Carl Sagan’s Refinement

Decades after the introduction of the Kardashev scale, Carl Sagan expanded on it to allow for decimal values. Based on his calculations, humanity today is at about 0.72 — not quite yet a planetary civilization, but well on its way.

Sagan estimated that it may take humanity another 100-200 years to reach TYPE I status. This all depends on technological progress and social stability.

Defining a Planetary Civilization

As difficult as it may be to define a concept that hasn’t yet been reached, it’s important to do so. Without a clear definition of what a planetary civilization is, how can we know that we have reached it?

A planetary civilization has five main characteristics:

1. Energy Mastery — This implies that humanity has full use of all the energies available on the planet and that these energies are harnessed and distributed in a sustainable way. We are likely reliant on solar, fusion, geothermal and tidal energy sources and have advanced energy storage capabilities. We no longer depend on fossil fuels or inefficient systems for energy.
2. Global Infrastructure — Planet-wide, integrated logistics systems that connect every corner of the globe. This means that the whole world is connected through unified power grids, communication networks and transport systems. Humanity becomes interconnected.
3. Environmental Control — Harnessing the ability to manage climate systems in order to prevent ecological collapse. This implies stabilizing climate, controlling weather patterns and managing resources sustainably. It’s having the technologies that restore ecosystems with the greatest good of all at the forefront of planetary management.
4. Planetary Governance — This means coordinated planetary decision making. Having a cooperative political structure that is capable of making decisions in the highest and best interest of the planet as a whole. This is not necessarily a single government, but rather a system that acts collectively on global issues. It implies having a planetary defence system in place to protect against existential threats such as asteroids, pandemics, and super-volcanoes.
5. Cultural Integration — Humanity seeing itself as one species and having a shared planetary identity, as “Earthlings”, while preserving cultural diversity. Cooperation is prioritized over nationalism and divide.

In essence, we reach a planetary civilization the moment humanity evolves from being a fragmented collection of nations and becomes a cohesive planetary organism.

Where Humanity Stands Today

In 2025, we are still at a TYPE 0 civilization. We are just about 72% of the way to a TYPE I planetary civilization.

Our Current Snapshot

Currently, humans use approximately 18 terawatts of energy annually. As a reference point, the energy that the sun provides planet Earth with each year is about 174,000 terawatts. It’s plain to see that we are barely scratching the surface of Earth’s potential energetic supply. And this is renewable energy!

The Progress We’ve Made

Firstly, the internet has connected the world and technologies continue to evolve and improve at an astounding rate. Much of the planet is already connected to this global communication grid.

Secondly, renewable energies are rapidly growing, with solar and wind energies being less costly than fossil fuels in many places.

Additionally, international cooperation exists in the field of science. Examples of this include CERN and the International Space Station.

Last, but not least, planetary awareness is growing and is seen emerging through climate activism, environmental movements and global humanitarianism.

What’s Holding Us Back?

1. We are currently dependent on fossil fuels. We must harness new, renewable sources of energy to free ourselves from this dependency.
2. Our sense of nationalism creates political divide.
3. Resources are not distributed equitably, leaving some nations with excess that goes to waste while others struggle.
4. We are faced with environmental crises faster than we can find solutions to address them.
5. There are numerous technological gaps that exist in energy storage, AI management and planetary defence.

The key takeaway here is that we are advancing, but we are doing so unevenly and that is slowing down our progress.

The Path to Becoming a Planetary Civilization

Achieving planetary civilization status will require breakthroughs in three foundational areas:

1. Energy Transition

This requires us to scale up renewable energies to meet the global demand. We need to double down on developing fusion energy, a nearly limitless and clean source of energy, before phasing out less efficient, non-renewable energies like fossil fuels.

We must also shift from local to global energy distribution systems which requires us to create a global smart grid to ensure efficient world wide energy distribution.

2. Planetary Governance

Humanity needs to build stronger global institutions that can manage global trade, shared interest and destiny, manage crises and advocate for the greatest good of all.

We must implement systems that allow us to coordinate efforts to defend our planetary civilization should the need arise. This includes health, climate or cyber threats that can destabilize or debilitate our growth and evolution.

Collaborative space exploration and colonization efforts become the norm and an integral part of our planet wide society.

3. Cultural Transformation

To shift into a new way of being, we must first shift into a new way of thinking. It starts with educating new generations, and older ones, on planetary identity and responsibility. We are moving from an “us vs. them” mindset to a planetary consciousness and the understanding that we are all one.

As we begin to foster empathy and cooperation across borders, we also move away from resource extraction and toward regeneration and sustainability. This cultural shift is crucial to our evolution into a planetary civilization.

Why Does Becoming a Planetary Civilization Matter?

Here are four main reasons we, as a species, want to evolve towards a planetary civilization:

1. Survival of the Species — As one civilization, we can better prepare and be better equipped to defend our species and planet against potential threats such as asteroids, pandemics and climate collapse.
2. Abundance and Prosperity — Our planetary civilization will provide us with clean, limitless energy and equitable access to resources.
3. Gateway to the Stars — Becoming a TYPE II civilization (stellar) requires us to first master TYPE I. Space exploration, colonization and interstellar travel all become the next step.
4. A New Human Identity — A full shift from fragmented tribalism to planetary unity.

Humanity’s Next Stage of Evolution

A planetary civilization is humanity’s next great evolutionary step — technologically, socially and spiritually. It’s the point where we stop being a fragile and divided collection of nations and start being one species, united with our planet. It represents maturity. Where we learn to balance progress with sustainability, unity with diversity and ambition with responsibility.

We are not there yet…

But, with every investment we make in clean energy, every time we act in global cooperation and every vision we hold of a united humanity, we move closer to making OUR planetary civilization OUR reality.

Now that we’ve explored what a planetary civilization is, the real question we need to ask is: Will we choose to become one?