Environment
Climate Needs More Than Our Protests
Our collective choices shape the world around us.
Our house is burning down and we certainly don’t have another planet. Although we are desperately working on habituating closer alternatives, ditching the Earth to live on Mars is not looking like a success story. Instead, — future generations — our new born martian babies will listen a different version of a biblical prophecy. Once upon a time humankind lived in a heaven called Earth. This dreamland was covered with trees that gave all kind of fruit, it’s waters were crystal clear, and it’s resources was vast. The sun was gentle, the air was fresh and nature provided. “Humans” the parents will whispers in their babies ears “were surrounded by all kinds of magnificent living beings. Then came corruption in human consciousness. Heaven became poisoned, the climate changed, the planet got flooded,” And after pausing for a moment, “this is how” the parents will explain to their unaware babies, “we fell from heaven onto this harsh, lonely rock.”
The global temperature is rising 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius), Greenland is losing 286 billion tons of ice per year, the global sea level has increased about 8 inches in the last century. All of this doesn’t mean anything until so called modern life collapses around us. When we shout “There is no Planet B”, the main concern is still our own wellbeing. Failing to understand how we are, and how everything is connected through nature brought us here in the first place. Otherwise we wouldn’t wait for our future to be in jeopardy. We would have done something about it when the first bird fell from the sky and first fish got poisoned in the oceans. We would value the only heaven we know of, the planet Earth, with all it’s richness and variety, as a whole.
Greta Thunberg is right when she says “One thing we need more than hope is action”. Millions of people marching in the streets is admirable action, yet this goes no further than showing intent. Intent is a form of hope. Current generations are raised believing that there is some kind of authority out there who will solve their problems.
What we fail to recognize is that our collective consciousness shapes the world around us. Blaming politicians, cooperations, and institutions is futile. They don’t exist against the will of 7 billion people.
We want a change but we want to exclude ourselves from that change. We want to protest in the morning and at night find our lives as they’ve always been. We hope that our voices will be heard by a power that is going to keep our lives intact and also remove the price this planet has to pay for catering to our habits and desires.
I admire Greta for her strength and sensitivity. I am happy to see millions of people recognize a part of themselves in her. Their intent is meaningful, however, the action that needs to be taken depends on the courage to change ourselves. And when we can change the individual choices we will make day after day, we will realize that this is heaven.
I am the curator of the Finding Peace Project that aims to create social harmony through the power of cultural diversity. It’s transmedia, it’s a participatory documentary, and it’s a community.
