India, Nov. 29 -- In today's geopolitical landscape, as nations assess the impact of trade tariffs worldwide, we often think of taxes on goods and services crossing borders. However, humanity faces other, much more serious tariffs: Nature's TARIFFs. Unlike trade tariffs, these are not negotiable, avoidable, or reversible once fully imposed. They do not respect borders. The most important question we must ask ourselves is: do we see Nature's TARIFFs as a crisis or an opportunity to change how we produce, consume, manage our energy, food, water, and waste systems, and connect to overall ecosystem sustainability?

This is becoming clearer from the messages emerging from discussions held at COP 30 in Belem. There can be no climate justice wit...