How to resolve the inherent contradictions, the cognitive dissonance, that continues to bedevil our climate negotiations, a quarter-century on? Can we achieve a workable global consensus on value, agency, and criteria? But ultimately the answer, if there is to be one, lies in new spiritual insight – a paradigmatic change in human self-perception. The initiatives taken in recent years by religious leaders of all faiths are becoming the beacon. If they are emulated by the faithful, and beyond to civil society, to the market and to political leadership, it may reduce the cognitive dissonance we still encounter in this epic struggle, spawning a genuine consensus over how to live on planet Earth. If this were to occur, we might gain a new understanding on what is of intrinsic worth, who is empowered to take legitimate decisions on all our behalf, and what criteria we adopt for determining policy.
