What a year!
As I start writing this post, I don't even know where to begin.
I pondered for a while whether I should focus on the positive stuff that happened this year, such as the push forward of Extinction Rebellion, the global awareness around climate chaos or Finland who elected the youngest female Prime Minister in the world. There are also other things, such as Botswana decriminalising homosexuality or a bunch of countries declaring a climate emergency, including the European Union and the UK, which obviously sent a strong message to the rest of the world. We also see positive things in the realm of international politics. We have very strong females in leader roles for the first time in a while, if ever. Prime Minister Jacinda Adern in New-Zealand, Ursula Von Der Leyen who is the new President of the European Commission or of course Greta Thunberg, head of the biggest climate movement of all times.
The problem is, they all come with a wave of negative push-back (in)actions which undermine their positivity. I don't think it'd be honest to put forward all the good stuff of 2019 without highlighting that we're still predominantly stuck into a system which undermines people, communities and the planet. Our worldwide political situation is highly unsettling, with the likes of Trump in the US, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Johnson (and Brexit) in the UK, Erdogan in Turkey, and so on and so forth. The list is long. As I just mentioned, we have more female leaders than ever but at the same time, a recent study showed that women will have to wait 257 years to get the same economic opportunities as men. Great.
We have more female leaders than ever but at the same time, a recent study showed that women will have to wait 257 years to get the same economic opportunities as men.
Climate change also showed us that we really can't get our way out of it now (if we ever did). It impacted financial stability: PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electricity Company) went bankrupt because of the fires in California. We also have seen, more than ever before, the impact of global heating on the planet with more droughts, storms, flooding and heatwaves, everywhere. Iceland even did something symbolic about it: in August, the Okjokull glacier lost its glacier status due to how much it has shrunk because of climate change. The country commemorated its loss with a letter to the future which says: "Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years, all of our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it."
We also have seen horrendous bush fires in Australia after the ones in California in 2018, where people died, lost their homes, ancient trees disappeared forever and entire ecosystems suffered massively. In March, cyclone Idai hit Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe in Africa, where, again, more than 1.5 million people were affected. In European countries, where we feel rather protected from climate change, we experienced the worst heatwave ever, described as "deadly hot weather" with temperatures up to 45C in France (I was there, it was absolutely insane. I've never experienced such a thing in my life).
On another note, COP25 was meant to happen in Brazil (Bolsonaro said no), then in Chile (social and economic troubles made them cancel it), and then got transferred to Spain last minute. The results aren't conclusive: leaders have mainly been acknowledging that we're not on track to meet our 2C target, let alone 1.5C. At the moment, we're more on the trajectory of 3C.
Stop for a moment, and imagine: we already reached 1C of heating, and the planet is in tatters. Then, double this. Crazy things are going to happen, and we're getting a glimpse of what that will be, soon.
It's crucial to be aware of the bigger picture to know how to act further.
I could go on and on as I barely scratched the surface. But you might wonder: why are you talking about politics, then the climate, then some random plaque in Iceland?
Well. I'm trying to highlight that it's all linked: climate-related disasters, worldwide political mess and what happens in the financial world. We keep treating the climate crisis as if it were this isolated issue we have to deal with: let's reduce carbon emissions, and then we'll be fine.
But that's not the only way works.
I've said it before, but I think it's worth mentioning again, the climate crisis is the result of everything that runs our world today: a free-market capitalist system that privileges the few and disregards the many, patriarchy that doesn't leave women the space they deserve to be part of the solution, and political leaders that manage to be where they are exactly because of the first two elements.
Seeing the bigger picture is scary and overwhelming, I'm the first one to admit it. But it's also crucial to be aware of the bigger picture to know how to act further. We need to know how the world works (international politics), what needs to remain (the perks of what globalisation brought us, openness on the world), what needs to be dismantled (fossil fuel industries), what we need more of (community-based actions and empathy), and less of (financial markets and super high-net worth individuals). We need all of these elements if we want to act efficiently and ensure that we're making the world a better place, for everyone. We can't afford to work in silos anymore, we need to be united, show empathy and act together.
In this spirit, I hope you have a lovely holiday, enjoy time with your loved ones (or alone if you decide to be) and I'll see you all in the new year for more climate talks.
Love,
Mathilde