Last month, at the start of August, myself and almost 100 other climate activists sat down in the middle of the intersection of Bourke Street and Swanston Street in Melbourne. Surrounded by signs we brought for the occasion, we shut the intersection down for over an hour.
This was a peaceful nonviolent protest negotiated with the police beforehand, who worked with us. At one point I was standing up holding my sign when a police officer placed himself in front of it. I said “you’re standing in front of my sign, dude.” He responded: “I’m sorry, brother.”
The protest’s organisers were very young. Areas of the climate change movement are driven by youth, because they understand they stand to suffer the most from the recklessness of older generations.
Our demands at Friday’s protest was to stop the Adani coal mine and for the Prime Minister to declare a climate emergency. There are people who condemn these kinds of actions for getting in people’s way and causing disruption. The same criticisms were made about the suffragettes, the abolitionists, the civil rights movement.
The time is up for waiting to take action on climate change. Here in Australia, a country on track to become a global emissions superpower, we cannot afford to wait another three years to elect another government (Liberal or Labor) in the hope that it might do something.
The good news is that getting to net zero emissions in a small number of years is achievable. There are clear ways to do this. We just need our governments to start following them, and we need to create a movement where this message is powerfully communicated. Creating a movement that has a real impact is very achievable too (there’s more about this later in this post…plus a cameo from Harrison Ford!). But we need to move very quickly.
The current climate change trajectory presents a future world of mass starvation, the displacement of millions of lives and the potential end of human civilization. These are dramatic statements, but it’s science – not science fiction. All of this is available for you to research yourself.
My friends and family know that I have never been a “tree-hugging leftie.” I’ve never been into camping. I have often joked (while also being quite serious) that my idea of a perfect weekend away is staying inside and watching a shit load of movies.
I have always respected environmental activists but never thought I would become one. Then again, few of us imagined that we would end up in a world like this.
I think one of the reasons I became an activist (though it’s not like I sat down one day and declared “I’m an activist now!”) is because I have a strong desire to become a father, but am intensely conflicted by the question of whether it is right to bring another human into existence, given what we know about the changing nature of the planet.
Stay with me, folks, because I’m going somewhere optimistic with all this. But we need to get through the tough stuff first.
As you probably know: the seas are rising and the ice caps are melting. In the last 50 years, humanity has wiped out 60% of the world’s animals. Currently, between 150 to 200 species of plant, insect, bird and mammal become extinct every 24 hours. We are losing the earth’s insects; 40% of them are in decline and a third are endangered. This is the early stages of a sixth mass extinction.
A couple of weeks ago Prince Charles – not exactly a “tree hugging leftie” either – stated that he was “firmly of the view that the next 18 months will decide our ability to keep climate change to survivable levels and to restore nature to the equilibrium we need for our survival.”
You know you are living through a strange period in history (“interesting times”, as they say) when a member of the British royal family tells the press we have 18 months to determine the survival of humankind.
If the world warms by two degrees, which it almost certainly will, we then face the reality of feedback loops, which are irreversible downward spirals. At this point the earth begins to look like a biblical apocalypse – except it will be one entirely of our own making. Our challenge is to paddle backwards, very very fast, to prevent this from happening.
Now here’s the good (or good-ish) news.
Firstly: we are all in this together. The fastest people cannot outrun climate change. The wealthiest people cannot buy somewhere that will shield themselves from it. We are all in this together.
Secondly: humans don’t have to invent a solution to fix climate change. We already have it. It’s called renewable energy and climate offset schemes. This is why the Adani mine is such a terrible idea – because it is the opposite of what we need at this crucial point in history. We have the solutions. We just need the political will.
Thirdly: while there is still some time on the clock left, there is still hope. If you are feeling scared, frustrated, angry, helpless about the climate crisis, I strongly recommend you join the movement fighting against it. By doing so you will feel better and more empowered.
Our political leaders do not want us to realise that it is us, the people, who truly have the power. If everyone who is worried about climate change took to the streets and protested, the government – afraid of electoral backlash – would quickly change their policies.
Now here’s even better news: we don’t even need to get everybody to take to the streets. Far from it. Studies indicate that, in order to achieve meaningful political change, only 3.5% of the population needs to be mobilised (this is known as ‘the 3.5% rule’). That is doable. We can be that 3.5%. But we do need to mobilise.
In the words of the inspirational anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
What you can do:
1) Attend ‘Heading for Extinction and What to Do About It’. These are presentations run by Extinction Rebellion Australia. They are popping up all over the country, with new events added regularly. Visit here: http://bit.ly/2JuSLOy
2) Mark September 20 in your diary. Take it off work, and head onto the streets with thousands of others. This is the day of the Global Climate Strike.
3) Also mark the week beginning October 7 in your diary. Extinction Rebellion Australia will be running climate protests throughout the week in the major Australian cities.
4) Share this post or make your own.
5) Look after yourself. Get angry, get sad, grieve. Then come out the other side and take action. In the words of Harrison Ford, speaking at the Global Climate Action Summit: “Let’s kick this monster’s arse!”
Of course we can stop climate change. As a student I protested the Vietnam war along with many others. In retrospect it was the right thing to do. I took my daughter as a toddler to one of those protests. She in turn, took me to the Iraq War protest.In retrospect it was the right thing to do. I have been to many climate change protests and will take my two grandsons to the school strike on Sept. 20th.
Heads of government rely on people staying silent in the face of injustice to sit back and do nothing but ramp up the fear quotient, but finally people have had enough and realise they must take matters into their own hands.
Now I am in my late seventies and time is running out for me but I do know that if all the younger people band together, think carefully about their actions and demand change it will come.
So much can be achieved by peaceful protest, the numbers are on our side.Do what you can when you can and never give up.
Everyday, small and large efforts are bringing about change.?????????