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The scale of the challenge to rethink and reboot our society and economy cannot be underestimated. The United Nations has made a global call for everyone to rebuild society and it will take a shared effort for us to succeed. Climate change is a present threat to human lives, health and the economy at large. The emergence of the new threat of Covid-19, does not reduce or eliminate the human and economic risks of the ongoing climate crisis, and many of the same most vulnerable populations will be hardest hit by both, the building and enabling of the new Social Economy is therefore vital for our survival.
The systemic racism exposed by Black Lives Matter; the urgent action required to deal with the climate crisis made more visible by the Youth for Climate movement; and the deep divisions laid bare by the recent US elections -- all demonstrate the need for this new Social Economy to succeed.
Examples of innovation, cooperation and positive action are everywhere if we look for them. I’ve long believed and written about the idea that to change the world we need to change the narrative. As politicians, business owners, leaders, workers, communities and human beings, if we can rise to the challenge, take on the enormous but necessary task of stepping up to be changemakers, then we have the opportunity to build a Social Economy and create a world that not only has a chance of survival but one that will be worth living in.
Benita Matofska is a Speaker, Changemaker, Behaviour Change Consultant and the author of Generation Share, recently voted Top Isolation Read for a Positive Future by Forbes.
Each copy of Generation Share is made from 100% waste materials, helps to feed and educate a girl in the slums in Mumbai and plants a tree.