Vaccines, fertilisers, solar cells or condoms? Is it possible to invent something that is only good for the planet and humanity?
What would you like to have invented?
We asked each other that question recently. And while it's a classic question for an inventor, it's harder to answer than ever.
Great, world-changing inventions like vaccines or fertilisers would be the classic answer - inventions that have each saved millions of lives.
The reason it has become more difficult to answer unequivocally is that today we no longer only look at the positive impact, but also at the planetary boundaries. In this light, almost all inventions also come with a downside. Not least the big ones that create big changes. The growth they create leads to a (greater) overconsumption of the earth's resources; artificial fertilisers even do this during production, which requires a huge amount of energy.
Facts: Planetary boundaries
The concept of planetary boundaries describes the ecological framework that humanity must stay within to maintain Earth's stability and resilience.
Scientists have identified nine key limits: Climate change, Biodiversity loss, Land use change, Biogeochemical cycles, Freshwater use, Ocean acidification, Atmospheric aerosols, Stratospheric ozone layer and New substances and chemical pollution. When these limits are exceeded, we risk triggering irreversible changes in Earth's systems that could threaten the livelihoods of people and nature.
The concept was introduced by the Stockholm Resilience Centre in 2009 under the leadership of Swedish environmental scientist Johan Rockström. The latest update from 2023 shows that humanity has already exceeded six of the nine limits.
There's always a hair in the soup
But what is the good answer?
Solar cells create green energy - but require rare earth elements.
Artificial intelligence and big language models are taking the world by storm - but require huge amounts of power.
Production technologies are becoming more efficient all the time - but this makes us consume more.
If you have to point to something that has made a big difference without using a lot of resources, it has to be the condom. Or more abstractly: the invention of ideas like the alphabet.
But in reality, the good answer is probably that it's close to impossible to invent something where you can't find a hair or two in soups if you really look.
Can we develop a better future?
A planetarily sustainable future will probably require us all to scale back our consumption and give up something. And where does that leave us inventors and the opportunity to create a new and better future through development?
For us, the conclusion so far is that we need to be very conscious of what we want to contribute to the world. We must strive for our inventions to at least create a positive impact on the world here and now - and preferably within a framework that in its lifetime pulls us towards a future within planetary boundaries.
Whether or not we can actually live up to the goal is something we are humble about. That's why in the coming weeks we'll be zooming in on some of our inventions to take a closer look at their impact.