‘Pre-Polycrisis’ Hazard Mitigation

Nick King argues that industrial civilization has created many persistent and severe hazards (such as nuclear waste, methane leaking hydrocarbon infrastructure, contaminated sites, landfills, and deforested land), polycrises in the near future may significantly constrict humanity’s ability to manage these hazards, and therefore societies should prioritize long-term remedial actions now, while they still have the ability to do so. “The Pre-Polycrisis Hazard Mitigation concept proposed here therefore suggests that current/near-future societies have a duty to address these legacies as expediently as possible (whilst the capabilities are still available) to alleviate harms to future societies subject to polycrisis disruption.”