This interview with Dr. Peter Carter of the Climate Emergency Institute is going viral! People appreciate his honest views of what's happened at the UN Conference of the Parties (COP) 25 in Madrid, Spain, which wrapped up on Friday, December 13, 2019.
It
was 10 years ago that I sent out this heartfelt request to all the
women who were going to attend the Copenhagen climate talks. Today, I
send it again, to all the women, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts,
nieces and godmothers who are attending the climate talks in Madrid, Spain
(COP25). And to all the mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces and
godmothers of all the men who will be attending the climate talks in Madrid: Please ... speak up for all the children, of all species!
A request to all women attending the climate talks
PLEASE WEAR BRIGHT COLOURS!Please
inject some life into the talks — wear the colours of flowers and
forests and sunsets and fresh fruit and children's smiles.
BE A MOTHER OR A GRANDMOTHER FIRST. Believe
in your power! The "powers that be" need to hear that all the mothers
of the world want what's best for the children of all species. Please
represent all the mothers and grandmothers around the globe. Even if you
don't have your own biological or adopted children, you are still a
mother of all the children, everywhere. Speak up for them.
REMEMBER THAT CLIMATE CHANGE KNOWS NO BORDERS.Try
to forget that you're in Madrid, Spain representing your own country.
Think of the planet as one nation, under one atmosphere that knows no
boundaries. Speak for all human beings, as well as the rest of nature,
which has no seat and no voice at the talks.
LET COMPASSION BE YOUR COMPASS. Remember
that prosperity and a thriving economy are impossible if the natural
environment is ailing. We must get our priorities right! If a decision
doesn't have the Earth and the children's future at heart, then that
decision is not a compassionate one.
CALL FOR ZERO CARBON ALONG WITH SOME URGENCY IN ACHIEVING IT. Try
to rev up the imaginations of world leaders and negotiators of all ilks
(even the heartless, uncreative ones). Help them envision the Golden
Age of Renewable Energy that we should be quickly heading into.
LET COURAGE GUIDE YOU. Women
are courageous in so many — often unsung — ways. Courage in Madrid,
though it won't be easy, will be simple. What a privileged position you
are in! Please take advantage of it and be brave enough to speak up for
all those who have so little — now and in the future. Be the peaceful
warriors who safeguard the children.
When I read Antonia Paquin's "short rant" this morning, I asked her right away if I could post it here for you. Antonia is a young friend nearby who gives her life's energy to ensuring a future for us all. Much love to you, Antonia, with thanks for sharing this with my readers!
Antonia Paquin, in Victoria (with thanks to Creatively United)
A Short Rant about LOVE, and the CLIMATE
Sometimes I find myself disconnecting from the word "climate," because it seems obscure and somewhat nebulous unless you're a scientist who studies this stuff.
I've found the following to be helpful in bringing "climate" into my immediate experience:
Notice the breath you just took ... now the one you are about to take. You are taking climate into your body.
Look outside, look around you, really LOOK, noticing the trees, the sky, the soil. You are looking at the climate.
Feel your heartbeat ... touch your fingers to your wrist, or neck to feel your pulse, or just feel your body moving ever-so-slightly by your heart beating. You are a living creature, interacting with your surroundings. We are also climate.
Remember the Earth is extremely resilient. She knows how to heal herself. Humans are also resilient. We can adapt to change. Though the world feels grim right now, especially with this messy [Canadian federal] election, we are inevitably forced to call into question the major systemic failings that have led us to where we are, which is a good thing!
We are being collectively called to question the ideologies, and the political and economic systems that led us into this mess, the colonial way: "Dominate people, dominate land, YOU SHALL HAVE NO HEART."
This is the movement to end all movements.
We are now being called to decolonize the crap out of ourselves and remember who the hell we are as humans.
Could it be that humans aren't somehow above the natural world?
Could it be that we don't have the right to pillage and rape the Earth?
Could it be that humans are actually inextricably ~connected~ to the Earth?? WOW! You don't say?
David Suzuki, our beloved national man of science, is preaching this message loud and clear. Time to wake up and smell the soil, friends!
Here's how we "fix the climate":
Tune into what Indigenous land defenders and water protectors have been saying for hundreds of years. Support these movements with your money, time, energy. Uplift voices of black and indigenous folks, people of colour.
Breathe deep, ground yourself in gentleness and self-compassion so that you feel safe. Then take time to call into question your own belief systems, assumptions, attitudes. We can all do this together.
Have "adventure conversations" with others. Bring up things like climate, the human condition, hope, guilt, fear, grief, love.
Vulnerability is powerful. Connect deeply with your fellow humans, know that they probably have similar fears and doubts that you have, and when we share ... it can be so healing.
Cry and cry and cry, then laugh. It's okay to feel like a mess. [This is my favourite line! JJ]
Spend time in nature, FOREST BATHING, to remember that Earth is magical and resilient. Every single cell in your body is made of the Earth. The trees and rocks and rivers are your kin.
In so many ways you are also magical and resilient. Often our minds forget this, but somehow our hearts can never fully forget this.
Okay, my rant is over.
Thank you. I love you.
*****
And our thanks and love to YOU, Antonia, for these wonderful calls to reconnect ourselves with our first mother.
Here's another song to share far and wide, written by 12-year-old Simeon and his mom.
SOS from the Kids
This is an SOS from the kids All the grown ups take note of this. We’re finding our voice, calling you out You can’t leave the world in fire and drought. This is an SOS from the kids.
Please change the story Re-write the plot This beautiful Earth cannot be lost Stop hurting our planet Like you don’t care There’s only one world For us to share
This is an SOS from the kids All the grown ups take note of this. Wake up and see that you must make a change The riches you seek will all be washed away This is an SOS from the kids.
Please change the story Re-write the plot This beautiful Earth cannot be lost Stop hurting our planet like you don’t care There’s only one world For us to share
Don't listen to the fat cats, they only want their cream Always needing oil for feeding their machines We must care about the animals; care about the trees, I'll need help from you, you'll get help from me!
Please change the story Re-write the plot This beautiful Earth cannot be lost Stop hurting our planet, like you don’t care There’s only one world, for us to share.
This is an SOS from the kids You can do better than this.
As mentioned recently, I find it impossible to write a blog post every Sunday these days. Sorry about that. It's just too, well, negative. (I sometimes laugh that I once lost a friend because, as she put it, I was too positive!) Today, I'll share with you (with his permission) the words of an activist friend who agreed with my take on the tagline ("subtitle") of a new climate change group's proposed banner. I was glad to discover that I'm not alone in thinking we have got to stop candy-coating what's happening to this precious planet and its 8 million species of inhabitants (not including viruses and bacteria). Here's the original tagline: "Fighting for Our Children's Future"
Here are the complaints about it, paraphrased:
a bit negative
the word "fighting" has negative connotations
it can conjure up battling, arguing, combating
am similarly uncomfortable with "fighting"
is not our strength that we were not fighting, but rather leading, standing up, organizing, etc.?
what about "Standing up for our children's future"?
how about a positive word with similar strength (working? acting? leading? organizing? marching?)
if we see ourselves working with other stakeholders, saying "we are fighting" might not be helpful
the language of “fighting” will alienate a lot of folks, especially if our intent is to reach out and engage, motivate and inspire others to participate and get active
if you are fighting, it is a fight against someone
many folks who work in the resource extraction business care about their kids; let's not fight against them, let's offer a vision of the future that they can get behind
just drop the "fighting" and have "For Our Children’s Future" ... it's more inclusive
I was fascinated (if a little alarmed) and responded: "It's a fight. A fight not unlike a world war. A fight to safeguard the future for all living things, especially your children. It's a fight. Be proud warriors."
My friend privately said (paraphrasing), "Well put, Julie! I wish folks would stop soft-pedalling human and
species extinction. Perhaps to get Canadians on the same page, they need to see more graphically that children around the world
are suffering NOW." But then proud papa and climate change activist extraordinaire, Howard Breen, chimed in (printed here with his permission):
Such truly good gentle beings we all are. We are loving parents who would do almost anything for our dearest. I am unequivocally convinced of that.
But things have seriously fundamentally changed. The science couldn't be clearer. There is nothing that is even remotely existentially the same in the history of humankind, except the prospect of nuclear winter or a bioterror pandemic. There are more 65 MILLION displaced in refugee camps around the world TODAY (and by 2030 my hunch is that this will at least triple), and North America and Europe are building walls.
President Bill Clinton once was asked how can the environmental movement win? He said that first and foremost, environmentalists are "far too polite," which is why we routinely get out-maneuvered by the corporate world.
Canada and the world are currently on a trajectory to exceed the non-binding Paris Climate Accord (meaning 3ºC or much much higher by 2050). To be honest (in adult company only), I think it's truly over for the next generation. Unless we fight. And with every ounce of courage we can muster.
Given the first responsibility of being a parent is to protect my children and grandchildren, I'm going to risk being arrested in an Extinction Rebellion NVDA [non-violent direct action].... I believe there's no longer any other choice — if I am to do everything moral and non-violently possible.
If anyone is not up for a fight against the worst corporate evil humanity has ever faced, fine, I understand (I may be the only one on this list that has been in a couple of different war zones or ever seen a lot of dead people close up).
But please, good folks, move aside, for those stepping up to fight the good fight for their kids — and feel we need to call it what it is. It is a climate necessity now to use the militaristic metaphors, as it was to go from "climate change" to "climate emergency" at the school district meeting.
That said, and I say this without reservation but with much heartache for everyone on the list that truly means well and feels nauseated by militarism and violence, when things get obviously desperate for everyone's children, those who are not actively "fighting for them" will increasingly be seen as enemy sympathizers.
In the meantime, my animal icon is a mother grizzly with threatened cubs.
T**** [and other leaders whose actions are increasingly planet-destroying and unprecedentedly evil], take note: The Extinction Rebellion "pitchforks" (as the right has taken to calling us of late) are amassing for the children.
With passionately fierce love,
Howard "To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." — Sun Tzu
Howard, cher camarade, thank you for your fierce and passionate love for the children ... of all species!
When I'm not here every Sunday morning expounding on my thoughts and feelings around the climate crisis, it's because I'm too depressed to do it. It's been weeks now that I've barely done anything on the climate change front. (Well, I did protest our prime minister's visit to the region!) But then this came my way and I really wanted to share it with you. Greta Thunberg is both a climate hero and an inspiration to many of us activists — of all generations.
"We must all do the seemingly impossible."
Enjoy the background music of The 1975, and then bookmark this page and come back and come back and come back again, until Greta's message fills your heart, overflows into your arteries, and then seeps from your pores. (One friend I sent it to you responded, "I feel like I need to hear it over and over, to keep the awareness at the top of my head all the time. Change now, today, stop the emissions. Rebel.") "Lyrics" are below.
Here's an animated version!
Greta Thunberg's Speech
We are right now in the beginning of a climate and ecological crisis.
And we need to call it what it is. An emergency.
We must acknowledge that we do not have the situation under control and that we don’t have all the solutions yet. Unless those solutions mean that we simply stop doing certain things.
We admit that we are losing this battle.
We have to acknowledge that the older generations have failed. All political movements in their present form have failed.
But homo sapiens have not yet failed.
Yes, we are failing, but there is still time to turn everything around. We can still fix this. We still have everything in our own hands.
But unless we recognise the overall failures of our current systems, we most probably don’t stand a chance.
We are facing a disaster of unspoken sufferings for enormous amounts of people. And now is not the time for speaking politely or focusing on what we can or cannot say. Now is the time to speak clearly.
Solving the climate crisis is the greatest and most complex challenge that homo sapiens have ever faced. The main solution, however, is so simple that even a small child can understand it. We have to stop our emissions of greenhouse gases.
And either we do that, or we don’t.
You say that nothing in life is black or white.
But that is a lie. A very dangerous lie.
Either we prevent a 1.5 degree of warming, or we don’t.
Either we avoid setting off that irreversible chain reaction beyond human control, or we don’t.
Either we choose to go on as a civilisation or we don’t.
That is as black or white as it gets.
Because there are no grey areas when it comes to survival.
Now we all have a choice.
We can create transformational action that will safeguard the living conditions for future generations.
Or we can continue with our business as usual and fail.
That is up to you and me.
And yes, we need a system change rather than individual change. But you cannot have one without the other.
If you look through history, all the big changes in society have been started by people at the grassroots level. People like you and me.
So, I ask you to please wake up and make the changes required possible. To do your best is no longer good enough. We must all do the seemingly impossible.
Today, we use about 100 million barrels of oil, every single day. There are no politics to change that. There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground.
So, we can no longer save the world by playing by the rules. Because the rules have to be changed.
Everything needs to change. And it has to start today.
So, everyone out there, it is now time for civil disobedience. It is time to rebel.”
A friend sent that quote to me this past week ... a week during which I've been struggling to remain brave in the face of frustrating and nearly overwhelming personal circumstances and still so much nasty gawddamn denial of the climate crisis. Who *are* these deniers? Why are they *so* afraid to be working for a better world rather than the status quo? Because, make no mistake, denial of the climate change emergency is born out of cowardice ... and a shrivelled heart incapable of compassion. Conformity to "everyone else" is killing us! Conforming to denialist beliefs. Jetting off to lie on some distant beach. Buy, buy, buying to fill some void. Building with steel and concrete rather than wood. Eating industrially raised meat and dairy. Using chemicals on their gardens. Conformity is killing us. Globally, crop yields have, on average, started declining. My worst fear (that food security would disappear while people are still arguing that "CO2 is good for plants") is coming true. I need to screw up my courage to a new level. Feel the fear and do it anyway.
"Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free." ― Jim Morrison
It's time for material and energy austerity, folks. All the bad things I've been talking about here for TEN YEARS (!!!) are not only happening but increasing, and increasing at accelerating rates. WE have to get our carbon emissions into decline NOW. WE have to do that. We can't wait for governments anymore. What if the Green New Deal was designed to be a giant distraction? What can WE be doing? I mean besides the stuff we've been half-assedly doing for 20 years. We need to be buying nothing but food. We need to work with our neighbours and in our communities to get growing as much food as possible, in as many local places as possible.
Governments need to get their fingers out of their noses and build public transit that works for real people of all ages and abilities. We need to be using energy-dense nuclear power to smelt the metals to build this public transit infrastructure, as well as the renewable energy infrastructure.
We need to be staying cool using fans and breezes and shade. No air conditioning.
We need to be doing as little travel as possible by fossil fuel. Staycations instead. Walking and biking instead. Carpooling and public transit at the very least. WE NEED TO START INCONVENIENCING OURSELVES for the sake of the future. And for some crazy reason, in this most-comfortable-ever era in Western human history, it's going to take courage to do that. So screw up your courage, do your best to make whatever changes you can make (cancel a vacation, plant some food, stay home more often or walk/ride a bike), but don't be afraid to screw up or be a hypocrite sometimes (the zero-carbon systems just aren't in place yet!). We all need good luck now (to be honest, we probably need an all-out miracle) but by being as brave as we can be and making these changes, perhaps we can create our luck, and our own miracle. Oh, and don't be afraid to reach out to others for help. There's more courage to be found in numbers.
(With apologies for a rather disjointed post — but we can't let perfect get in the way of good enough anymore. We just have to get stuff done. For encouragement, see my other posts about courage.)
Well, I've just celebrated another turn around the sun. I think I'm going to have to accept the fact that I'm not young anymore. ;-) And I think I feel a midlife crisis coming on. This new version of a wonderful Joni Mitchell oldie by Counting Crows is an excellent reminder that we don't have to throw out the old to make room for the new in the work we're doing. It's also a sad reminder of how much worse things have become in the last few decades. (This song was released in 1970, and Mitchell is 75 now!) Plus it has prompted me to examine my life, to be sure that I do know what I've got before it's gone. Here, for your melancholic listening pleasure, is Big Yellow Taxi. Enjoy.
Big Yellow Taxi
by Joni Mitchell
They paved paradise And put up a parking lot With a pink hotel, a boutique And a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got Till it's gone They paved paradise And put up a parking lot
They took all the trees Put 'em in a tree museum And they charged the people A dollar and a half just to see 'em
Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got Till it's gone They paved paradise And put up a parking lot
Hey farmer farmer Put away that DDT now Give me spots on my apples But leave me the birds and the bees Please!
Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got Till it's gone They paved paradise And put up a parking lot
Late last night I heard the screen door slam And a big yellow taxi Took away my old man
Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got Till it's gone They paved paradise And put up a parking lot
We "countryfolk" are housesitting for friends and getting an extended "city fix," which is always fascinating. City streets sure are lonelier, especially with everyone checking out their "screens" as they bustle along. But shopkeepers and restaurant servers have been quite friendly (perhaps reflecting back our small-town vibe?).
Hanging in our friends' kitchen is this little sign:
"And faith for the future" ... that's the part that struck me. You know how I feel about hope and hope mongering, where feeling hopeful about the climate crisis is more important than actually doing something about the climate crisis. (If what environmental education guru, David Orr, says is true — that hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up — I figure it's only because it wants to get a tan on its arms.) But faith. Faith. Doesn't that seem different somehow? The non-religious definition is "complete trust or confidence in someone or something." The moment I read that sign, I realized that I do my work on the climate change emergency with some sort of faith in my heart that ... well, that we humans will at last pull together.
It could well be too late by the time we get our act together (indeed, it's maybe too late already, given all the warming we're already committed to due to the ocean heat lag ... and all the warming that will be added when we stop fossil fuel burning, since fossil fuel particulate pollution has been masking a certain percentage of the warming to date), but if nothing else, I'd like today's younger generations to know that we finally, after a huge collective forehead slap, "got it" and came together for their sake.
Still waiting for our collective facepalm
The quote below isn't quite correct. The IPCC has told us that we only have until 2020 to get our carbon emissions into rapid decline if we want to be able to meet our 2030 and 2050 targets (50% reduction and virtually zero, respectively).
But the sentiment is one that resonates for me. It speaks to the faith that arises when people — listening to the love in their heart, instead of the fear — start doing exciting, courageous work together.
It is true that the IPCC tells us that we have only 12 years to act ... but in the world there are thousands of projects. They do not start from pessimism or optimism, they start with people who choose to follow their heart, and do what they feel called to. Science tells us that it is possible. — Diego Galli
