Humanity at a crossroads: can stories inspire where data has not?

Setting the scene: a trajectory of destruction

Humanity is on a path of destruction, pushing the biosphere—and our shared fate with it—toward collapse. The latest Living Planet Report reveals an average 73% decline in wildlife populations since 1970, and 2024 is projected to be the warmest year on record, surpassing the critical 1.5°C threshold. Climate-related natural hazards are intensifying in both frequency and severity, threatening the stability of human life on Earth.
Despite overwhelming evidence, data alone has failed to inspire the urgent societal transformation needed to avert disaster. Against this grim backdrop, human activities largely continue on the same destructive course.

The transformative power of stories

Can stories succeed where data has not? This question was explored at the latest Oxford Ministry for the Future event, where NbSI’s director Prof Nathalie Seddon joined award-winning author Richard Powers and fellow academics to discuss how storytelling can drive meaningful change.

Through novels like The Overstory and Playground, Richard Powers challenges the notion of human exceptionalism—the belief that humans are unique and superior to all other forms of life. He highlights intelligence and creativity across the natural and technological worlds, from the playful behaviours of marine animals to the processing power of artificial intelligence. By dismantling this hierarchy, Powers also confronts anthropocentrism—the belief that humans are the central and most important entities on the planet—a worldview many consider a root cause of ecological destruction.

The panel emphasised that stories play a pivotal role in shaping cultural change. Powers noted that societal tipping points often occur more quickly than anticipated and that narratives in fiction, TV shows, and films have historically catalysed transformative movements, from civil rights to same-sex marriage rights.

To combat the intertwined crises of climate and nature, Powers suggested that humanity needs stories challenging destructive anthropocentric narratives and illustrating our interdependence with the natural world:

“A huge variety of stories that make it increasingly obvious that our fate is not a separate variable in a standalone equation, but inherently part of these larger webs of reciprocity and interdependence.”

These stories can also highlight how nature-based solutions offer transformative pathways to a safer future for both human and more-than-human life.

Stories as bridges: embracing diverse knowledge systems

Transformation begins with recognising our interconnectedness with all life, Prof Nathalie Seddon noted, referencing the shared belief in the web of life found in Eastern philosophies, Indigenous worldviews, and Western science:

“My training as an ecologist taught me that we are all part of a rich, dynamically interacting web of life, and my training as an evolutionary biologist taught me that we are all kin.”

The importance of embracing diverse knowledge systems is also central to Powers’ Playground. This perspective gained global recognition at recent UN Biodiversity and Climate Conferences through new structures designed to strengthen Indigenous leadership in global environmental decision-making.

Referencing a seminal essay that inspired The Overstory, Powers posed a critical question:

“Who are we kin with? And what should our legal system give standing to?”

Storytelling can expand our sense of kinship, complementing scientific understanding while redefining what justice means for the planet.

Radical collaboration and systemic change

The panel stressed the need for multiple, interdisciplinary solutions. As Cameron Hepburn pointed out, the climate-nature crisis is not just technological but also social and psychological, requiring radical collaboration across science, art, economics, and more.

Powers illustrated this through a character in Playground who learns to balance scientific rigour with an intuitive sense of the world. He suggested that science and spirituality are complementary forces that must guide one another:

“To see them as necessary correctives and components of one another is to move from the finite game—whose purpose is to win—to the infinite game—whose purpose is to continue the play.”

Leaving the current system behind

The panel acknowledged the tension between reforming the current system and envisioning new models. As Annette Mikes observed, some believe we can achieve transformation within capitalism’s existing structure. Powers responded:

“Capitalism must evolve into a new species that is durable and fit for the catastrophic changes it has unleashed upon the world. It will not look like it looks now.”

He spoke of shifting from a mindset of accumulation to one of attention and presence, even in the face of environmental crises:

“Because the future is not a binary between failure and success… everything you do moves the needle in some way.”

Addressing institutional inertia, panellists discussed the dual challenge of working within existing structures while imagining entirely new systems. Pablo Mukherjee highlighted that storytelling can reshape social relations, driving systemic change.

In the Q&A session, Powers warned of the dangers of harmful narratives:

“We’ve radically changed the way stories are told, but our institutions have not caught up to that structural difference.” He critiqued unregulated social media platforms, where sensationalism-driven stories spread rapidly, emphasising the urgent need for responsible storytelling in the digital age. Through stories, we can reshape collective consciousness, inspire action, and imagine a future where humanity thrives as part of nature—not apart from it.

Watch the full conversation at the Oxford Ministry for the Future