Thinking in Ecosystems: From Climate to Planetary Resilience Tech
The article advocates shifting from narrow climate-focused thinking to a broader "planetary resilience" approach, considering interconnected systems like biodiversity, water cycles, and soil health. It applies ecosystem thinking—where interventions account for ripple effects across subsystems—to technology and policy, aiming to build systemic resilience.
Background
- Yanir Seroussi is an AI and data science veteran (formerly at Google, Amazon, and various startups) who now writes about tech, climate, and long-term strategy.
- This piece introduces "planetary resilience tech"—a concept broader than climate tech: it covers any technology that helps human civilisation withstand shocks (pandemics, wars, AI risks, resource collapse) while keeping Earth’s systems stable.
- The author argues the climate-tech movement's framing is too narrow; "resilience" includes mitigation (stopping harm) and adaptation (living with harm), and should incorporate AI safety, biosecurity, geoengineering, and governance tools.
- The essay reflects a growing shift in Silicon Valley and effective-altruism-adjacent circles: moving from single-issue tech optimism (fix CO₂, fix everything) toward "ecosystem thinking", where interventions interact and side effects matter as much as the headline goal.