Rethinking Climate Action: How Individual Acts Translate into Systemic Change in the Face of Climate Crisis
By: World Economic Forum Chicago Global Shapers
Tags: Climate Action, Sustainability, Climate Change, Community Engagement, Global Shapers

By Rajee Kanagavel

‘What do you see?’ my colleague asks, looking at the Bosch three-panel painting The Garden of Earthly Delights.

‘One apple, too many apples, no apple,’ I tell him trying to answer the conundrum thrown at me.

We have a meeting the next day in the same room. I reluctantly comment again, ‘There’s a hedgehog, several horses, a peacock — it’s about the interdependence between wildlife and humans.’

Several months later, I had one last look at the painting before leaving Germany. I asked, ‘Is this a daily reminder that all of us will ultimately die?’

The following year, I started watching Before the Flood. It hooked me at the very first frame — absolutely not because it was being narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio. There again was The Garden of Earthly Delights. It appeared and slowly I recalled the several different small characters within the painting. ‘Now, this makes a lot of sense,’ I tell myself. It was an allegory of man’s descent into temptation, which beckons ruin and depravity. An apt comparison for today — though not perfectly, given that the film is about changing climate events in all the five continents due to human activities.

Fast forward a few years, I am listening to a talk by Rozamund Zander in Atlanta. Zander is addressing the Global Shapers on optimism in the face of climate change. She tells us of the dire tribulations of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew during his legendary Antarctic expedition, extoling us to remember that perseverance is all. Though we have fallen to despair in our planetary stewardship, through perseverance, we can find atonement and salvation for both the Earth and ourselves.

Global Shapers with Rozamund Zander, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, and Climate Reality Project CEO Ken Berlin at the 40th Climate Reality Leadership Corps Training in Atlanta, Georgia 14–16 March 2019

I was among the 49 Global Shapers from 18 different countries gathered to attend the Climate Reality Leadership Corps training in Atlanta this year. Since joining the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, I have met so many Shapers in different places, from all over the world, all who have inspired and motivated me by their actions and the impact they have had in their local communities. In Atlanta, sharing the space with fellow Shapers — all of whom represent a dedicated global vision for a common, clean future — evoked Christina Figueres’s phrase ‘stubborn optimism,’ which in order to embody, we all need to act both individually and collectively.

Here are my four key takeaways from the training:

1. There’s no time to deny or speculate; only to act

In the past decade, we were talking about saving the planet for our children and children’s children. However, we are now experiencing things at an apocalyptic rate. We have to do something today to mitigate the pressing crisis and, in the process, save ourselves in our lifetime. The ‘natural’ disasters that we face in almost every single continent are no longer ‘natural’ but are directly caused by us. Since the Industrial Revolution, the rate of greenhouse gas emission has exponentially increased, causing unprecedented climatic events such as melting of glaciers and sea ice, increases in intensity of forest fires, and a rise in sea temperatures at an alarming pace. The sources vary: from burning fossil fuels, to animal agriculture to industrial processes. No matter how sceptical politicians and leaders are or how much we debate the causes, the fact is we are facing the catastrophic consequences now. This is definitely not a problem to talk — share or tweet — about or to put off acting on until tomorrow. Considering the gravity of the situation, we must act today.

2. It’s time to amplify unheard voices; and listen

People in marginalised populations — especially communities of colour — are evidenced to experience the most adverse impacts of climate change. To ensure that the voice of those most at risk are heard, it is essential to eliminate barriers for people who are often excluded from the conversation. Particularly, persons with disabilities, the elderly, indigenous people, and migrant communities. It is unfair that those who choose to produce most of the world’s emissions are not the same as those who are most directly affected by their production. It is also important what we empower representatives from the most at-risk communities to speak for themselves about the consequences of climate change they face. Holding the training in Atlanta, birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, was so appropriate. Although I am not a follower of a particular religion, I found it empowering to witness people from different faiths coming together to call for climate action at the Ebenezer Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. started his action. We need to support the world-wide realisation of environmental justice as a human right.

3. We’re at a PITCHFORK in the road

Learning about the different Shaper projects — be it Climate Braintrust, sustainable fashion, or reducing plastic use — reminded me that we are on the way towards our goal. On the second day of the training, young climate activists marched across the world and fought for climate action. It is almost impossible to not draw parallels to how young people fought the battles of the Civil Rights Movement. Fixing climate change is definitely not an intractable problem. I see it as a milieu of social innovation waiting to be made real, through solutions that have impact, both small and large. The first rule of holes: when you are in one, stop digging. If we can do that, nature will do the rest. Nature has an extraordinary resilience and capacity to regenerate. Examples of this phenomenon can be seen in how whales were bought back from the edge of extinction and in the success of reforestation in deserts in China.

4. You’re not alone; we are in the same boat

As far as I can remember, I have always enjoyed being outdoors in nature. When I first learnt about humanity’s carbon footprint, I had an inkling about how important it is to consider this issue for our environment and future generations. Today, when I read reports of how rampant the problem is, I feel deluged and helpless. I grew up in Chennai, a coastal city in South India, and I find it almost abysmal to think that life will become difficult to thrive in South Asia in a few decades. One thing that felt reassuring to me in the training was sharing the space with hundreds of people from different walks of life, all converging on the same ideology, to fight our climate crisis. I understood that it may seem onerous, but when everyone does their part, it is doable. As a social scientist, having studied social relationships for many years, I like to think about this in terms of how networked we are. Just as the most resilient ecosystems consist of plants that are connected underground by vast and far reaching mycelial networks, human communities are most resilient when there is cohesion amongst people from diverse parts of society. Halting climate change might sound dauntingly complex but when we look at it from structural point of view, each individual is a unit in a system and when the system collectivises, it is powerful.

For us to live in a world that reciprocates with nature and does not exploit nature, it comes down to each one of us. Individual motives and social progress are inextricably linked. Yes, 100 companies are responsible for 71% of our global carbon emissions. However, it is up to us to act, however small, as we are part of the system. If we are conserving energy and polluting less, we can have a positive impact on our biodiversity and their habitat. Looking at the Our Planet social media trends, it is clear that many do care about the baby flamingo with salt covered legs, innocent seal pups, starving polar bears and blind-out-of-water walruses falling to their deaths. As Sir David Attenborough puts it, ‘they may be beyond our reach but, they are not beyond our influence.’ Our collective behaviour has the transformative potential to bring change.

This past year, there is a record of 1.0°C global warming rise in temperature. Unless we revive connection to our planet, this number will have no effect and will remain a mere number. No amount of other statistics and technical presentations will change our minds and behaviour on executing action. One thought which has stuck with me for a long time is the line by Karenna Gore, ‘Instead of “Not in My Backyard”’, we should be saying, ‘Not on my planet Earth!’. The more connected I feel to nature, the more I care about and commit myself to small changes in lifestyle. I believe our actions can and will alleviate climate change. We are capable of much more than acting on the three R’s. Foremost in our extended campaign should be to forge the connections that make political actions viable.

One thing I know for sure about climate change is that it is not a problem that can be solved solely through technical advancements. There is a huge human element in the equation. We cannot address climate change without considering how emotions affect our choices. From my personal discussions with friends and family, I find that emotion is key to generating understanding. No matter where we are from and where we live, each one of us has a personal story to connect with when we address climate change and our fears concerning it. After all, one thing we all have in common shared with fellow humans is our only home, our planet Earth.

On this note, I would like to highlight some amazing fellow millennials who I have had the opportunity to know and interact closely with for a variety of reasons — a few of them being my close friends — who are part of the activism and in their own way making a difference in their community and for our planet:

Milan Anderson — Teacher based in Chicago who educates kids about climate change and encourages them to do projects/activities and talk to their parents

Ramnath Chandrasekar — Conservation Educator and Filmmaker; he founded the Youth Conservation Action Network (YOUCAN) in Chennai, that focuses on environmental education for young adults

Nicola Chasseaud — Illustration Artist based in England whose work primarily focuses on nature conservation. You can follow her @mieliseul

Tim Ryder — A fellow Global Shaper in DC who founded Green Drinks DC that brings environmentalists and nature enthusiasts together through networking events

Johanna Tagada — Artist and founder of Poetic Pastel @poeticpastel that centres around nature inspired art and publications

I’d also recommend the following documentaries that helped me learn more about the topic in terms of facts and solutions and also some acted as a motivating factor to make changes in my everyday life