7/ Ok so now that we're confident and ready to roll, what can we actually do?
As I see it, there are five main things we could and should all be getting on with
1⃣ communicating
2⃣ influencing
3⃣ activism
4⃣ building better alternatives, and
5⃣ looking after ourselves
8/ We need to reach social tipping points so leaders have no choice but the take the required action - and that means putting the climate and ecological emergency on everyone's lips
So 1⃣ communicate. Take every opportunity to talk about it, to whoever you can
9/ I don’t mean full-on deniers – forget them, they can’t be reached
But between the activists (<1%) and the deniers (<1%), there’s a full 98% of the population who know it’s happening but aren't doing enough about it
They are the ones we have to motivate and mobilise
10/ We're conditioned to not talk about it - nobody wants to bring down a social occasion or annoy their friends with piety, but we just have to get over these taboos and social norms
It's hard, and makes us uncomfortable, but this is an emergency
11/ It's important because person-to-person is the most potent form of communication there is
People can easily dismiss something on the TV or Facebook as unimportant, but you are a real person that they respect or love. They might listen to you
12/ So talk, but don't focus only on scientific or technical arguments - 420 ppm, 1.5C and other such concepts are abstract and difficult to comprehend.
They don’t feel real, and they don’t get through on a meaningful level
13/ In any case our rational brains aren't even the key player here - our emotions are
@GretaThunberg showed us this. Decades of technical arguments by scientists didn't break through, but when Greta started speaking in emotive language, people started listening
14/ We know the facts. What we don’t see is the fear, the grief, the emotional devastation
But they are hugely powerful and persuasive, so use them. ‘Weaponise’ them
Rage and injustice too – they help turn anguish into motivation to act
15/ We’ve spoken from the head and been ignored, so speak from the heart a bit more
But we also need to be clever with our communication, as we're competing with a lot of other stuff out there
So think about your audience, and craft your messages
16/ Many people might not think they care about climate change, but they do care about some of its impacts
If they're into justice, focus on justice. If they garden, talk about plants
Sports, business... this changes everything, and there's an angle for everyone
17/ And don't just focus on the risks and dangers
Climate justice means creating a better world - it will be cleaner, healthier, fairer and richer
Focusing on opportunities, rather than just challenges, may be more motivating for some
18/ So talk, talk, and talk some more - to friends, colleagues, the lady at the bus stop...
But also make opportunities to reach beyond your circle - get yourself in the local paper, or on the radio
Do something to get noticed, then let rip. Or if you have a platform, use it
19/ Talk to your political representatives too, loudly and often. Show them what their constituents care about
(but then you already knew that)
20/ The next thing is 2⃣ push for change in your circles of influence
Climate change changes everything, so everything must change – your schools, businesses, sports clubs, all of it!
But change doesn't just happen - someone needs to make it happen, and that's you
21/ So push for change, but remember our strategic messaging - don't focus on climate, but the advantages to be had from the transition
Every organisation has to adapt to a post-carbon world, and those who do so quickest will have a great advantage
Make the 'business case'
22/ The world is changing fast, so don't let your organisations be left behind!
Don’t let them be the delivery company who stuck with horses because they thought those new-fangled automobiles were too expensive
23/ Ok so you’re talking to everyone, and pushing for change where you have influence. What next?
3⃣ Get active, and join a group!
Link up with others - there is power in numbers, and you'll feel good to be one of many
24/There's a huge range of groups, from traditional campaigning ones to those who engage in non-violent direct action
They work in different ways and have different views of how to make change happen
So find one that feels right for you
25/ Personally I believe in civil disobedience, the symbolic refusal to behave and just let it happen to us
We've been campaigning politely for decades and been easy to ignore. It's beyond time to step it up
30/ And let’s not limit our civil disobedience to the streets either
Refusing to take that unnecessary work flight, or join in with activities that normalise wastefulness, is disobedience too!
31/ Ok you can take a break if you like, that’s a lot already!
But actually we’re nearly there and my fourth theme is really short because I don’t know much about it
32/ Opposing everything wrong is great and all, but it’s not enough. We also need to 4⃣ develop and support better alternatives
Better ways to govern, better ways to grow food, better ways to trade and meet public needs...
There are people doing this all over
33/ So find, support and join them
They are countercultural now, but with or without collapse our mainstream ways of doing things are on the way out, and we’ll need better ways in the new world we build
34/ You'll notice that one thing I haven't discussed much so far is reducing our personal carbon footprints
And not just because that's what most articles and blogs seem to focus on exclusively
35/ Doing so is important
It helps us feel better, and it makes us much more legitimate and effective activists - our messages carry greater weight if we also walk the walk
36/ This is particularly important for people with high-carbon lifestyles, like frequent flyers. It's why I gave up my job leading tours to Madagascar
But not everyone can afford only organic food or do without a car, so don't let that hold you back
37/ Some fear being labelled a hypocrite, but own the label
It's not possible to exist in the modern world without having a negative impact, and they are not arguing in good faith
They'll use any excuse to discredit you, so ignore them
We all know that plastic is now everywhere, but the great drifts of it on the world’s beaches barely scratch the surface of the plastic pollution problem
Here’s a thread on just how deep the crisis goes
🧵1/
It's in the earth beneath our feet, buried underground
In places it has already become the earth, forming new kinds of rock known as pyroplastics and plastiglomerates
2/
It covers the oceans in great floating islands, and has reached the deepest trenches
It’s in the bellies of
-albatrosses and penguins🐧
-fish 🦈🐟
- turtles
- and whales🐳
1/ Inspired by the arrival of this beauty, here’s a thread of books that help us understand and overcome the barriers that people put up to save ourselves from having to think about climate change and take action
#ClimatePsychology 🧵
2/ Margaret Klein Salamon @ClimatePsych's 'Facing the Climate Emergency' is the most clear-headed guide to understanding ourselves as we face up to this emergency, and commit to taking action, as you could hope for
I'm excited to read this 2nd Ed
3/ George Marshall @climategeorge's (2014) classic ‘Don’t Even Think About It' explores how our brains are evolutionarily hard-wired to ignore the danger
1/ It's not annual emissions that ultimately matter but the concentrations of greenhouses gasses in the atmosphere - and these are already dangerously high
That means net zero is not enough
🧵
2/ Net zero means reaching equilibrium at much higher concentrations than they are now
27 years' (!) worth of emissions higher if we're going for 2050 🤯
And the consequences would be unimaginable
3/ Instead, we must aim for net negative, to bring atmospheric concentrations back down to safe levels
It's not enough to slowly brake towards 2050 (even if we actually were). We must slam on the brakes and engage reverse
9 years in the making, yesterday's #IPCC 6th assessment report synthesises a 6000-page (?) summary of climate and related sciences, and is arranged around 18 'headline statements'
I'm going to try and summarise it in 18 plain-language tweets 😬
1/ By burning stuff & emitting gasses we’ve DEFINITELY heated the world by 1.1C, but we haven’t stopped doing it. Wealthy countries and individuals have contributed much more to the problem, so we’re not equally to blame
2/ This has already had massive impacts on the weather, the oceans and the living world, everywhere on Earth. These changes have been catastrophic for people and nature, but those who have contributed least to the problem are the ones paying most of the costs