“For change to become transformational, our change in mindset must manifest in our actions.”
- Former United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres
Personal Action…
Change your energy supplier…
You can stop funding fossil fuels and fracking by switching to 100% renewable sources of energy. Providers of renewable energy include Good Energy, Ecotricity, Octopus and Bulb.
Move your money…
Again, you can stop funding fossil fuels extraction by divesting your money. Fossil Banks provides information on the worst funders of the climate crisis. Triodos Bank, Charity Bank and Co-operative Bank are all ethical banking alternatives. 1 million women aslo have a campaign to help you move your money.
Change the way you eat…
Project Drawdown researchers ranked shifting a “plant-rich diet” as #4 of ‘the 100 most substantive, existing solutions to address climate change.’ In the UK 28% of land is used for feeding and rearing cows and sheep at a time when 1 in 10 British species face extinction.
Shop less…
We live in a capitalist, consumer society and are constantly bombarded with advertising telling us that we need more new stuff. As we awaken to the ecological crisis the myth of Infinite growth on a finite planet is unravelling. We have to create a new way of living.
Personal Transformation …
Former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres recommends a mindset for climate activism that rests on three attitudes: Radical optimism exists to catalyse transformation and to combat pessimism and denialism. Endless abundance is the belief that there are resources enough for all and combats competitiveness and tribalism. Radical regeneration means caring for both nature and oneself, to combat exploitation and burnout. She highlights the following necessary personal transformations, and more, in her book “The Future We Choose’ co-written with Tom Rivett-Carnac.
Let go of the old world
As Greta Thunberg has said in many of her speeches “Change is coming whether you like it or not”. Our behaviour needs to change, but perhaps more importantly, so does the way we think and feel about our lives. Figueres says “To meet the challenges of the climate crisis and preserve all that we hold dear… we must part ways with that which threatens to destroy them. Now is the time to make profound shifts in how we live, work and relate to each other.” These are transformational times in which we must let go of the age of fossil fuels and return to seeing ourselves as a part of nature and not separate from it.
Face your grief
…but hold a vision of the future. A world effected by climate change will not resemble the world many of us knew in our youth. “We cannot hide from the grief that flows from the loss of biodiversity and the impoverished lives of future generations.” Making time and space to face the grief we feel can actually be a powerful pathway to building connection and community. You are not alone in these feelings. Holding a vision of “a regenerative world where humans and nature can thrive” is a daily practice. As Maya Angelou said “You may encounter many defeats but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats so you can know who you are and what you can rise from.”
Defend the truth
Speak the truth about the climate crisis. Doing so meets our own need for support and processing, alongside building momentum in our communities. It is not always easy to speak up but bold action is necessary. For some, this will mean speaking up with family and friends; for others, this will extend to civil disobedience. Each of us needs to decide how we defend the truth. Figueres writes “social media is an engine for the production and dissemination of lies…The fabric of scientific method is fraying and objectivity is under attack” It is essential that we take responsibility for what we choose to believe in a post-truth world and learn to distinguish between real science and psuedoscience.
See yourself as a citizen
…not as a consumer. In our capitalist and consumer society billions of dollars a year are spent on advertising to make us all believe that don’t we have enough and are not good enough as we are. Consumerism, writes Figueres, “creates a constricted view of the world, one in which our value and identity are built on the proliferation of disposable waste.” It is time to change our consumption patterns and consider what it is to have ‘enough.’; time to re-focus on the things that truly make us happy – other people, acts of service to each other and time spent in nature. If the most important things in life are not things then we practice gratitude as a subversive act!