Wow… As I wing my way home from the very first COP I have attended, I am thinking about what I just witnessed and what I will take home with me. It is tricky to analyse the complex and overwhelming beast that COP26 was, but here are my thoughts.
It is unequivocal that the way humans are currently living is causing real and dangerously impactful damage to the world, and ourselves. If we continue with BAU the planet will continue to change so that it will no longer be able to support human life. The opportunity to make change is right now, an opportunity that diminishes every day.
There are many who say we can just tweak what we are currently doing so we can do less harm. The situation, caused by how we currently operate in the world, is so parlous that this is not correct. The current linear, hierarchical systems that enable vast social and environmental inequity need to be replaced with ones that enable all species to survive and thrive. We need to find and create different ways of living in this world that are fulfilling, interesting and nurturing, and can restore and regenerate the natural world and ourselves. Our definitions of success need to be aligned with planetary well-being. They are likely to be local, systems based, and feminine in nature.
Ideas and solutions for what we can do abound - we just need to bravely adopt and nurture them. We have to fearlessly face up to the small number of people who are benefitting most from the current destructive paradigms and bring them with us into a new future. This is not a war to be fought. It is a diverse and thriving future to be co-created.
Indigenous wisdom that still exists around the world, is a great place to start. How can we embrace these ways of being that are so well attuned to the natural world, and evolve and enrich our ways of living in the twenty first century? How can we listen more deeply with all our senses - to the earth, to each other? How can we find the richness we seek in our lives through these understandings and connections? How can we adapt our lives to be more in tune with seasonal and diurnal patterns? How can we adapt everything we do to proactively improve the health of the natural world and ourselves?
If you think this sounds fanciful or unhinged, please think again. The current system is not working and we will not survive the fallacy that it is ok and we do not need to change or change much. If you do want to help give ourselves and future generations a chance, we need to urgently change. Now.
So what to do? Can I suggest we take a lead from Arthur Ashe and start where you are, use what you have and do what you can.
Personally, I am:
learning all I can about our First Nations people and their joyous and wise ways of being in the world
Continuing to connect with and learn about the natural world as often as I can
Placing understanding of and ability to take action on climate change at the top of my list of requirements when I vote
Making sure the money I have in banks and superannuation is supporting the future we need, not the damaging ways of the past
Developing skills in gardening, mending, writing, music and art so I can find richness in my life that also has wider positive benefits
Driving less, walking and cycling more
Electrifying my life, so I can live more efficiently and use renewable energy for what is required
Doing all I can to help develop and share these ideas with others to accelerate urgent and wide spread change