Paula Caballero at GLF Bonn 2019 | Rare

On June 22, 2019, Rare Managing Director of Climate & Water, Paula Caballero, spoke before the Global Landscapes Forum in Bonn, Germany during a session on the power of narratives to propel change. Caballero, a driving force behind the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), shared her experience shifting the global development narrative from one that divided the world into the haves and have-nots, to a unifying narrative in which all nations and constituencies share responsibility in building a more sustainable world.

And just as our global challenges required a new narrative, they also demand a new strategy — one that recognizes that problems caused by human behavior requires behavior-centered solutions. Caballero spoke about Rare’s work to enhance the traditional environmental toolkit with our growing understanding of what motivates people’s behavior and decision-making.

“For me, changing the narrative is not about what is possible but relentlessly fighting for what is needed,” said Caballero. “Move beyond the known solutions to figuring out how to make them happen. Be radical. Shape narratives that completely reinvent what is acceptable. Only so will nature and people thrive — now and tomorrow.”