The president of the World Wide Fund for Nature has called on governments and corporations to help redefine wealth by moving away from traditional economic indicators.
Pavan Sukhdev, a former banker from India, said mankind’s obsession with profits had created a worrying imbalance to the detriment of human happiness.
Speaking at Majlis Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, the 59-year-old claimed a fundamental rethink was required from key decision-makers.
He argued that the world’s vast natural wealth was not in infinite supply, and that more had to be done to protect the globe from lasting destruction.
"We live in an age where humanity has begun to significantly impact the Earth's geology and ecosystems, causing irreversible damage and rapidly using up resources as if they happened to be unlimited,” he said.
“What is required instead is a change of economic direction and a new type of corporation whose goals are perfectly aligned with society rather than at its expense.”
Mr Sukhdev was named president of WWF’s International board in November 2017.
A passionate environmental economist, he is also the head of the United Nations’ Green Economy Initiative as well as the founder and CEO of GIST Advisory, a consultancy specialising in helping governments and businesses measure and manage impact on natural and human capital.
Mr Sukhdev’s speech was attended by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
His lecture focused on his perceived need to move away from traditional economic metrics such as GDP, and look instead at developing human capital.
“It is no surprise then that we find ourselves unbalanced on this one-legged chair of man-made wealth, having discarded the other three legs,” he said.
“To me, when economies talk about [the] development of policies I keep reminding them that there should be a different strategy of human wealth.”
Mr Sukhdev went on to remind his audience that philosophers had long seen the importance of not only economic wealth, but community and public wealth too.
“They saw society as it is; not only wealth but also community and public wealth," he said.
“And it is not only man-made but also natural and human and based on relations between societies.
“These aspects are essential for us to be able to redefine wealth; those aspects refer to natural wealth and social wealth in addition to produced wealth and all of those are essential - we cannot be stable on one-legged stool.”
Last year, world-leading scientists warned there were only 12 years left to limit catastrophic climate change and keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Beyond this figure, experts believe even a half degree rise will significantly worsen the risk of drought and floods for millions of people.
The Paris agreement pledged to keep temperatures between 1.5C and 2C. The half-degree difference could also protect coral reefs from being completely destroyed.
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Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
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Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
