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Climate Justice - Blog Posts
Australia's burning, unsustainable tourism slowly thrives in my island, bleaching corals almost everywhere. Being just a mere spectator in all of this totally sucks. A decade for change and action please. 💚 Let's do what we can, we have no time for wars.
There has been a whale shark interaction recently established for tourism here in my place and it was suspected for feeding. Whale sharks follow a migratory path for food in the waters and if the feeding and baiting goes on, then their paths are definitely disrupted. The province has been on the issue for quite some time now, and orders were given to the municipality to take necessary action. But from what I have heard, people operating the site didn't claim to feed the fish but instead baiting them. I personally don't know how that differentiates with feeding. I find it strange how people desperately find ways to protect the obviously wrong things.
I had zero knowledge of the whale sharks before I encountered them in Oslob, Cebu. Back then, they were feeding them with uyap (baby shrimp). I knew nothing about the massive ecological disturbance of the people and the business did to our waters. But I'm here trying my best to use what I had learned back then and do as much as I can. So far, volunteering has been my greatest achievement and I look forward to my contributions though small, at the very least it's enough to contaminate the minds of other people haha 😂😉
Justicia para Puerto Rico!
Let’s sign and share to support relief efforts for Puerto Rico
Last weekend, I published my first piece in a weekly newsletter I'm starting called "Climate Chronicle." This first letter is intended to serve as a reminder of the urgency of immediate action on climate change, an introduction to the concept behind this newsletter, and a review of the book The Future We Choose--which inspired this periodical. I hope you'll take the time to give it a read, let me know what you think, and subscribe to the newsletter to join me on this journey of chronicling the climate crisis as we seek to stop it.
It’s solar and wind and tidal and geothermal and hydropower.
It’s plant-based diets and regenerative livestock farming and insect protein and lab-grown meat.
It’s electric cars and reliable public transit and decreasing how far and how often we travel.
It’s growing your own vegetables and community gardens and vertical farms and supporting local producers.
It’s rewilding the countryside and greening cities.
It’s getting people active and improving disabled access.
It’s making your own clothes and buying or swapping sustainable stuff with your neighbours.
It’s the right to repair and reducing consumption in the first place.
It’s greater land rights for the commons and indigenous peoples and creating protected areas.
It’s radical, drastic change and community consensus.
It’s labour rights and less work.
It’s science and arts.
It’s theoretical academic thought and concrete practical action.
It’s signing petitions and campaigning and protesting and civil disobedience.
It’s sailboats and zeppelins.
It’s the speculative and the possible.
It’s raising living standards and curbing consumerism.
It’s global and local.
It’s me and you.
Climate solutions look different for everyone, and we all have something to offer.
Klimaungerechtigkeit
[...] da wir gelernt haben, »unsicher« in der Wissenschaft mit »keine Ahnung« zu übersetzen. Das Gegenteil wäre korrekt.
Es gibt kein brisanteres Beispiel dafür, dass ein Wort in der Wissenschaft eine andere Bedeutung hat als in der Alltagssprache und welche weitreichenden Konsequenzen das nach sich ziehen kann.
Was es zu retten gilt, ist nicht das Klima oder die Menschheit. Es geht schlicht und einfach darum, die Würde und Rechte der Menschen – und zwar aller Menschen – zu retten.
Das wird gerade von jenen nicht verstanden, die argumentieren, das Klima sei auch früher schon mal so warm gewesen und wahlweise die menschengemachte Klimaerwärmung daher kein Problem sei oder die gegenwärtige Klimaerwärmung gar nicht menschengemacht wäre. Insbesondere letzteres, also die Frage nach den Verursachenden, verblasst im Kontext des Zitats zu einem irrelevanten Aspekt eines gesellschaftlich relevanten Problems, das es dringend zu lösen gilt. Die Frage nach den Verursachenden gewinnt jedoch enorm an Bedeutung, wenn es darum geht, eine verantwortliche Rolle bei der Lösung der Gerechtigkeitskrise zu übernehmen und den am stärksten Betroffenen zu helfen.
Der kolonialfossile Klimawandel ist daher im Wesentlichen weder Klimakrise noch Klimakatastrophe [...], sondern eine Gerechtigkeitskrise. Diese Gerechtigkeitskrise durchzieht die Geschichte der Menschheit und findet nicht erst statt, seit der Klimawandel ein Thema ist. In Kombination mit den Auswirkungen des Klimawandels hat diese Gerechtigkeitskrise jedoch eine neue Dringlichkeit und globale Dimension erreicht, die nur mittelbar mit Physik zu tun hat.
Die menschengemachte Klimaveränderung mag zwar ein naturwissenschaftliches Problem sein. Die Herausforderung und damit auch die Krise, die sich daraus ergibt, ist jedoch eine gesellschaftliche.
Dies ist zum einen dem Selbstverständnis der meisten Naturwissenschaftler*innen geschuldet, die sich als »neutral« und damit außerhalb politischer Zusammenhänge sehen – was in meinen Augen eine Illusion ist. Daher klammern viele Forscher*innen eher politisch konnotierte Inhalte wie Schäden und Verluste von vornherein aus ihrer Arbeit aus.
Dieses Zitat kann man direkt mit meinem Post What and how we research in Zusammenhang bringen.
Otto, F. (2023). Klimaungerechtigkeit: Was die Klimakatastrophe mit Kapitalismus, Rassismus und Sexismus zu tun hat. Ullstein.
I really needed to see something like this today! Thank you @reasonsforhope for all that you do
If you're feeling anxious or depressed about the climate and want to do something to help right now, from your bed, for free...
Start helping with citizen science projects
What's a citizen science project? Basically, it's crowdsourced science. In this case, crowdsourced climate science, that you can help with!
You don't need qualifications or any training besides the slideshow at the start of a project. There are a lot of things that humans can do way better than machines can, even with only minimal training, that are vital to science - especially digitizing records and building searchable databases
Like labeling trees in aerial photos so that scientists have better datasets to use for restoration.
Or counting cells in fossilized plants to track the impacts of climate change.
Or digitizing old atmospheric data to help scientists track the warming effects of El Niño.
Or counting penguins to help scientists better protect them.
Those are all on one of the most prominent citizen science platforms, called Zooniverse, but there are a ton of others, too.
--
I spent a lot of time doing this when I was really badly injured and housebound, and it was so good for me to be able to HELP and DO SOMETHING, even when I was in too much pain to leave my bed. So if you are chronically ill/disabled/for whatever reason can't participate or volunteer for things in person, I highly highly recommend.
Next time you wish you could do something - anything - to help
Remember that actually, you can. And help with some science.
I've been feeling climate anxiety lately. I think it's really necessary to change everything and progress towards a postcapitalist future that doesn't endanger our planet, our Pachamama. But I don't see how that will be possible. What do you think about this?
Hiya, thanks for getting in touch and sorry it’s taken me so long to reply. I get a lot of asks like this so I think I might make this another masterpost. Here’s climate anxiety solutions according to me:
1) Accept your feelings. Recognise that fear, grief, rage and despair are all normal, healthy, human reactions to paying actual attention to what is being done to our planet right now. You aren’t wrong or sick or overreacting by feeling them. Sit with the emotions, allow them to wash over you, cry, smash plates, punch a pillow, journal, write poetry, yell at the news, scream in the woods! Trying to repress these feelings will just make them harder to deal with.
2) Recognise that the paralysis of climate anxiety is not a good place from which to make a difference. Try to let horror, guilt and self-blame go, and lean into the love for people and planet that motivates all eco-anxiety. Start consuming good news stories and keying into activist spaces so that you can learn how others are claiming agency to fight this problem, and how you can emulate that. Remember that despair absolves you of responsibility and that true solidarity with the most affected means letting your emotions drive you towards action.
4) Educate yourself through reading, listening to podcasts, attending talks, seeking advice from elders, and more - whatever works for your particular life and circumstances. The more informed you are about these issues the more you’ll feel able to address them.
3) Make as many changes as you can in your personal life. Are you eating a high-carbon diet? Try to reduce that. Are you consuming a lot of water or energy resources? Look for green and low-intensity alternatives. Examine your transport habits and prioritise walking, cycling, trains, low or zero emission buses, sailing, and replacing longer-haul journeys with remote options. If you live in a throwaway culture, try to prioritise reuse and repair over consumption. Consider how your livelihood impacts the planet, and if it’s negatively and making change is possible for you, start the process of moving towards an occupation that lets you make a more positive difference.
4) Fight! Join a campaign group, write to your elected officials, attend a protest, donate money to causes if you can, commit civil disobedience if you feel willing and able. Put pressure on governments, businesses and the public to change their ways.
5) Prioritise joy and connection. Spend time in nature, watching animals or foraging for plants or swimming or walking or just letting it all wash over you. Link up with other people to talk through your worries, go hiking, lobby for climate justice, safeguard ecosystems and pass down your local heritage. Sometimes, take a day or two to check out of all these issues and problems and just spend time drawing, cooking, playing games with loved ones, or whatever it is that relaxes you. There are enough of us that you can take the time to avoid burnout.
I hope some of this was helpful, and do please get back in touch if you have any other questions or queries. You’re part of a huge global community of people who love and revere the earth and want to build a better future for all life upon her. Hold onto that.
People post Greece as an aesthetic whether it's our mythology or our beautiful islands. Now we need you more than ever. Our country is literally burning, we have no help, no resources and new fire fronts are developing each hour and heading towards villages. People and animals are in danger. The fires are not going out and it's windy. Please share this, spread awareness. Greece is always first to send help when other European countries are in need of help. Please share.
