A month or so ago, the IPCC released its second of three reports about the state of the climate, and the state of efforts to save ourselves from our addiction to burning fossil fuels.
It was not an easy read.
The report painted a bleak picture of massive refugee crises, crop failures, widespread hunger, rising sea levels, war, along with extensive weather-related disasters such as fires, floods and storms.
Perhaps worse than that though, was the report’s assertion that not only is not enough being done to either prevent or prepare for the worst, but that basically nothing is being done at all. Nothing that is, short of Greta Thunberg’s famous “blah blah blah.”
Many of the efforts being proposed around the world to deal with the crisis were still either in the planning phase, or were commitments that are so far into the future (e.g. a carbon neutral oil patch by 2050) that they are essentially meaningless.
In short: The world is on fire, and nobody appears to be coming to the rescue.
The world, said the report, needs to dramatically accelerate its response. Not only does it need to take effective measures to prepare for what’s coming, we need to do more, much more, to prevent the worst.
The only glimmer of hope in the report? There is still time.
Authors of the document say that the window for action to prevent widespread loss of life and security is small and shrinking, but it’s still there.
Looking around the world in the month after the report, one sees a news cycle obsessed with Trucker Convoys, the war in Ukraine, and scandals at movie award ceremonies. It’s easy to think that the whole world is asleep on this issue.
It’s easy to lose hope and give up.
Yet, as Maude Barlow explains in her new book, Still Hopeful, Lessons from a Lifetime of Activism, the need – and indeed the case – for hope, is stronger than ever.
Barlow has been active on a variety of world shaping social justice issues since the 70s. She was a pioneer of women’s equality in Canada, and then became an effective organizer against globalism, and finally a global leader in the fight for water justice. She has made a huge impact on the world, even as far as influencing resolutions at the UN.
She has also lived to see the steady advance of climate change, and the spectacle of scientists wringing their hands while leaders sat on theirs.
So why is she still hopeful?
In her book, she draws a distinction between baseless, Pollyanna type hope that just tells people “don’t worry, be happy”, and what she calls wise hope. Wise hope is grounded in knowledge that things can get better, and that quietly, all over the world, people are working steadily to make the planet safer, more sustainable and more just. It chooses not to focus on the enormity of the task, but rather looks at the long-term arc of progress, and sees how far we have come, and knows that many are working on how far we have to go.
She quotes Rebeccca Solnit who once wrote that progress is not an army marching forward, it’s a crab scuttling sideways. Barlow’s life and work have been a long trajectory of fighting for what is right, while not knowing if her and her colleagues were going to win. The comfort was not in the chance of success, it was in the knowledge that they were building a movement, and from the camaraderie that comes from bringing people together to work on something they are passionate about.
At the end of my interview with her on my show, I asked what she would say to a young person who was filled with despair about the state of the world.
She insisted that the antidote to hopelessness is action. Join a group of people who are working towards a solution to the problem that is filling you with dread and join them in taking small concrete actions to solve the problem.
This is not only the solution to solving our own despair, it’s the solution to the climate crisis in general. Barlow explains in her chapters on the movements she has helped build that a critical mass of public opinion is crucial to pressuring leaders into doing the right thing. However, a single event that catches the public consciousness can also tip the scales dramatically towards action, if capitalized on by those who are seeking to make change.
The only way that happens though, is if those groups are already mobilized, have a strong base of volunteers and supporters, and can move quickly to convince leaders to make meaningful change.
It’s clear that is has never been more important for us to join together to work for change. It will not only save the planet, but as Barlow explains, it may save each of us as well.
Wildlife Corridor Saved
Earlier last month, The Canadian Press reported that a stretch of a major wildlife corridor in the Lake Ontario watershed had been preserved.
The Hastings Wildlife Junction was donated by land owner Ben Samann, who is the founder of Land’escapes, a private conservation organization.
The stretch between Belleville and Bancroft was important for maintaining water quality for rivers downstream from Belleville, and is part of a larger effort from Nature Conservancy Canada to preserve an 80 square kilometer area in the same location.
Great Lakes Clean Up
The Globe and Mail reported in early March that the Biden administration in the U.S. has dedicated $1 billion to what they are calling the most significant clean up “in the history of the great lakes.”
The goal is to clean up 22 of the 25 identified areas of concern which have been on environmentalist’s wish lists since the 90s.
The hope is that the investment will encourage a similar effort from the Canadian side of the lakes.
Randle Reef Clean up Complete
On the topic of cleaning the great lakes, the Federal government and it’s partners announced at the beginning of March that the efforts to cap the contaminated coal tar deposits at Randle Reef in Hamilton Harbour were now complete.
615,000 tons of sludge were capped in a giant steel box that is meant to keep contaminants from further leaching into the water and impacting plants, fish and birds who call this environmentally diverse area home.
The clean up came with a price tag of $138.9 million and was funded through a public private partnership.
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