Tim Christophersen: We're in a Toxic Relationship with Nature

Tim Christophersen: We're in a Toxic Relationship with Nature

From Beyond the Canopy by OpenForests

November 20, 2025 · 56 min · Episode 10

About this episode

Tim Christophersen discusses the climate crisis as a relationship crisis with nature and shares insights from his book on ecosystem restoration.

Welcome to Beyond the Canopy — the podcast by OpenForests, where nature takes center stage. In this episode, host Alexander talks with Tim Christophersen, Vice President of Climate Action at Salesforce and former UN Environment Expert, about his groundbreaking book "Generation Restoration: How to Fix Our Relationship with Mother Nature". Tim, a key architect of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, shares his journey from UN diplomat to corporate climate leader. Discover why he argues the climate crisis is fundamentally a relationship crisis with nature, and how we can cultivate "conditional optimism" to drive action. This is essential listening for anyone interested in building a more resilient relationship with the planet.

People in this episode

Host: Alexander

Guest: Tim Christophersen

Topics covered

  • climate action
  • ecosystem restoration
  • relationship with nature
  • corporate climate leadership
  • optimism in climate action

Keywords

  • climate crisis
  • nature
  • ecosystem restoration
  • optimism
  • sustainability
  • Salesforce
  • UN

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Salesforce, UN, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Books & works: Generation Restoration: How to Fix Our Relationship with Mother Nature

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