2020: last chance to save the world — ready?

October Rebellion, London, 2019. Photo: Tamsin Bishton

It’s the last day of 2019 and I’ve got the the new year lurgy. I’ve just made the decision to cancel New Year’s Eve party plans because at the age of 47 I am finally grown up enough to realise that “drinking through” a cold is not big or clever. It’s just a recipe for an even more devastating hangover tomorrow.

And tomorrow is the start of a big year. Not just for me. For every living being on the planet. Because tomorrow is the first day of 2020. And according to pretty much everyone who knows anything about this stuff, the next 12 months are basically make or break for the ENTIRE FUTURE OF LIFE ON EARTH.

• In March 2019, MARÍA FERNANDA ESPINOSA GARCÉS (Ecuador), President of the UN General Assembly said: “I invite you all to commit to 2020 being the last year carbon emissions increase due to human activities.”
• In July 2019 the BBC reported: “there’s a growing consensus that the next 18 months will be critical in dealing with the global heating crisis, among other environmental challenges. Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that to keep the rise in global temperatures below 1.5C this century, emissions of carbon dioxide would have to be cut by 45% by 2030. But today, observers recognise that the decisive, political steps to enable the cuts in carbon to take place will have to happen before the end of next year.”
• Just yesterday, the heads of the Environment Agency and Natural England said “It’s clear that 2020 is our last chance to bring the world together to take decisive action on climate change in order to protect our communities and reverse the alarming loss of wildlife we have witnessed in recent years”.
• Even the Daily Mail covered this story back in June 2017 — reporting that “2020 is the deadline to avert climate catastrophe” after Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder and now director emeritus of the Potsdam Climate Institute explained: “The climate math is brutally clear: While the world can’t be healed within the next few years, it may be fatally wounded by negligence until 2020.”

Vanessa Nakate (21) in Uganda knows that 2020 is make or break.

Izzy Raj-Seppings (13) in Australia knows that 2020 is make or break.

David Attenborough (93) in the UK knows that this is make of break.

So, you know, no pressure or anything. But it feels like it might be time to look this one in the eye and activate our internal Dontgiveafuckotrons in service of SAVING THE WORLD.

Luckily, unlike in the movies where they only ever seem to have, at most, a 60 second count down to destruction, we’ve got a whole twelve months.

On the down side, we don’t have to just decide on whether to cut the blue wire or the red wire. (Cut them both! Always cut them both!) We’ve got to decide to do things differently in our daily lives — stop eating meat most of the time, stop flying when we could get a train, stop constantly buying stuff we don’t need and then throwing it away a few months later, stop driving cars when we could walk or cycle— all together and all at the same time. And we’ve got to trust each other to get on and make these choices when we can, and not blame each other or point fingers when we can’t. Oh yeah, and we’ve got to get some of the most fuckwitted politicians ever to hold office on this planet to stop being such selfish, short-termist, arseholes and ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING AT A GLOBAL SCALE.

It’s a big challenge, and no mistake. It could feel overwhelming. It could feel hopeless. Maybe it feels like both of these things to you?

Weirdly, I’m feeling quite hopeful. If you aren’t, I want to share three ways I’m getting my own head around the challenge and getting out of hopelessness and into action:

1. We work best when we’re up against a deadline. I mean, did you ever do your homework on the day it was assigned? Have you ever got a job application in before the closing date? NO. The best, most brilliant work happens when there are no more excuses and the clock’s ticking down. And that’s where we’re at now. 2020: this is it. No more time to think about walking and cycling more next year; no more options to just clean out the under the stairs cupboard and THEN go veggie. The time is now. And you’re going to pull out a blinder at the last minute just like you always do.
2. We only have to commit to change for 12 months. It’s not that long to stick to something really is it? Just think about that moment when you were rummaging around for the Christmas tree lights a couple of weeks ago thinking “I can’t believe it’s a year since I was doing this last — where does the time go?” If we commit today to making some personal changes to how we live life in favour of trying to steer the ship away from the iceberg that’s already ripping through the hull of our vessel — it’ll be no time at all until it’s this time next year and you’ll be able to stop and ask: “Did it work? Did it make any difference? Are we still sinking?” If it has, then maybe we’ll feel it was worth it and want to carry on. If it hasn’t, well, at least we tried.
3. There’s a worldwide movement of activists who are giving their all to making those in power do the right thing. Of course the personal changes are important, but it can feel like pissing in the wind in the context of the lunacy that passes for “policy” from many of those in power at the moment. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last 12 months it’s this: WE ARE NOT DOING THIS ALONE. And I’m not just talking about Extinction Rebellion (although, of course, I am talking about this movement too and I’d encourage anyone reading this to get along to a local meeting and take a look for themselves what’s happening there, even if you only go once). But beyond XR, there’s a global network of ferocious-hearted planet warriors who are giving their life blood to this struggle. They are facing the might of the most powerful and richest organisations in the world. They’ve got our backs. Have we got theirs? Personally, when I consider the sacrifices of these brave people, I have no problem committing to making some changes in my day to day life, or sitting in the road, maybe even getting handy with the superglue when required!

So. 12 months to save the world. I genuinely think we can do it. Maybe I’ve watched too many films with improbably happy endings at the twelth hour. But I feel like there’s never been a better reason for getting out of bed with a clear head on 1 January as there is in 2020. I hope it’s going to be worth getting out of bed on 1 January 2021, too.

If you are still in need of persuasion or encouragement, here’s a couple of things I’ve been reading and listening to that are keeping me hopeful and motivated:

Outrage and Optimism podcast (hosted by Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2010–2016)

Active Hope (a handbook for navigating these times by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone)