The signs are around Edinburgh, and the buzz from Glasgow continues. There’s of course plenty to watch at the UN Climate YouTube channel. Two of the shortest are worth watching for both inspiration and education.
The first, of course, is anything with David Attenborough. This one on forests is on valuing the services that forests provide and how critical protecting and replenishing them will be in our fight against climate change.
#COP26: Forests and Land-Use Narrated by David Attenborough
I can’t think of anything that we do which is not founded on nature’s process. So if we jeopardize that, it’s not just our economies that are in trouble. Our lives are in trouble. Partha Dsgupta, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Cambridge
The second video is Johan Rockström’s 10 New Insights in Climate Science.
Johan Rockström at #COP26: 10 New Insights in Climate Science | UN Climate Change
There were three big highlights that I appreciated.
First was the focus on ensuring that this work is just. For all of the complaints that are registered against developing countries and their coming online with a “carbon footprint,” to hear that the poor could increase their carbon emissions by a factor of 3 while the rich need to reduce their carbon emissions by a factor of 30 as necessary and reasonable for staying within our budget towards 1.5°C was a stark reminder and indictment on the inequities embedded in our climate crisis.
Second was the importance of climate lifestyles. We hear frequently “what can I do?” Your lifestyle changes do matter! I’m once again so deeply grateful for the Spark community—especially those in the Saving Us book club—that have taken significant steps towards changing our personal lives commensurate with our values.
Last was the power of the carbon pricing. First, we know that carbon pricing works, and it can be done in a just way. It is incredibly frustrating to know this tool is in our hands and it has not been deployed in ways that could actually make a difference. Second, it was interesting to see Washington, Oregon, and California on the list of “countries” that have imposed a carbon tax. I’ll need to look into this more, but am grateful to live in a state that is working towards this end.
Which brings me to the “The Two Climates.”
The first climate is the one in which we all inhabit; our global ecology. The damage we are doing, and the suffering it is causing around the world is directly tied to the choices we make in our energy usage. The physics is clear, and the solutions are immediately in front of us. We should all care because we all occupy one planet.
But the problem is the second climate, which is our political climate. This post by Bill McKibben was helpful in pointing out Dan Galpern’s possible solution—you can sign the petition here—but we still have a long way to go.
Which is why you matter. Your voice, your conversations, your willingness to reach “across the aisle.” That all makes a difference.
Spark In Conversation 