‽istis wonders how clear, how present, how dangerous (weekending 16th October 2021)
This week, ‽istis tried to buy a copy of the Daily Mail (1). Being thwarted by the paper buying habits of residents and visitors, ‽istis read online (2) the report of a BBC interview with Prince Charles on climate activism which included these phrases:
‽ “It’s just talk. The problem is trying to get action on the ground which I’ve been trying to do for the last 40 years.”
‽ “I knew in the end all these young people would get fed up because they feel nothing is even happening so of course they’re going to get frustrated... They see their future being totally destroyed.”
And also this week:
● a report suggests that Coal-fired power generation in China appears to be ramping up to meet the country’s growing demand for electricity (3)
● the UK was perhaps reminded of the cost of coal as: ‘U.K. power prices rose after a coal power plant switched on Monday to make up for a shortfall in wind generation and limited flows on two power cables to Ireland.’ (4)
● doubt was cast about the likelihood of breakthrough outcomes being reached at COP2 (5)
● Drivers threatened to run climate protesters over as ‘Insulate Britain’ stage roadblock protests for the 13th time (6)
● ‽istis wondered about the planning meetings and communications underway to co-ordinate the expected protests at the conference
● ‽istis started to dip in to the 2021 ‘Climate Transparency Report’ (7) and found some of the highlights:
○ Fossil fuels subsidised throughout the recovery
○ Rebounding emissions signal a return to business as usual
○ Financial regulations improving, but public fossil fuel finance continues
○ Transformative policies urgently needed in key sectors to curb rising emissions
○ Revised ambition but the G20 is not on track for a 1.5° world
○ Vulnerability of G20 members highlights the need to adapt now
And this last point chimed with thoughts about change and the potentially important and motivating power of presenting and recognising something as a ‘clear and present danger’...
‽istis therefore started to ponder the characteristics of a perceived danger that may be clear, present and leaves no explanation, reasonable reason or excuse to not act now! What might help tip the balance from leaving things how they are (so close maybe to that resigned and shrugful: ‘it is what it is’), the stasis, the devil better known...?Characteristic a): the threat (8) level and potential impact of a hazard or danger perhaps needs to be understood. What might be the task here? Maybe raising awareness; helping to promote risk assessment and identification of hazards; modelling the impact, highlight what could be lost, and - for those conservatives (whatever size the ‘c’ is) - what may never be the same again
Characteristic b): the danger or threat level and potential impact perhaps needs to be perceived, seen, felt, experienced actually right now - or imminently where likelihood has tipped from impossible, to on the balance of probabilities, on to beyond reasonable doubt towards certainty. What might be the task here? Maybe raising awareness - what has happened, what is happening - now; helping people to think realistically about what could happen and make judgements about probability
Characteristic c) the danger or threat level and its actual or likely impact perhaps needs to be thought and felt to relate to ‘me’ and ‘mine’ (relatives, friends, people ‘like me’, property, possessions etc.). What might be the task here? Maybe expanding empathy, or sympathy; perhaps promoting narratives of similarity more than difference, that no-one is safe unless all are safe, that wealth and status and individual merit possibly have little to do with individual merit, that we are more connected, inter-dependent and co-dependent than some perhaps may think; persuading that there is more that unites than divides, that me and ‘mine’ can include you and yours - and that ‘we’ together might be essentially and existentially both part of the problem and part of the solution.
So ‽istis wonders how much these three characteristics (9) perhaps, possibly may resound in speeches or fill the pages of reports produced inside the COP26 buildings or be proclaimed from the wittiest or starkest of banners outside...
And ‽istis wonders what the balance might be between them - and whether the last should be first?
How clearly can the apparently clear and present danger be presented‽
© Pistis
NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. ‘Follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
1) For the first time... but all sold out
2) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10079315/Prince-Charles-says-totally-understands-groups-like-Insulate-Britain-XR.html
3) https://www.powerengineeringint.com/coal-fired/china-reopening-coal-mines-to-meet-accelerating-demand/
4) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-11/u-k-turns-to-coal-as-low-wind-output-increases-power-prices
5) COP - (United Nations Climate Change) Conference of the Parties
6) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/13/drivers-threaten-insulate-britain-activists-in-essex-protests
7) https://www.climate-transparency.org/media/climate-transparency-report-2021 ‘The Climate Transparency Report is the world’s most comprehensive annual review of G20 countries’ climate action and their transition to a net zero emissions economy. The review is based on 100 indicators for adaptation, mitigation and finance compared against 1.5°C global benchmarks and aims to make good practices and gaps transparent. The summary report and 20 country profiles allow the report to be a clear reference tool for decision makers.’
8) For some who may benefit from a situation or changes that could be made - then it may be the opportunity level that tips the balance (e.g: companies that can switch to making PPE as well as can make hand sanitiser alongside gin in a pandemic): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ppe-manufacturing-business-transformations/
9) and others that no-doubt could be identified and pondered.
