In addition to appreciating the miracles of life, it is natural to feel an urge to "give back." We'd like to improve the world around us and increase the joys others find; as has been done for us.
Working with actual people on real, achievable goals is one option, but tends to be grubby, and difficult, and involve people.
Much easier to address grandiose, abstract problems where your efforts can never be accurately judged. Often they needn't be tangible in any way, and the articulated intent is "good enough" for fund raising purposes.
Given there seems to be so much discontent with the state of the planet as it currently is, we've focused our early efforts on various geo-engineering ideas. After all, we are a tool using species, who have risen tot he heights we now occupy through modification of our world to some state we found better. What worked before should work again.
Step one: We wrap the planet in paper.