Bearing Witness to a Changing World
Excerpt from a speech given at a rally in Victoria, on September 24th, 2011, the international day of climate action.
When you read about climate change, there are a lot of numbers. What percentage emissions reduction, based on what year as a baseline, and by when, in order to avoid what degree of warming. Reading about climate change sometimes makes me feel like I’m back in school, figuring out my math homework.
The numbers give us a sense of urgency, and we know that for any real solution we need to get the numbers right. In order to avoid catastrophic warming of x degrees, we need to do y, before the year z.
Like I said, it’s a math problem. X = y * z. Translation: our future depends on what we do, and how fast we make the necessary changes. So the numbers – the percentages and degrees and parts per million - these give us our guidelines and our time-frame.
But I’m not here to talk about the numbers. I’m here today because I’m scared about the future. And because I’m hopeful. I’m here because I’m angry that the powers that be aren’t doing what needs to get done, and I’m here because I’m confident that we can do what it takes.
I’m here to talk about what we can do.
There is an old saying - Don’t Mourn, Organize. We tell ourselves there is no time to feel sad, that we need to get on with the work. But we are bearing witness to a changing world. When it comes to climate change, we need to mourn and organize.
To be strong and effective in this time of transition, we need to tap into the sadness that lies underneath as well as the hope. So give yourself the space to grieve. And then, support each other. That’s one thing we can do.
Spend time outside, let the beauty of life inspire you, and energize you for the struggles ahead. And what else?
- Photo: Jens Wieting
This means removing oil and gas subsidies, reducing not just emissions here at home but also the extraction and export of fossil fuels, protecting our forests and wetlands that play such an important role in storing carbon.
We can build the future we want to see, with local food and public transportation. A future with clean drinking water, and jobs that support families without destroying the ecosystems we all depend on. Where decisions about the land are made by the people who live on it.
Let’s build a future that’s so compelling - that people want to live there and are willing to make whatever changes are required along the way.
And so - through personal choices, saying no to destructive projects, lobbying governments and building alternatives - there are many ways of working towards a future we can believe in.
We need to recognize that this is a struggle on many fronts, and respect each other as we each do our part. And we need to support and encourage one another to step up even farther, to reach outside our comfort zone, to do more.
Because it’s clear, we need to do more. Set a stretch goal for yourself - find the courage to do something that scares you. Now is the time to speak up for a future that you can believe in.
