A Message to All the Women Attending COP27 in Egypt

This year's UN international climate change Conference of the Parties (COP27) will be held November 7-18 in Sharm el-Sheikh, an Egyptian city renowned for its eco-tourism and its protection of diverse natural habitats. Sharm el-Sheikh is known as the green city of peace. It was chosen to host COP27 because it has already hosted several international events, including the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP14) in 2018.

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It was 13 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, grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunties, nieces, cousins, godmothers, wives, partners and girlfriends who are attending the climate talks in Egypt. 

 

And to the grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces, cousins, godmothers, wives, partners and girlfriends of all the men who will be attending the Egypt climate talks, please speak to them. Speak up for the sake of all the children ... of all species.  

A request to all the women attending the climate change 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 Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt representing your own country. Think of the planet as one nation, one biosphere, one shared home within one shared 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 — unless you represent her there. 

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 and not a viable 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 must quickly achieve.

LET COURAGE GUIDE YOU. Women are courageous in so many — often unsung — ways. Courage in Sharm el-Sheikh, 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. Be willing to stand up, join arms, and say no (or yes!). 

CALL FOR THE END OF FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDIES. How will we ever lower our fossil fuel greenhouse gas emissions as long as governments subsidize the fossil fuel industries? According to the IMF, our governments are giving fossil fuel corporations (who are already among the richest companies in the world) $5.9 TRILLION per year in direct and indirect subsidies (with our tax money). This injustice boggles the mind. Fossil fuel corporations must be made to pay the full costs of their social (health) and environmental damage and destruction before their executives receive bonuses and their shareholders receive dividends.

REMEMBER THE GREAT WOMEN WHO HAVE ALREADY DEMONSTRATED THEIR COURAGE, women like Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Biruté Galdikas, Patricia Wright, Donella Meadows, Berta Cáceres, Hazel Henderson, Sylvia Earle, Erin Brokovich, Sister Dorothy Stang, Chai Jing, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Lois Gibbs, the women of the Chipko Movement, Beatrix Potter, Greta Thunberg (and other young activists), Wangari Maathai, Julia Butterfly Hill, Betty Krawczyk, Vandana Shiva, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Hildegard of Bingen, Harriet Nahanee. Stand on their shoulders — and be climate heroes in Egypt!

 

p.s. Whose name is missing? Send me the name of the female eco-hero who inspires you (and a bit about her) in the comments section.
 

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS
(click here to listen to this song)
by Joyce Johnson Rouse (Earth Mama)

I am standing on the shoulders

of the ones who came before me
I am stronger for their courage, I am wiser for their words
I am lifted by their longing for a fair and brighter future
I am grateful for their vision, for their toiling on this Earth

We are standing on the shoulders 
of the ones who came before us
They are saints and they are humans, they are angels,
they are friends
We can see beyond the struggles and the troubles 
and the challenge
When we know that by our efforts things will be
better in the end

They lift me higher than I could ever fly
Carrying my burdens away
I imagine our world if they hadn't tried
We wouldn't be here celebrating today

I am standing on the shoulders of the ones 
who came before me
I am honored by their passion for our liberty
I will stand a little taller, I will work a little longer
And my shoulders will be there to hold 
the ones who follow me 

They lift me higher than I could ever fly
Carrying my burdens away
I imagine our world if they hadn't tried
We wouldn't be so very blessed today

I am standing on the shoulders of the ones 
who came before me
I am honored by their passion for our liberty
I will stand a little taller, I will work a little longer
And my shoulders will be there to hold 
the ones who follow me 
My shoulders will be there to hold  
the ones who follow me

A Message to All the Women Attending the Climate Talks (COP26) in Glasgow

This year's international climate change Conference of the Parties (COP26) will be held the first two weeks of November in Glasgow, Scotland. With the UK and Italy co-hosting this all-important COP (2020's COP was postponed due to Covid-19), Glasgow was chosen as the site due to its experience in hosting international events at facilities deemed first-rate (the Scottish Event Campus or SEC), and its commitment to sustainability. 

Indeed, Glasgow was recently awarded the status of Global Green City, and it is aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Good on you, Glasgow!

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It was nine years ago that I sent out this heartfelt request to all the women who are going to attend the Copenhagen climate talks. Today, I send it again, to all the women, grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunties, nieces, cousins, godmothers and girlfriends who are attending the climate talks in Glasgow. And to all the grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces, cousins, godmothers and girlfriends of all the men who will be attending the Glasgow climate talks, please speak to them! Speak up for the sake of all the children ... of all species.  

A request to all the women attending the climate change 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 Glasgow, Scotland representing your own country. Think of the planet as one nation, one biosphere, one shared home within one shared 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 — unless you represent her there. 

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 and not a viable 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 must quickly achieve.

LET COURAGE GUIDE YOU. Women are courageous in so many — often unsung — ways. Courage in Glasgow, 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. Be willing to stand up, join arms, and say no (or yes!). 

REMEMBER THE GREAT WOMEN WHO HAVE ALREADY DEMONSTRATED THEIR COURAGE, women like Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Biruté Galdikas, Patricia Wright, Donella Meadows, Berta Cáceres, Hazel Henderson, Sylvia Earle, Erin Brokovich, Sister Dorothy Stang, Chai Jing, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Lois Gibbs, the women of the Chipko Movement, Beatrix Potter, Greta Thunberg (and other young activists), Wangari Maathai, Julia Butterfly Hill, Betty Krawczyk, Vandana Shiva, Starhawk, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Hildegard of Bingen, Harriet Nahanee. Stand on their shoulders — and be climate heroes in Glasgow!

 

p.s. Whose name is missing? Send me the name of your female eco-hero (and a bit about her) in the comments section.
 

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS
(click here to listen to this song)
by Joyce Johnson Rouse (Earth Mama)


I am standing on the shoulders

of the ones who came before me
I am stronger for their courage, I am wiser for their words
I am lifted by their longing for a fair and brighter future
I am grateful for their vision, for their toiling on this Earth

We are standing on the shoulders 
of the ones who came before us
They are saints and they are humans, they are angels,
they are friends
We can see beyond the struggles and the troubles 
and the challenge
When we know that by our efforts things will be
better in the end

They lift me higher than I could ever fly
Carrying my burdens away
I imagine our world if they hadn't tried
We wouldn't be here celebrating today

I am standing on the shoulders of the ones 
who came before me
I am honored by their passion for our liberty
I will stand a little taller, I will work a little longer
And my shoulders will be there to hold 
the ones who follow me 

They lift me higher than I could ever fly
Carrying my burdens away
I imagine our world if they hadn't tried
We wouldn't be so very blessed today

I am standing on the shoulders of the ones 
who came before me
I am honored by their passion for our liberty
I will stand a little taller, I will work a little longer
And my shoulders will be there to hold 
the ones who follow me 
My shoulders will be there to hold  
the ones who follow me

A Message to All the Men Attending UN Climate Conferences

Almost every year, I implore all the women who will be attending the COPs (big UN climate conferences / negotiations) to be the embodiment of Mother Earth, to represent and speak for all the children, of all species — and to wear bright colours while doing it.

But I don't want to leave out all the men and those beyond the binary who attend these Conferences of the Parties each November. The climate emergency is now so urgent that we can't do this without you. So here is my invitation to you — the world's grandfathers, fathers, sons, brothers, uncles, nephews, cousins, husbands, partners, godfathers, comrades and best buddies.

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SHOW OFF YOUR ECOLOGICAL SMARTS. During the negotiations, remember that we are facing (some sooner than others) a threat to our very existence. Our lives and livelihoods, our food security and water sources, our homes and (for some) entire homelands are threatened by this climate crisis — this enemy of our own making, this foe with no face. 

So share your ecological literacy, your understanding of the importance of biodiversity. Call others on their eco-illiteracy and their lunacy or lack of logic. Admit what you don't understand. Don't be afraid to pose questions (especially "stupid" questions ... many of us are thankful for those!). Name evil where you witness it.

We can't eat coal. We can't drink oil. We can't breathe natural gas. It is neither money nor the burning of fossil fuels that gives us life. They merely give us ease. Speak up for the true necessities of life.

In his "solider uniform"

 

 

DON'T BE A "SOLDIER" FOR YOUR COUNTRY, BE A WARRIOR FOR YOUR CHILDREN ... FOR ALL THE CHILDREN. Arrive with compassion in your heart, courage in your pocket, and creative solutions in your briefcase. SPEAK UP and STAND UP! Then man up (a term I've never understood until now). Your job, since time began for our species, has been to protect those more vulnerable — especially the children. At the COPs, your vital role is to protect the right of all children to a viable biosphere, to a safe and stable climate ... and to a future.

YOU CAN WEAR BRIGHT COLOURS, TOO! Those suits you wear seem so drab and boring. You're not soldiers — you don't have to wear a uniform. Cut yourselves free this year. Undo your ties! Wear pink shirts or yellow shirts. Wear bright blue or green shirts. Be a feast to your own eyes. ;-)

Anote Tong, climate change activist and former Kiribati president

Let what you wear be a symbol of what you care about and what you will stand up for. Dress like the day, not the middle of the night — like a meadow of wildflowers in bloom, not the soot-begrimed walls of buildings during the Industrial Revolution. 

Be inspired by what men in the least developed (and therefore least polluting) regions and countries of the world wear. (How did business suits come to be synonymous with pollution and, well, death?) Wouldn't it be fun to be more colourful and more comfortable this year? And how will you come up with the creative solutions we need in order to address the climate emergency if you're dressed in your dreary, anemic, lackluster, cheerless, monotonous, and decidedly unimaginative suits? (Can you tell I'm not a fan of "the suit"?)

Mithika Mwenda, secretary general of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA)

IT'S TIME FOR EVERYONE TO GROW UP. LIFE IS NOT A GAME. Men need to take it seriously, too. Life (both your own and this planet's) is a precious and sacred gift, and it comes with responsibilities once we become adults. Why continue to play games (with our survival!) well into adulthood? 

Most certainly, life is not a zero-sum game. There are no winners when even one of us is losing. And right now, we're all losing — even those of you who feel like winners. (If one doesn't understand how we're all losing, one could do more research before heading to the climate conference.) Perhaps you can have some fun turning this into a win-win-win sort of game.

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Finally, if you know any women who are going to this year's COP, please invite them to consider this request. And please, if the globe is going to be on fire, let it be with the passion and fervor of those of you who are going to the COP to help safeguard the future and save the world!

Another Compassion Tune-up! "This is an SOS from the Kids"

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.

For Those Who Think I'm "Too Negative" — A Guest Post

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!

It Used to Be Cliché, But Now It's Reality (Youth Are Now Our Hope for a Future)

The climate strike at the Legislature in British Columbia, Canada's capital city, Victoria (photo by Laura Hinton)

We used to say that "children are our future" and I'd mutter "Duh!" under my breath (with all due respect to Whitney Houston). It was so obvious as to be cliché. We used to say that young people were our hope for the future and I'd get mad — "Don't lay it on them; it's our responsibility to fix this!"

But we didn't fix it. While we waited for a silver bullet remedy to the climate crisis, we crossed our fingers and hoped a hero would come forward. When Al Gore stepped up, half of America excoriated him for making climate change a "political" thing (like it was his fault he was a former Vice-President). He's done a ton of good work in waking the world up to the crisis, but the nasty US Republicans (I'm sure there are some nice ones) made sure he didn't reach hero status. 

And so we kept waiting. And like that carnival game Whack-a-Mole, we ignored or denounced anyone who dared try to lead us to solutions. We ignored Ban Ki-moon and James Hansen; we shat on Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio, reminding me of that old adage "You can't win for losing." Perhaps we'll listen to António Guterres, the current secretary-general of the United Nations, who has said:

If we do not change course by 2020, we risk missing the point where we can avoid runaway climate change, with disastrous consequences for people and all the natural systems that sustain us.

Climate change is an existential threat to most life on the planet.

And then a braided young Swede sat down last summer in front of her parliament on a "climate strike," which continued into the school year on Fridays. The founder of We Don't Have Time "discovered" her (he has since sincerely apologized for the way he did that, but has been excoriated nonetheless), and the rest — cliché alert! — is history.

Since then, Greta Thunberg has garnered the attention of youth around the world. Sure, people (on both sides of the issue, grrrrrrrr) are casting aspersions on her, but Greta seems unfazed. She knows what's at stake, and she just keeps sayin' it. 

The worldwide youth climate strike this past Friday, March 15th in over 100 countries took its inspiration from Greta's school strike. It proved beyond a doubt that young people — fighting for their own future — are, in reality, our only hope. Their speeches were eloquent and bang on the climate science! Their posters were colourful and poignant! Their songs were fun! Their energy was high and their mood was exuberant! 

Two of my former students holding up my (uncolourful) sign: "Climate safety is a human right" (with thanks to Diana Lindley and her lyric)

I felt very privileged to be part of their strike (standing off to the side at the back of the crowd). I was inspired to create a new social media page that will collect positive affirmations and "prayers" for positive action on the climate change emergency, Positive Affirmations for a Healthy, Vibrant Future on Earth: https://www.facebook.com/Positive-Affirmations-for-a-Healthy-Vibrant-Future-on-Earth-2811092489116966/

I have just one wish for these young folks, who invited all of us to bring 10 friends to the next strike. Please, don't be afraid to be disruptive. Walk down the middle of whatever street you want to block. People's "right" to convenience is trumped by your right to a viable future. Their right to be on time does not trump your right to have time to grow up. Go for it! Blessed be ... and see you at the next climate strike.

Touché! Two Can Play at the Government's Game

Well, last week got away from me and I completely forgot to post a blog. But today, as if to make up for it, I woke up to this exciting news!

Some of you will know that my beloved and I are huge supporters (in all ways possible) of Our Children's Trust (OCT) in the United States. (If you haven't added your name to their call for intergenerational climate justice, please do it now!) Those 21 beleaguered youth plaintiffs have discovered just how convoluted the American (and likely any) justice system can be — and how tight-fistedly the fossil fuel industry rules the world. 

Truly, it's like all the politicians (except for a small handful), at least in Canada and the US, are afraid that Big Oil is going to pull their Big Money from election campaigns (like that would be the end of the world or something ... snark alert). Or is it worse, and lives have been threatened? (I've watched enough American TV to have a few conspiracy theories of my own.)

President T****'s government has tied this case up in dozens of knots (imagine, an appeal before the case has even been heard! now that's desperate — and practically proof of their guilt), but I've got to hand it to the lawyers handling the OCT case. They have spoken truth to power with their latest Urgent Motion for Preliminary Injunction. The Table of Contents alone had me cheering this morning! (Check out section VI. B. below. The plaintiffs, by the way, are the young people, and the defendants are the departments of the US Government that deal out death, I mean, deal with fossil fuels.)

Here are a few choice quotes:

"The record shows that, for decades, Defendants have knowingly and affirmatively placed Plaintiffs in peril of present and worsening climate change-induced harms, with shocking, deliberate indifference to the known and obvious dangers in advancing a fossil fuel-based energy system."

"Defendants made every effort to prevent Plaintiffs' case from being decided, all while accelerating fossil fuel development [as President T**** promised he would do as part of his election platform] and increasing GHG emissions to the point where it will become impossible for Plaintiffs to protect themselves from the climate danger Defendants have had a role in causing. Defendants have deliberately chosen to prioritize use of fossil fuels in our national energy system, disregarding decades of knowledge that this path would destroy our Nation and the lives of children and future generations. This injunction will serve and protect the public's interest in national security and liberty and prevent further inequity to Plaintiffs."

"Dr. Stiglitz confirms that '[t]he current national energy system, in which approximately 80 percent of energy comes from fossil fuels, is a direct result of decisions and actions taken by Defendants.' In his expert opinion Dr. Stiglitz avers: 'The fact that the U.S. national energy system is so predominately fossil fuel-based is not an inevitable consequence of history. The current level of dependence of our national energy system on fossil fuels is a result of intentional actions taken by Defendants over many years. These actions, cumulatively, promote the use of fossil fuels, contribute to dangerous levels of CO2 emissions, and are causing climate change.'"

Folks, I see this as a watershed moment. If the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit does not immediately grant this urgent motion, then we're going to know just what we're up against and how dumb it would be to remain peaceful and calm and good and kind and sweet in our protests to safeguard the future of life on this precious planet! 

Our Children's Trust, meet Extinction Rebellion. I, for one, rebel against the extinction of the children — of all species — that I love so dearly.