I remain optimistic about our fight against the climate disaster, writes Philip Tutt-Leppard. Here’s why.
The environmental movement seems to be split in two camps at the moment.
There are those who believe being nice has had its day and we need to be direct with people. He sort of people who say “describe microplastics as deadly, fatal, toxic, life-threatening, etc and people might just get the idea”.
It’s an entirely understandable position.
And there are those who believe that the only way we are going to change behaviour and save ourselves is to put forward a positive vision of what a sustainable society could be like.
People like atmospheric scientist Katherine Hayhoe from the Tech University of Texas, who says, “There are no silver bullets, but there’s a lot of silver buckshot, so to speak. If we put it all together, we have more than enough of what we need.”
I fall into the second camp. Partly, because I believe my faith in a loving God justifies hope for the future.
But also because, in terms of the neuroscience, fear doesn’t work that way. Fear is a response to an immediate threat to personal wellbeing, not a future catastrophe for an entire species. That latter is more accurately described as climate anxiety and one of its main impacts is inaction, which is not going to solve the climate problem. Despair is not a solution.
History and fable are full of examples where the voices of approaching calamity were not heeded. Here are four which sprang to mind.
- Cassandra, the Trojan princess whose predictions of the city’s fall were discounted
- Pompeii, where people had noted the rumblings but were ignored as life went on as normal
- Aberfan, where the inquiry concluded that there was “failure to heed clear warnings, and of total lack of direction from above”
- Brexit, anyone else remember the derision aimed at Project Fear?
I could go on.
Beware the prophets of doom
In terms of the climate, Greta Thunberg and the film Don’t Look Up have taken different approaches to “it’s awful, we’re doomed.”
By way of contrast, Sir Winston Churchill is seen as a great war leader because his speeches enthused the British people that, although things were terrible, they could prevail over evil. “This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”
Prophets of doom are dangerous. They have no impact on the majority (see Cassandra above) but send the passionate into despair. I heard a comment from a dear friend who is committed to environmental protection. He runs his family business with that in mind. The planet will survive, he told me, but we probably won’t be part of its future.
That’s no place to be. And it gives those people, businesses, nations a get-out clause. If we are screwed anyway, there is no point taking action.
Entrepreneurs and SMEs have a vital role to play. We are full of ideas, we are agile, we know how to cooperate and make partnerships. If others won’t do it, let us step up and bring all those skills to bear on the fight against climate disaster. We can create a better, simpler, less polluting world.