“After two extraordinary weeks in which Extinction Rebellion brought London to a standstill, kids walked out of school to join the School Strike for Climate, Greta Thunberg dropped in to meet MPs and others, and David Attenborough’s ‘Climate Change: The Facts’ documentary went out on primetime TV, the UK parliament declared, the day before I’m writing this, a national climate emergency. As someone who has spent the last 15 years of my life ceaselessly speaking, blogging, campaigning and writing about climate change, and catalysing and supporting many projects and communities who are modelling innovative responses to it, I feel thrilled and delighted. But now what happens?
“The point I want to make in this short piece is that the concept of a climate emergency should fill our hearts with great optimism and possibility. We have 11 years now to reverse the direction of travel, to cut our emissions in half, and be well on the path to zero emissions. It is an extraordinarily big ask, but it is possible. Just. And if we manage it, it will be a social, cultural, economic, political transformation which is almost without precedent. It will, by definition, be a time when anything felt possible, when the imagination feels invited, valued and empowered. What an amazing time to be 18. It will be a time that future generations will sing great songs about, and tell great tales about. Hold onto your seats for the most exhilarating time when old certainties fade away, and when anything feels possible.
“My sense is that we need to be brave enough to speak up for this, to celebrate it in whatever way, or whatever medium we can, rather than lapse back into defeatism and arguing that it’s not possible. After all, Martin Luther King didn’t say, “I have a dream. But it’s probably not going to happen, and it might cause a bit of disruption for commuters, and it might be a bit expensive, so perhaps we won’t bother”. Rather, this is a time to be clear and passionate about what happens next, and to weave those stories into whatever conversations we can.”
Read the full story by Rob Hopkins, Findhorn Fellow and Founder of the Transition Movement….
Post a Comment