Looking forward on climate, the case for hope amid the heartbreak
Art installation at the security fence around COP26 at Glasgow on Nov. 12, 2021. Photo by: Kairn Carrington
Today I am crying, breathing through waves of nausea. I know this feeling in my body; it is grief.
I keep thinking that we've finally got it — that at long last, we understand the gravity of our situation as we creep closer and closer to the edge of ecological collapse, but then we pull the rug out from under ourselves again. Or maybe it is more accurate to say that the twin powers of politics and oil money have done it for us.
In this moment, I feel scared for the future. I can’t imagine what level of fight-back it is going to take to execute the scale of change we need to avoid losing millions and millions of human lives, lives that could be our children, or our parents, especially if they happen to be born in the Global South or what the UN calls the “vulnerable countries.”
Kumi Naidoo, South Africa’s leading human rights activist, is spitting mad. He is infuriated by the way the industry lobby has undermined efforts to limit growth in oil and gas: “Imagine the absurdity that the largest delegation here is the fossil fuel industry. That is like Alcoholics Anonymous having a global conference and the largest delegation is the alcohol industry.”