (war, pandemic, climate change) and have a difficult time connecting the dots—that is, thinking systemically. Bill talks about the implications of our failure to think systemically, and what it means for the future of our communities and for life on Earth. Dr. William E. Rees is a population ecologist, ecological economist, Professor Emeritus and former Director of the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning in Vancouver, Canada. He is also a founding member and former President of the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics; a founding Director of the OneEarth Living Initiative; a Fellow of the Post-Carbon Institute and an Associate Fellow of the Great Transition Initiative.