Next Nature: Engineering the Biosphere

Roots of Progress Institute • Feb 04, 2026

Audio Brief

Show transcript

This episode explores the provocative argument from Planetary VC Founder Ramez Naam that humanity has passed the point where reducing carbon emissions alone can save critical ecosystems like coral reefs. There are three key takeaways from this presentation. First, while clean technology has made unprecedented progress, it is insufficient to prevent crossing major biodiversity tipping points. Second, the concept of wild nature is obsolete, necessitating a shift toward active planetary gardening. Third, we must urgently deploy assisted evolution and genetic engineering to help species survive a hotter world. Despite the rapid acceleration of clean energy, the climate math remains unforgiving. Naam highlights a paradox of progress where solar costs have plummeted and clean investment now doubles that of fossil fuels, yet global heating continues to accelerate due to accumulated carbon. Humanity has successfully averted the existential threat of six degrees of warming, but we are locked into a trajectory of roughly two and a half degrees. This shift means we have missed the window to save the most temperature-sensitive ecosystems through emissions mitigation alone. This reality demands a fundamental psychological shift regarding conservation. Naam argues that we must abandon the romantic notion of pristine wilderness because human activity has already altered every biome on Earth. The planet is effectively a managed garden, and passive protection is no longer a viable strategy. Instead, stewardship now requires active engineering. This is most urgent for coral reefs, which act as the canary in the coal mine for climate collapse. Shallow-water corals are dying now, unable to survive the bleaching events predicted at even one and a half degrees of warming. To address this, the proposed solution is a controversial three-pronged strategy involving building, engineering, and adapting. While continuing to build clean infrastructure is essential, we must also investigate geo-engineering to cool the planet and, crucially, embrace assisted evolution. This involves moving heat-tolerant species to vulnerable areas or using CRISPR technology to edit genomes for thermal resilience. The goal is no longer to preserve nature exactly as it was, but to actively modify ecosystems so they can withstand the inevitable heat of the Anthropocene. Success in the twenty-first century ultimately depends on accepting that high-tech intervention is now a prerequisite for ecological survival.

Episode Overview

This presentation by Ramez Naam, Founder of Planetary VC, argues that humanity has passed the point where reducing carbon emissions alone is sufficient to save critical ecosystems like coral reefs.
The narrative moves from an optimistic review of clean technology progress (solar, wind, EVs) to the sobering reality that climate warming is accelerating and tipping points for biodiversity are already being crossed.
It culminates in a controversial but necessary proposal: we must actively engineer nature through assisted evolution and genetic modification to ensure species survival in the Anthropocene.

Key Concepts

The Paradox of Progress vs. Insufficiency: While clean technology deployment has exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts—with solar costs plummeting and clean energy investment doubling fossil fuels—it is not happening fast enough to prevent crossing the 1.5°C warming threshold. We have transitioned from an existential threat to civilization (6°C warming) to a "manageable" but still destructive trajectory (~2.5°C warming).
The Acceleration of Warming: Global heating is not linear; it is accelerating because carbon accumulates in the atmosphere faster than it dissipates. Even if emissions peak soon, the accumulated carbon ensures continued warming, meaning we have likely already missed the window to save the most temperature-sensitive ecosystems through mitigation alone.
The "Rambunctious Garden" Reality: We must abandon the concept of "wild" nature. Every ecosystem on Earth has been altered by human activity. Therefore, the entire planet is effectively a managed garden, and humanity must shift its mindset from passive protection to active stewardship and engineering.
Coral Reefs as the Immediate Casualty: Coral reefs act as the canary in the coal mine for climate tipping points. Unlike ice sheets which may take centuries to collapse, corals are dying now. Most shallow-water corals cannot survive the bleaching events predicted at 1.5°C warming, a threshold we are currently crossing.
Three-Pronged Strategy for Survival: To navigate the coming century, humanity must pursue three simultaneous paths:
1. Build: Continue the rapid deployment of clean infrastructure (grids, nuclear, solar).
2. Engineer: Investigate geo-engineering solutions like Solar Radiation Management (SRM) to cool the planet.
3. Adapt: Actively modify ecosystems to survive higher temperatures, specifically through assisted evolution and genetic editing.

Quotes

At 1:42 - "On climate change, because of all the progress we've made on cleantech, we are no longer totally fucked. But we're not unfucked either." - Framing the current state of climate progress as a massive success that is simultaneously insufficient to prevent significant damage.
At 7:42 - "Because of the amount we've changed the biosphere, nothing is actually wild on planet Earth anymore. Everything exists in a biome that we've changed. All of the planet is our garden. And it's up to us to decide if we want that garden to keep on thriving." - Explaining the philosophical shift required to accept active intervention in nature.
At 14:02 - "The difference is in their genetics... So what can we possibly do to take advantage of this fact that there are some coral species and some symbiont species in particular that actually thrive [in heat]? ... If you really want to optimize for scalability and speed, we probably need to go further and directly gene edit these species." - Highlighting the specific scientific mechanism (genetic variance in heat tolerance) that makes engineered evolution a viable solution.

Takeaways

Shift your mental model of conservation from "preservation" to "active management." attempting to keep ecosystems exactly as they were is no longer viable; the goal must be helping them adapt to new thermal realities.
Focus attention and resources on "Assisted Gene Flow" and "Directed Evolution" as critical tools for biodiversity. This involves moving heat-tolerant species to vulnerable areas or selectively breeding resilience in labs.
Accept that successful environmental stewardship in the 21st century will likely require controversial interventions, such as using CRISPR to edit coral genomes or their symbionts to survive heat waves that traditional restoration methods cannot withstand.

Audio Brief

Episode Overview

Key Concepts

Quotes

Takeaways

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