Climate Reality Training recap - Kara Eusebio
“How do you describe yourself? Write down nine words that describe you and then share them with the people sitting next to you.”
I’m sitting in a breakout session called “Telling Your Story: Personal Narrative as Social Change,” at The Climate Reality Project Leadership Corps Training in Atlanta, Georgia. My fellow participants and I look at each other a bit awkwardly and start to write.
When it’s time to go around the table and share, the results are interesting. Of course, my new friends are interesting — from different regions, economic backgrounds, workplaces, and with varied accents and perspectives — but the way we describe ourselves also varies significantly. Some come up with a list of nine adjectives, some write a nine word sentence, while others (like me) list nine nouns — among those I include “sister” and “Marylander.”
Of course, no one is the sum of a series of nine words, but these two words (sister and Marylander) summarize the lens through which I viewed my experience in Atlanta.
When I applied to be a part of the Global Shapers contingent attending this training, I had very little knowledge of climate change, beyond what I see on the news or what my knowledgeable friends shared with me. I was a little embarrassed to talk about climate change because I didn’t know all the facts, the figures, and the science. But I did know that we’re seeing devastating weather events with increased frequency and that we sometimes struggle with how to rationalize things like flooding with the reality of climate change. I also knew that that my fellow Global Shapers see climate change and the destruction of nature as the most serious global issue and indeed, in Atlanta, I met 48 Global Shapers from 18 countries doing incredible work in their hubs from Mexico City to Lancaster to Harare on topics such as sustainable fashion to #ShapingGreenLiving initiatives.
Note: I’m not a scientist and I wouldn’t do the presentation of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the other individuals who have devoted their lives to fighting climate change any justice if I tried to explain it. If you’re interested in reading an amazing overview of the training and the impact that climate change is having on our communities and our world, check out fellow Global Shaper Mariel Reed’s fascinating blog post.
These were my main takeaways from the training:
Environmental justice IS social justice — Vulnerable populations, people of color, and people with disabilities have been hit the hardest by climate change. On a world stage, this isn’t difficult to see as we watch climate displacement uproot communities from Southeast Asia to Latin America and Africa. But what we might not see is that there is a racial gap between those who create pollution and those who breathe it. And that communities of color are often more likely to live near polluting power plants. I am a sibling of a person with an intellectual disability and I now know that people with disabilities face additional challenges as our climate continues to change, becoming more and more isolated as extreme weather continues, with climate change information disseminated in a way that might be confusing to those who have difficulty communicating. For more information on how climate change is a disability rights issue, check out this piece by my friend, Climate Reality mentor, and fellow Global Shaper Tiffany Yu.
One of the special events of the training was an interfaith service held at the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s church called “A Moral Call to Action on the Climate Crisis.” Leaders of many religious faiths and cultural backgrounds shared their perspectives on our moral duty to act, now, on climate change. It was a powerful, uniting discussion. I think that we would all like to believe that, if we were alive in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s time, we would have stood up and fought for civil rights, and asserted the importance of championing the voices of vulnerable communities. I think that we would have all liked to picture ourselves as taking action, when the situation was dire. But here’s the thing — the situation IS dire — and the voices of some of the people most impacted by climate change AREN’T a part of the conversation.
People where I grew up are at very high risk for climate change related crises — I grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, about two hours southeast of Baltimore and nestled on a peninsula directly in between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Growing up, there was often talk of flooding, being only around 17 feet above sea level. But that flooding was often chalked up to simple erosion — something that had existed for a very long time. I didn’t realize that, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, Maryland ranks second — only behind Louisiana — for the number of communities prone to chronic inundation. Simply put, our land is disappearing under the water. Indeed, we may have lost up to $555 million in property value appreciation because of this continued flooding. We know that “more heavy precipitation over the long term ‘is an expected and observed consequence of climate change.’” That’s because we humans are heating up our atmosphere at alarming speeds — and a warmer atmosphere holds more precipitation. People often talk about the disappearing land of Tangier Island, Virginia and indeed, their story is compelling. But it doesn’t stop with this one community. It continues up the Maryland coast, to Deal Island, Maryland, and many other fishing and watermen communities like Fishing Creek, and Taylors Island, and the nearly gone James Island. Centuries of watermen have seen their careers, their livelihoods, their culture and homes disappear. This coastal region is considered perhaps the most vulnerable in the nation. Which leads me to my next takeaway.
It’s easy to be angry and it’s much harder (and much more important) to keep having difficult, respectful conversations — I’m from a region that is often considered backwards. We have a weird accent, we’re farmers and fishers, our coastal land is fast receding, and come on guys, how we can all not believe in climate change? But here’s the thing. I think we’re making a big mistake. We keep assuming that it’s facts and figures, research reports and sweeping speeches, webinars, “Green Jobs” websites, and snappy infographics that are going to change hearts and minds. We think it’s incredible to believe that there are still climate change deniers among us, that people must be willingly ignoring the signs. Maybe we think we’re a little bit more educated and even maybe a little bit better for knowing the truth. We think that more articles, more research studies, more speeches will take away the pain of losing your land, your home, your identity, your sense of self. We think that the problem is knowledge, when perhaps the problem is that we have failed to acknowledge this very real hurt and to find a way to help people move forward and address climate change in a way that resonates with them and their values. As Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II said in Atlanta, “the constitution isn’t about rugged individualism, it starts with ‘We the People.’” And as Mustafa Santiago Ali reminded us, “they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
If we’re going to make progress, real progress, on an issue that will impact every single one of us, and our children, we need to keep in mind that in the end, the conversation about climate change isn’t really about PowerPoint presentations and statistics, though those are helpful. We have to remember, as Chris Hayes from MSNBC says, “political analysis, by necessity, deals in generalizations and categories and demos. But it’s people all the way down.”
So what’s next for me?
Shaper Friends — I’m working with my fellow Ottawa Shaper Eliza Ali to create opportunities for young professionals and people with intellectual disabilities to network, make new friends, and become more active citizens together. We’re working on how to integrate sustainable elements into our events and into the work we do to be better members of our communities.
Conversations with people where I grew up — I’m thinking about how I can have conversations with faith leaders, people of influence, and my friends who still live on the Eastern Shore. How can we reframe our discussions around climate change in a way that prioritizes respect and holds space for people to express their fear, anger, and doubts? There are already many great folks doing this work and I look forward to lending my voice to these conversations — and to continue giving a voice to the people who aren’t in the room.
Working with SMEs — In my job, I work every day with Ottawa’s highest performing startups and SMEs. How can we work as an organization to share resources on sustainable procurement and ensure that our companies have the opportunity and incentive to take a stand for climate change action? How can we make it easier for startups to access funding for environmentally friendly business practices and initiatives?
What’s next for our Hub?
On April 5, our Hub will come together for a screening of “Our Planet”, a Sir David Attenborough narrated documentary series that focuses on the irreparable damage we are doing to our beautiful world. We will commit to having conversations about climate change related issues with our friends, our colleagues, and our families.
We will continue to encourage individuals to take the Voice for the Planet pledge, an initiative launched by the Global Shapers Community at Davos in January 2019.
And we will commence, along with all of the other Canadian Global Shapers Hubs, a pan-Canadian Climate Change project within the coming months. Stay tuned for opportunities to volunteer!
Thank you to the Climate Reality Project (especially Ken Berlin and Rebeca Cipollitti), Rozamund Zander, and the World Economic Forum team (especially Natalie Pierce) for this incredible opportunity.
