The article considers a complex of global problems of modernity that pose a threat to the near future of mankind. It is noted that the end of the twentieth century was marked by the decline and extinction of environmental protests, the period of active struggle for the improvement of the Planet ended. The highest point of such protests can be considered the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in 1992 at the level of heads of state and government. Everything that was said and adopted at the conference about environmental danger has not lost its relevance today, and in some areas the situation has become significantly aggravated and aggravated. This is especially true for industrial development, the careful conservation of natural nonrenewable resources, and the understanding of the fact that the restorative abilities of nature are not unlimited. In the last decade, the arms race again prevailed, samples of new equipment are being created on a fundamentally new technological basis, and environmental costs are not always taken into account. The dismantled Chernobyl nuclear power plant has stood as a menacing reminder of human recklessness for almost four decades. In the period of modern geopolitical squabbles, the struggle for resources has escalated to the limit, and the environmental factor becomes a bargaining chip, but humanity does not solve the problems of cleansing the natural environment for life and development. The first quarter of the XXI century in the world is characterized by global instability. There is exponential population growth, lack of natural resources and living space, environmental pollution, the emergence of previously unknown diseases such as Covid-19, the gap between rich and poor is widening, the vast majority of people lack financial resources, etc. In these emergency conditions points of growth of a new civilization are crystallizing, where the main challenge is clearly becoming a new vision of the role of the natural environment in the life of mankind. A strategy of sufficient development is proposed, where the paths of a new vector of social and economic prospects are outlined on the basis of its coordination with the laws of biosphere evolution, the patterns of conservation of natural ecosystems and the biosphere as a whole are revealed, the expediency of developing environmentally friendly technologies and establishing a new humanism as a necessary condition for achieving a secure future is indicated.