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Turning Anger Into Action

8/5/2020

 
July 16th, Greta Thunberg and three of her fellow climate activists launched an open letter (https://climateemergencyeu.org/) demanding EU leaders take measurable, immediate action to genuinely tackle the climate crisis.

The letter’s demands include that the climate emergency is treated like an emergency, and with that comes the immediate halting of all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction, and an end to fossil fuel subsidies. The letter also demands that EU member states make ecocide (extensive damage to Earth's ecological systems) an international crime, and that climate policies be put in place that reduce racial, economic, and gender inequality.
Her letter is very timely, given that the first half of 2020 was the second warmest on record (https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs_v4/). Yep…it’s just getting hotter…and hotter…and hotter. And as the temperatures rise, so does my anger, and I too want to stand up and demand for change.

If she is willing to be the energy to lead the change that we need to demand, are we willing to be the energy to follow?

What is my role and yours, and what can we do?

As a mother, and an “elder” by virtue of my age and hopefully ability to stay grounded, I feel strongly that it is my place is to use my roots and the strength of my age and my experience to participate as fully as I can in altering the destructive course that we are. This means using power of my own, very real outrage, as a force for change by channeling it into constructive activities. Here is what this means to me:

  1. ENGAGE. Know what is happening. The science is out there. The IPCC gives us until 2030 to turn things around. In Greta’s letter she states that even this is too long, and I would agree. If you are planning for your retirement, or saving up for your child’s university education, then you want to know what kind of future is ahead if we don’t change the trajectory (see “the science” and “the demands” below).
  2. TAKE ACTION. USE YOUR VOICE. Demand the truth and demand action. Sign petitions and add your name to the various open letters to government (see below in “resources for taking action”) write letters and emails, protest. Share all this information on social media. Talk about it with your friends. Educate. Create works of art to engage and inspire. Make it your personal job to speak the truth and demand for change. There are so many resources to help you here.
  3. KEEP BREATHING. We must be the pillars for our children that they need. We cannot leave it up to them to fix by either being (a) so overwhelmed by our own anger/grief/despair etc or (b) so detached from participation that they feel they have no strength behind them. Processing both the scientific facts and the resultant emotions so that we can be the strongly rooted elders and allies that they need us to be, aligned with truth, clarity, and courage, is vital (see “resources for staying rooted” below).

resources

THE SCIENCE
“Even if countries meet commitments made under the 2015 Paris Agreement, the world is heading for a 3.2 ºC global temperature rise in the next 80 years, leading to even wider-ranging and more destructive climate impacts.” (1)

We are currently at 1.0 ºC. The Paris Agreement saw nations commit to a safe maximum of 1.5 ºC by 2100. We are on a path to hit 2.0 ºC by 2050 (2), the repercussions of which include:
  • 99% loss of all coral reefs (3)
  • 37% of the world’s population exposed to lethal heatwaves (3)
  • Increasing risks and shifts in geographic ranges for some vector-borne diseases, like malaria and dengue fever (3)
 
By 2050 anywhere from 25 million to 1 billion people are expected to be climate migrants (4).

Source: https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/11/1052171
  1. Source : https://www.wri.org/ipcc-infographics
  2. Source : https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/
  3. Source:https://www.climateforesight.eu/migrations-inequalities/environmental-migrants-up-to-1-billion-by-2050/
 
THE DEMANDS

Extracted from a letter (https://climateemergencyeu.org/) by Luisa Neubauer, Greta Thunberg, Anuna de Wever van der Heyden, Adélaïde Charlier, 16 July 2020, to EU leaders and heads of state:

“You must stop pretending that we can solve the climate- and ecological crisis without treating it as a crisis…The world’s planned fossil fuel production by the year 2030 accounts for 120% more than what would be consistent with the 1,5° target…In order to limit global heating to 1,5 degrees, the upcoming months and years are crucial. The clock is ticking. Doing your best is no longer good enough. You must now do the seemingly impossible.”

RESOURCES FOR TAKING ACTION
Organizations:
Indigenous Climate Action 
Extinction Rebellion 
Zero Hour for Youth
350.org

Add Your Name to the Movement:
Face The Climate Emergency, Greta’s Letter to World Leaders: https://climateemergencyeu.org/
WWF: https://www.wwf.org.uk/fight-climate-change
National Resources Defense Council: https://www.nrdc.org/demand-climate-action
People’s Demands for Climate Justice: https://www.peoplesdemands.org/

Tips for taking action:
https://mashable.com/article/how-to-be-an-activist-jamie-margolin/
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-demand-action-on-climate-change-1829783214
https://thegiganticchange.com/#knowthetruth
https://www.activehope.info/

RESOURCES FOR STAYING ROOTED
  • My own, free “Sit in the Light Nights” for releasing climate trauma and grounding in the light, first Wednesday of the month https://www.facebook.com/SarahKnightBioenergy/
  • Connect with Nature, see these wonderful Kingston resources for conscious connection to nature https://www.timyearington.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/AmongTheTreesFT
  • Yoga, Chi Gong, Tai Chi or any other grounded movement practice. Janati Yoga School has gone online https://janatiyoga.com/
  • Lindsay Dupuis, Meditation for Change https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQkscymeO6CS5GN0hofLOJg
  • So much more! Here's a few: https://www.humanitysteam.org/    Open Heart Project https://openheartproject.com/  Maleda, womb of life school https://womboflifeschool.com/about/

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