Into the dark
15.1 March 2019
“Do not let me hear of the wisdom of old men, but rather their folly. Their fear of fear, and frenzy, their fear of possession.”
“They all go into the dark…the captains, merchant bankers…the statesmen and rulers, distinguished civil servants…industrial lords and petty contractors.”
“All go into the dark…and we all go with them into the silent funeral.”
“The parched eviscerate soil gapes at the vanity of toil, laughs without mirth…”
“This is the death of Earth.”1
Imagine
15.2 March 2019
“A ring, a ring o’roses.”3
Yet despite dire warnings the Elite have failed to recognise that the human impacts on the environment have reached a critical stage. Politicians and industrial leaders fly around the world generating great quantities of hot air and paper – but make none of the fundamental changes to “The System” required to achieve a low-carbon and sustainable future. This is partly due to ignorance – the difficulty in understanding a complex global problem and greed – there’s profit in the status-quo and vested interests work to block progress.2
“The window of opportunity to avoid catastrophic outcomes…around the world is rapidly closing.”2
The 2015 Paris Agreement addressed worldwide greenhouse-gas emissions in an attempt to “limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”4 It was hoped, this would “significantly reduce the risks and impacts of Climate Change.”4
However in 2018 an IPCC Report concluded that the world will probably not achieve this target and “global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate.”5
The reality is that civilisation has only a few short years to make fundamental changes to its dominant ideologies and systems and for each of us to make fundamental changes to our own lifestyles.
“A-tishoo, a-tishoo. We all fall down.”3
Such news tends to reinforce the sense of doom that has to date pervaded the subject of Climate Change and resulted in widespread feelings of disempowerment and apathy.
But a dark future is not inevitable.
The great transition to a low-carbon future can no longer be left in the hands of the governments and industries that created the problem. No – it’s more important than that. The impending disaster of Climate Change will affect us all – and we all have to act!
“You may say I’m a dreamer.”1
But we need to remember our species has already successfully faced a similar crisis. In 1976 the United States National Academy of Sciences released a report confirming that Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) were causing the depletion of ozone in the atmosphere.6 This posed a real threat to life on Earth as increased ultra-violet can cause skin cancers. In 1987 all members of the United Nations ratified the Montreal Protocol7 – humanity acted in unison to eradicate the use of CFC’s.
“We should look at the ozone problem and realize that nations can get together and come up with solutions.”8
Once again we need to act together. Climate Change can be seen as a dark inevitability or as an opportunity to unleash humanities genius to create for ourselves a new low-carbon sustainable way of life.
We need to imagine a world where people actually care about the environment and live in balance with their surroundings9 – where the Earth is once again swathed is abundant forests and wildlife. Then we need to take positive actions towards creating this radically different future – to change how we all work, consume and travel.2
“It is possible to move towards a totally environmentally sustainable world if we really want to.”9
We all need to see Climate Change as an opportunity to envision a new future and then take actions to save the planet. There are a multitude of changes, large and small, that we can make to our own lives – using renewable energy, eating local organic food or simply cycling to work…
“We have all the power we need to create all the changes we choose.”10
The current modus operandi has got us into this “fine mess.”11 Now it’s time for us to create a new vision of ourselves and the Earth. We need to realise that we have the power, individually and collectively, to liberate our imaginations and become active participants and creators of a better world.
It all comes down to what you imagine – and then what you do!
“Imagine…It isn’t hard to do.”1
