The Environment - Everybody's Talking - But Who's Doing Anything?
Last Updated on Tuesday, 08 December 2009 19:33 Written by Norm Tucker Monday, 07 December 2009 12:50
The two-week United Nations environmental extravaganza has started in Copenhagen. 192 nations and their retinues will attend. 1,200 limos will be on hand. 140 private planes will arrive. There will be 15,000 participants, 5,000 journalists, countless visitors and protesters etc., etc.
The carbon footprint of the Copenhagen conference has been estimated to be similar to the city of Middlesborough in England with a population of around 140,000. What happened to the technology-alternative-conference? Surely, less carbon would be a more responsible response to the needs of the environment. No?
The mission of this conference is nothing short of saving the world. The assumption is that we - the world and the residents of the world, can actually do something about global warming in time to avoid rising temperatures and rising oceans, and melting ice in the Arctic and Antarctic.
As usual, humanity proceeds like it always has - with the assumption that we are really in control. The image to the left, demonstrates that old religious fervor - "He's got the whole world in my hands". Well, it's a myth, just like teaching the world to sing in 'perfect harmony' - a song absconded decades ago by the Coca Cola Company.
Why am I feeling that in Copenhagen we are repeating all the mistakes that got us to where we are today? We are marching to Copenhagen when we should be finding another way that does not have a significant footprint. It reminds me of those demonstrators for peace who march shouting and screaming down the streets, who throw rocks and Molotov cocktails, who create violence for peace.
It's not 'being the change', is it?
Why am I reminded of the Nazi goose-step? It's an odd image, but that is how I feel today. We are not acting and doing the change we need to see, are we? Goose-steps! Perhaps this is another inconvenient truth.
In recent months, there has been increased controversy over 'fudged' warming statistics. Each side proceeds on an adversarial-competitive basis and has timed their new figures for maximum impact at the Copenhagen conference. It's really propaganda, and we are left to question everybody and believe nobody.
I am reminded of an old friend of mine, Paul, in Ontario who used to say "figures lie and liers figure". From my personal business career, I am aware of how calculations can be manipulated and how images and graphs become propaganda. It is no accident that suddenly in advance of this environment conference new questions about statistical efficacy are raised. It is no accident that the World Health Organization has just announced that the last ten years have been the warmest decade ever.
This is surely a fear-based and deeply competitive approach to problem solving and decision making. Both sides - for and against global warming - use what I would call threatening communication tactics that are neither sustainable, peaceful nor nonviolent. Is that 'being the change' we want to see?
What do you believe? What do you think is the truth about global warming. And does it matter? Probably not. What matters is what you are doing?
What are you doing and why?
Whether you believe in global warming or not, there are things happening right here on the ground - our ground zero - that are visible to our senses. For example: Centralization and the growth of cities in which most people are massed and contained in a small area. Smog and more cars and more cars with single drivers and no passengers. Less and less local food. Thousands of tons of garbage shipped out of town. More and more chemical-processed food.
All this adds up to a condition where we are becoming less and less self-reliant.
Is the loss of self-reliance a problem? Does the loss of self reliance lead to a more or less sustainable life, if you consider the big picture? Is how develop big cities - i.e. digging big holes, destroying nature, cutting trees, using concrete and asphalt, ultimately a sustainable life style? These are questions to ask ourselves but beyond the questions we must act.
The statistics are academic, whether right or wrong. We can see and hear and smell the problems in our own living. We can feel in our hearts there is a problem.
We - ourselves - can do something about our own propensity to consume harmfully. We do not need Kyoto. We do not need Copenhagen. And we can start now to become more self reliant and thus develop sustainable capacity as individuals and communities. Relying on those who are going to enjoy a ton of caviar in Copenhagen, just does not cut it.
Be the change and make your own stamp on environmental sustainability.
If you are looking for ideas how to make a positive environmental impact, I can suggest Pummy Kaur's book What Would Gandhi Do?
For additional information, see BBC Global Solutions.