“I used to think the top global environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that with 30 years of good science we could address these problems. But I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy, and to deal with these we need a spiritual and cultural transformation, and we scientists don’t know how to do that.” – Gus Speth, environmentalist and Founder of the NRDC
The climate crisis is often framed as a technical problem. If we could just cut emissions, electrify transport, or plant a trillion more trees, then perhaps we’d have a shot at beating the evolutionary odds and delay our impending extinction. But what if the root cause of climate change is not primarily technological or even sociopolitical, but rather psychological and spiritual? What if solving climate change requires us to fundamentally reimagine and retool how we live with one another and with the Earth?
The first, most integral step towards solving the monumental issue of climate change lies in re-nesting humanity as part of Nature’s gift economy — i.e., reconnecting humanity with the social, spiritual, and communal foundations that sustained our species for 95-99% of our evolutionary history, as recounted by Darcia Narvaez and G.A. Bradshaw in their recent book “The Evolved Nest: Nature’s Ways of Raising Children and Creating Connected Communities.” Nest features such as a welcoming social climate, free play, and responsive relationships were experiences for all ages in our evolutionary past, following early childhoods characterized by extensive affection, communal support, and infant-directed breastfeeding. Every known feature of our evolved nest supports long-term physiological, psychological, and social health because it aligns with the way humans evolved to live — unlike the rampant selfishness, greed, and apathy that is actively selected for under today’s modern social and economic structures.
It is a remarkable insight from modern scholarship that, for most of human evolutionary history, we lived deeply embedded in small, tightly knit, and egalitarian communities that seamlessly integrated with each other and their natural surroundings, embodying a symbiotic relationship at every level of existence. These connected communities were far more than mere survival mechanisms for our ancestors — they were the evolutionary bedrock of identity, purpose, and belonging. By fostering deep social and ecological connections, they nurtured the well-being of individuals, societies, and the natural world alike.
Anthropological research shows that the daily lives of our ancestors were seamlessly intertwined with the ongoings of the natural world, cultivating profound respect for and dependence on the environment as the cornerstone of pre-modern life. Our ancestors’ sustainability — and therefore their continued evolutionary success — stemmed from cultivating a profound reciprocal relationship with Nature, grounded in an ecocentric and kinship-based worldview. This deep sense of interconnectedness with Nature, still upheld by many Indigenous communities today, ensured that human survival was balanced with the health of the natural world.
Modern society, however, has largely dismantled our nested heritage and destabilized our natural relationships, replacing them with fragmented systems that prioritize competition over cooperation, separation over connection, domination over autonomy, and exploitation over sustainability. Disconnected from both the land and from the supportive communities that underpin our large brains and concomitant sociality, we now inhabit a world profoundly out of sync with the nested species we evolved to be. This disconnection lies at the heart of many modern crises, including environmental destruction, social inequality, and a pervasive sense of anxious alienation from the most fundamental aspects of our-“selves.”
In Nature and Madness, anthropologist Paul Shepard warns that the West now has “the world’s flimsiest identity structure,” resulting in “massive therapy, escapism, intoxicants, fits of destruction and rage, enormous grief … and a readiness to strike back at a natural world that we dimly perceive as having failed us.” Restoring our spiritual connection to one another and the Earth — by reconnecting with our evolved nest and ancestral ways of living in balance with Nature — is essential for addressing climate change and ensuring the long-term survival of our species.
The Role of G20 Policymakers in Re-nesting Humanity
While the actions of re-nesting humanity may seem distant from the corridors of power, global policymakers have a critical role to play.
The G20, as a coalition of the world’s largest economies, is uniquely positioned to promote the re-nesting of humanity through targeted policies, initiatives, and frameworks that encourage a return to collective and sustainable living.
Here are several ways G20 policymakers can contribute to this transformative vision:
- Ensure that All Children are Provided with an Evolved Nest
The first two thousand days of life are crucial for shaping lifelong health, resilience, and social well-being. Early life experiences often determine whether individuals feel secure and connected or isolated and vulnerable — impacting how they engage with other members of society and their surrounding environment throughout the rest of their lives.
The G20 can expand certain efforts such as the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty to prioritize comprehensive child development needs conducive with their evolved nest, not just immediate survival needs. This includes supporting families with essential resources — parental leave, housing, nutrition, healthcare, and income — to provide nurturing care during these critical years.
By integrating early childhood development into global policy, the G20 is in the perfect forum to foster healthier, more resilient societies and drive sustainable, inclusive growth in the long term.
- Measure and Monitor Connectedness and Its Supports
The G20 could establish metrics to measure (a) social connectedness such as the Berkman-Syme Social Network Index, (b) spiritual connectedness such as the Watts Connectedness Scale, and (c) ecological connectedness such as the Connectedness to Nature Scale or the Nature Relatedness Scale. These measures could include indices of community engagement, local resource use, and environmental stewardship. By integrating these metrics into policy evaluations, G20 nations could assess the social and environmental impacts of their economic and development strategies at a multilevel scale.
For instance, policies promoting urbanization or large-scale infrastructure projects could be evaluated not only by GDP growth but by their impact on community cohesion and ecological health. Such measures would align economic priorities with the principles of re-nesting, encouraging development that enhances rather than undermines human and environmental well-being.
- Fund Educational Initiatives that Promote Ecocentrism
Education is essential for cultivating the values needed to reconnect humanity with Nature. The G20 can leverage existing initiatives, such as the Global Partnership for Education, to support curricula that emphasize sustainable living, environmental stewardship, and partnership with the natural world.
This can be achieved by (1) investing in sustainability education and expanding global education funds to develop programs that teach ecological responsibility and sustainable practices; (2) integrating Indigenous knowledge into curricula by partnering with local Indigenous communities to incorporate Traditional Ecological Knowledge into modern education systems; and (3) supporting community-based learning by funding local schools and educational initiatives that promote hands-on, place-based learning about environmental care and community resilience.
By aligning educational investments with sustainability goals, the G20 can empower future generations to build more ecologically responsible and interconnected societies.
- Invest in Localized Community Projects
The G20 can expand support through existing frameworks like the G20 Infrastructure Working Group to fund community-based projects that encourage sustainability and social cohesion at local levels. Investments could target Nature-sensitive farming practices, cooperative housing, and Indigenous-led healing initiatives, such as ecotherapy, to address food security, affordable housing, and mental health issues all-in-one.
By integrating community-driven solutions into infrastructure and development strategies, the G20 can strengthen local resilience while advancing global sustainability goals.
- Adopt and Promote Ecospirituality
Ecospirituality—the profound connection between humans and the natural world—shaped human cultures for 95–99% of our evolutionary history and was a defining feature of pre-modern life. The G20 can strengthen sustainability efforts by integrating ecospiritual principles into policy frameworks. This includes recognizing Nature’s intrinsic value, supporting Indigenous ecological stewardship, promoting ecospiritual development, and protecting sacred natural sites.
These actions would honor cultural and spiritual traditions while also nurturing a global ethos of respect for Life’s interdependence and personhood. By embracing ecospirituality, the G20 can inspire policies that shift from exploitation to stewardship, making environmental action a shared moral imperative.
- Integrate Elinor Ostrom’s Core Design Principles
The G20 is in a prime position to embed Ostrom’s Nobel-Prizing winning principles for managing common-pool resources into international agreements and developmental programs. These principles — e.g. emphasizing equity, shared responsibility, and a strong communal identity — align with the evolutionary roots of human cooperation and are naturally expressed in most traditional Indigenous societies. By adopting these principles, G20 nations can ensure that policies promote sustainable and inclusive practices at every level of society, thereby aligning with our evolved nature as a social and communal species.
Trade policies must be reformed to account for carbon emissions and other environmental damages as integral costs, helping to prevent the Tragedy of the Commons writ large. This shift would encourage a stronger focus on localizing the production of food and household goods while promoting self-governance and self-sustenance.
A Global Vision Rooted in Local Action
Critics often claim that climate change demands global solutions, not localized efforts. But this framing creates a false dichotomy. As David Sloan Wilson’s Multilevel Selection Theory highlights, successful systems function at multiple levels of organization—individuals, societies, and even entire ecosystems.
Local efforts to reconnect people with each other and the land can spark broader social movements, much like grassroots initiatives have catalyzed systemic change throughout history.
The G20 is uniquely positioned to amplify and support localization efforts, creating a global framework that advances community, equity, and sustainability above all. By creating policies that align with our “evolved nest” — that is, a return to the practices that promote deep social and ecological connections between humans and the rest of Life — into its policy agendas, the G20 is better suited to address the underlying causes of climate change while promoting a more resilient and interconnected world.
The G20 has both a responsibility and a critical opportunity to guide humanity toward a more sustainable future through policies grounded in the latest science of human nature and behavior. We must heed the timeless truth rooted in Earth’s oldest social process — evolution: when we harm Nature, we inevitably harm ourselves.
Mitchell Ryan Distin, Ph.D., is an evolutionary biologist, writer, research fellow at Prosocial World, and CEO of The New People Foundation, a new 501-3(c) nonprofit which advocates for integrating evolutionary principles and Indigenous wisdom into modern social and environmental solutions. He also runs the blog, WalkingTheRedRoad.Blog. You can contact him at Mitchell.Distin@prosocial.world.
Darcia Narvaez, Ph.D., is professor emerita at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana, USA). Her transdisciplinary scholarship addresses child development, human morality and flourishing. She is co-author of “The Evolved Nest: Nature’s Way of Raising Children and Creating Connected Communities” and of “Restoring the Kinship Worldview.” She hosts the nonprofit initiative, EvolvedNest.org.
Featured image: President Cyril Ramaphosa speaking following the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting held in Johannesburg in February 2025. Photo credit: GCIS