You’ve seen the news, you’ve read the stats: the planet seems to be in a pretty tight spot at the moment, whether due to climate change, global economic crises, or a crisis of the human spirit itself. It sure might feel like the world is spinning off its axis, but it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom.

Sure, we’ve got our work cut out, but there are things that can be done to turn this ship around. Today, we’re taking a sober look at a few of the big predictions for the future – and some savvy solutions for how to tackle our collective challenges, including the clean money movement, equal education, and making sure you stay employable while keeping up with the technological flow.

Prediction 1: Rising Carbon Levels Will Do Us All In

Skyrocketing CO2, steaming oceans, rising waterlines, and diminishing glaciers; you’ve no doubt also heard the UN’s warning that we’ve got about 12 years to curb climate change before things start really hitting the fan. It’s pretty harrowing stuff, and while all those stats might be a bit much to bear, never doubt our collective ability to rise up and make the change. While keeping informed of the sobering truths, make sure you’re also empowering yourself to help.

Solutions:

A good place to start is with Paul Hawken’s pioneering work over at drawdown.org, a repository of practical advice and tips on how to curb our environmental crisis. It follows Hawken’s 2017 book of the same name and homes in on 100 crucial remedies we can employ today, including: growing the world’s forest through “afforestation”, harnessing “telepresence” to communicate more through face-to-face technologies, embracing rooftop solar technology, and ditching refrigerants – the chemical by-product of the world’s fridges and air con units (which is a massive carbon offender).

On a more grassroots level, the simple stuff can really make a difference – shifting from a meat-heavy diet to a pescatarian one, for example, or making a conscious effort to fly less — something many are making a commitment to in 2019.

Another easy and effective way to help make a difference is simply to take a stand – attend rallies, like the #schoolstrike4climate, which has seen hundreds of thousands turn out at events around the world; share factual information on social media; and get the momentum moving through conversation. We created massive waves for marriage equality in mobilising the population, and can replicate it for climate change, too.

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Prediction 2: The Global Economy Is Becoming Unpredictable

It sometimes feels that way. With the 2008 Global Financial Crisis not too far in the rear-view mirror, and with some experts predicting we should expect another one as soon as 2020, it’s easy to feel uneasy about the nebulous state of global economics.

While not even the experts can determine the ebb and flow of the global marketplace, one thing seems pretty clear: unlimited growth – the engine of free-market capitalism – doesn’t really jive on a limited planet with finite resources. Groups such as Local Futures believe we need a new economic paradigm – one that focuses on meeting real human and ecological need rather than simply “growing the economy”.

Solutions:

One way we can help usher in a new “economics of happiness” is by embracing the concept of “clean money”.

Impact investor Joel Solomon recently described Clean Money to Forbes Magazine as “responsible” investment, where bank loans are directed into positive, sustainable channels – things like renewable energy, affordable housing, and not-for-profit organisations (rather than  destructive things like fossil fuel mining, nuclear weapons, armaments, and the like).

It’s worth remembering here that, prior to spending it, your money has intrinsic potential and power to make a difference. Each and every time we spend, we empower it positively or negatively, depending on where we put it.

The same thing happens when we deposit money into banks and financial institutions, except we hand them the power to choose which loans and investments they make. Wouldn’t it be good if that money went to positive places? It should, and it can.

You can help bring about a more humane global economy by banking with financial institutions that direct funds into industries that do good rather than harm. You can find out more about which institutions are empowering our money positively by checking out websites like marketforces.org.au and dontbankonthebomb.com for a full rundown (and make the choice from there).

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Prediction #3: We’ll All Become Less Employable

 

No, it’s not a line from South Park. The robot uprising has begun folks, and they’re not just taking our jobs – these days, we’re sharing our domestic lives with automation butlers, receiving deals from uncomfortably convincing robot telemarketers, robotic journalists are writing articles for major news outlets like The Associated Press and HuffPost, Uber has toyed with robotic drivers, and Google’s self-driving Waymo technology is set to transform countless industries in the coming years.

Yet, it’s in the workplace that we stand to see the big shifts – pundits have been throwing around figures about how much of a toll automation through tech will have on the world’s workers, most notably a 2015 study that said 40 percent of Australian jobs could be lost in the next 10 to 15 years.

So, what to do about the robot takeover?

Solutions:

Firstly, it’s important to remember that we’re in the throes of awesome technological change right now, making it a moment when it’s particularly hard to predict where everything’s headed. Suffice to say, as our technology grows, the status quo will shift: as Kevin Kelly at Wired reminds us, when tech transforms, new industries and roles come with it – we just can’t quite see what they are yet.

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Still, if you’re anxious about it, it wouldn’t hurt to make yourself as employable as possible. In Australia, healthcare and social assistance gigs are likely going to be on the rise, with around 250,500 new jobs by 2022. It’s worth remembering, too, that robot tech is still in its early phase of development – vocations that require digital literacy, critical thinking, problem solving, adaptability, and resilience will still be in high demand.

In the event that automation does become a full-on takeover, a wholesale rethink about the nature of work itself might be on the cards. Popularity for a Universal Guaranteed (or ‘Basic’) Income is gaining traction among economists: a national wage that every Australian would get, purely for having a pulse. This would alleviate the struggle to make ends meet in an “automatised” job market, opening the door to new lifestyle choices, creative endeavours, and a work-life balance like we’ve never experienced before.

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(Lead image: Viktor Kiryanov via Unsplash)

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Want to do your bit to make the planet a better place, now and in the future? Bank Australia doesn’t lend money to businesses involved in planet-harming industries like fossil fuels, live animal exports, gambling, arms, or tobacco, instead they invest your money into the creation of equal-opportunity and affordable housing, renewable energy, and not-for-profit organisations. Join the clean money movement today.