Jonathan Porritt envisions life in 2050 in his book The World We Made, also laying out a potential pathway to this sustainable way of life for all in the process. Porritt mentions futuristic updates to numerous aspects of everyday life including Health, Transportation and Water amongst others. One of the main themes in the book is that humans have made irreversible damage and not everyone will be able to remain where they are. For example, on page 24 it is noted that Sana’a, the former capital of Yemen, will be evacuated due to heat and dryness. Later on it is noted that in 2035, New Orleans will also be evacuated due to rising sea levels. Despite these mentions of relocation, Porritt makes no reference of where they will go.
This is a huge gap in the story of a peaceful future. When people are displaced around the globe, the first place they will flock to are the already crowded cities. Many of these cities are already full of poverty and are not ready to take on extra millions of displaced people, nor do they have the capacity to build more housing. Another question is how the international governing bodies will deal with refugees. Nations will be swallowed by rising sea levels, thus mass migration will occur. While the treatment of the five million Syrian refugees has become a global conflict, with many nations refusing to let them enter their borders, imagine what the response will be like when tens or hundreds of millions of people are displaced after high density areas such as Florida, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka are no longer able to stand their ground. This issue alone could very well cause escalating global conflict and war which will put a major setback in Porritt’s timeline and plans for a sustainable future.
