The Way Out Is In - Erin Billman Does The Work For a Nature Positive Future

Today's guest is Erin Billman, who is the Executive Director for the Science Based Targets Network. She was recently in Sydney from the US for the global nature positive summit and to share about her important and ground breaking work in setting standards and guidance on how organisations and cities need to play a role in halting and reversing the destruction of habitats and ecosystems, and the biodiversity all of these places hold and call home.It's easy to be cynical about the enormity of the task we have at hand to deal with not just a changing climate but the broader set of planetary boundaries humanity seems committed to pass and erode. The climate is just one of these boundaries, and others include ocean acidification, freshwater change, biosphere integrity and novel entities. Erin and her team's work is about setting a trajectory across these planetary boundaries that act as the minimum to be done to restore balance and health to our ecological systems. considering the mostly failures of addressing runaway greenhouse gas emissions over decades, it is daunting to stare into eight other boundary systems and wonder how we do this. This work begins to help with this though.This conversation with Erin was impactful and hopeful, and not because of the technical work being done to understand and lay out a path for meaningful action, but because of the way our inner health plays a critical role in broader industrial, societal and ecological transformations.The creation of Finding Nature has been construed almost entirely as having a literal meaning - to find the natural world. It does have that implication, but the meaning of and reason for calling this endeavour Finding Nature is to do with the work required to be curious about, explore and discover our own true inner nature. To find connection to self in a world that is bombarding us with too much of everything. Distractions, crises, disasters, doom scrolling, to do lists, bucket lists. Beyond all of that though, beyond the material and the possessive, is something each and every one of us hold sacred that can help to light a path towards true connection, real peace and freedom from the bounds of fears, self centredness and external projections. If you had a greater sense of connectedness, peace and freedom, what would you be capable of? And what would more of us be capable of? The tension with the urgency and scale of action exists, but more racing and more urgency and more doing all the time may not be the path. I know that it isn't for me.This chat with Erin ends up being almost entirely about this, which I didn't expect. I was keen to explore the disconnect with our relationship to the natural world and the SBTN in more detail, but that's not where this conversation goes, which I really love about it.This month's newsletter is coming together and is on the theme of help - something I continue to realise that I need constantly for just about everything. It's easy for me to slip into being a human doing, and I need the help of those around me to bring me back to a steady state - to be present and playful. This conversation with Erin reminded me of the work of Eckardt Tolle, especially his seminal book The Power of Now. Here's a quote that I think is relevant to Erin, this episode and help “Get the inside right. The outside will fall into place.”Until next time, thanks for listening.Today's show is delivered with Altiorem. Use the code FindingNature10 to get your first month free on their gold and platinum plans. Today's show is delivered with Gilay Estate. Add Finding Nature to your booking reservation for free food bundles.Send me a messageThanks for listening. Follow Finding Nature on Instagram