by Christine Muller
We started this year’s Sustainable Living Conversations with Jane Goodall’s Reasons for Hope, and in February shared Part 2: Baha’i Perspectives on Hope.
With Jane Goodall’s recent passing, it is fitting to revisit her thoughts. She wrote: “We need a new universal moral code. …every single major religion gives lip service to the Golden Rule – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. So it’s easy – there’s our universal moral code. We just have to find a way to persuade people to honor it! … It does seem impossible, doesn’t it, given all our human failings. Greed. Selfishness. Lust for power and wealth.” (The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams, p. 55)
Her views clearly resonate with the Baha’i teachings, which provide a universal moral code that includes the Golden Rule and goes even beyond, asserting that greed, selfishness, lust for power and wealth can be overcome with love for all of humankind, by moving our focus from the “me” to the “we”, and by applying justice and moderation in our lives.
A new scientific report, A Climate for Sufficiency: 1.5-Degree Lifestyles, just released on 7 October 2025, affirms Jane Goodall’s view that it is still possible to avert the worst climate change scenarios if we take decisive action now. The report also emphasizes the importance of justice, moderation, and contentment, which are central Baha’i teachings.
The authors of A Climate for Sufficiency demonstrate that current levels of consumption are destroying the Earth’s natural systems on which we all depend while at the same time leaving billions of people without the means for a decent life. It explains that “lifestyle carbon footprints must decline by 80–90% in high-income countries, and substantially in all others, if global warming is to be limited in line with the Paris Agreement goals.” In poor countries, under-consumption needs to rise to sufficiency levels.
It is amazing how science and religion agree, and how both support Jane Goodall’s call for urgent action for environmental protection and social transformation, as well as her hope for humanity’s future.
Sources
– The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams
– IEF Article about the report “A Climate for Sufficiency”
– Direct link to the report: A Climate for Sufficiency: 1.5 Degree Lifestyles
