The heat dome is a tipping point

And this is what we can all do: now.

We hear a lot about tipping points when it comes to the environment. But every major change in society has a tipping point, too.

Blue Planet 2 was the tipping point for single use plastics. People cared before that. But Blue Planet showed us - explicitly, brutally and clearly - the impact of our plastic addiction.

The public mood shifted. People changed their behaviours - and they demanded action from politicians and businesses.

This week, Canada burned. It, too, was explicit and brutal. Climate change was clear for all to see.

Photo by Matt Howard via Unsplash

And this week, I’ve seen things I haven’t seen before.

• People who don’t talk about climate change are discussing its impact.

• Those who shroud themselves in scientific fact talking with emotion.

• Virtual silence from the “No single event proves climate change is real” brigade.

• Questions, and a desire for understanding about what 1.5 degrees is all about, if it means Canada can hit 49.

• Anger. Passionate, emotional fury and frustration that we’re still talking about targets for 2050; instead of action, now.

This week the conversation changed, from ‘Our leaders are failing us”, to “Our leaders are failing us - so what can we do, instead of them?”’

This week, the environmental crisis had its Blue Planet moment.

So what happens next?

What we learned from Canada

Canada changed our understanding of climate change.

For too long, we’ve heard about 1.5 or 2 degrees - which doesn’t sound like much.

We’ve heard that global warming will cause sea levels to rise. But that’s a gradual, incremental thing. Not great, but it sounds like something we can manage with planning, flood prevention and controlled evacuation and relocations.

It’s all been about hypotheticals, and the future. Things that are modelled and predicted; things that might happen. Things beyond our lifetime.

This week we saw what climate change looks like.

This week, we saw that real life climate change isn’t about gradual change or incremental rises by 0.1 degrees here and there.

This week, we realised that climate change is here. That climate change is happening, right now.

And this week we discovered that it’s extreme, and it’s sudden.

Now, we know that climate change doesn’t mean that British Columbia will be 1.5 degrees warmer; it means 49 degrees in British Columbia.

We know that, when we feel the effects of climate change, there is no time to plan, to create defences, to evacuate. Not when entire towns are wiped out by fire, whilst there’s flooding as the glaciers melt.

We know that it won't be confined to some distant, sparsely populated desert island; but that every single one of us is in danger, regardless of how rich we are, how far inland we are, or how wealthy our nation is.

Suddenly, we realise that we can’t hide from this by choosing not to buy a house on the coast. Nowhere is safe.

This week, we saw what climate change looks like.

And it’s terrifying.

What happens next?

People are ready.

They’re ready to listen. To understand more, to hear things that were previously too distant to take on board.

People are ready to act. There’s been a growing disillusionment with politicians and governance. But suddenly, that really matters. People are fed up waiting for our leaders to lead the way.

If our leaders aren’t prepared to show us the way forward, then people have had enough. They’ll find a different way.

But they need a route map.

People are prepared to listen - but that means we MUST learn from the mistakes of the past.

We can seize the moment - but we need to be clear on what’s important.

What’s happened until now has been a failure. Lots of pledges. No meaningful action. Running around in circles, trying to fix our single use plastic straws problem by swapping them for single use paper straws - and wondering why we’re not getting anywhere fast.

1) We need to tackle the real problem

This isn’t (just) a climate crisis. It seems like we’re facing multiple environmental crises. Plastic pollution. Air pollution. Water pollution. Pollinator numbers collapsing. The death of coral reefs. Ecosystem destruction. Rainforest devastation.

But these aren’t separate problems. They’re inter-linked, they're all related.

They’re symptoms - symptoms of one overarching problem: our over-consumption crisis.

We have to start talking about ‘the environmental crisis’ or the ‘consumption problem’ - not climate change.

We can’t tackle the problem if we’re not defining it correctly.

2) We need to change our communications mistakes

This language we’ve been using is at the heart of why things had to get this bad before we started to act.

Rising sea levels. One point five degrees. Global warming.

It all sounds so insignificant. 1.5 degrees - that’s not even the difference between a t-shirt and a sweater. It’s all been about gradual, incremental changes. About far away ice caps and Pacific islands.

Sea levels and CO2? That’s science. But the impact of the environmental crisis is very, very human. It’s about the Australians who used to look forward to January as a month of rest; but who now dread what extremes it may bring. It’s about the homes that burn, and the families who die.

If we don’t tackle the communications problem immediately, then we risk the conversation fizzling out.

3) Eco-swaps aren’t the solution

We’re constantly told about eco-swaps. Paper straws instead of plastic ones; electric cars instead of fossil fuelled. Recyclable packaging for the plastic tat on the front of children’s magazines.

But - with the obvious exception of renewable energy - most swaps tackles the wrong problem.

When we realise this is a diversion, then our choices become clearer.

It’s less about what fuels your car; but more about how often you drive it; how big it is; and how often you replace it.

The issue with that single use plastic straw? It’s not really about whether it’s plastic or paper. It’s about the fact that it’s single use.

4) We don’t have to wait for governments to catch up

Our leaders have failed us. And business? Why are we even asking, or expecting, business to take a lead? Why would accountants, or marketers, know any more than we do? It’s enshrined in businesses to serve their shareholders - to make a profit. Big business doesn’t have an interest in saving the rainforests. It has an interest in business as usual.

How did we get to the point where expecting ‘business’ to lead this was even a possibility, let alone deemed logical?

But that doesn’t matter when we see the real problem. Each and everyone of us can act.

We aren’t helpless.

And it’s not even hard. Because once we realise that eco-swaps - paper cups and electric vehicles - are the wrong solution, then we no longer have to worry about making the right choice, or how expensive it’s going to be.

Once we realise the solution is consuming less, then it’s easy to act - now, tomorrow, and every single day.

5) Change doesn’t have to be hard

Change doesn’t have to be expensive, and it doesn’t have to mean sacrifices.

Eco-swaps are hard, and often expensive - trying to decide between the plastic-packaged organic fruit and the avocado with air miles; or swallowing the cost of the compostable cups. But because they’re the wrong solution, that doesn’t really matter.

The changes we face by consuming less - more disposable income, albeit fewer clothes - are infinitely more palatable than the changes we face if we don’t act now. The size of your wardrobe is irrelevant when it goes up in flames.

The notion of sacrifice comes from those who don’t want change. From those who want us to keep consuming their products.

In fact, it’s not just that change doesn’t have to be hard. Fewer purchases means more cash in hand; buying better quality makes us feel good. Less time cleaning our clutter means more time with our friends. Change can make our lives easier, and happier.

6) Be open to alternatives

Change is afoot. And it doesn’t have to be scary.

Our leaders have told us for a long time that the current economic model is the only one that’s viable. They’ve employed others who share their view; they’ve hired from the schools and universities that teach the same mantra. Within a few short decades, it’s become a presumed truth that there is no viable alternative.

Gareth Southgate - a leader of our time - has brought in outsiders. He’s embraced diversity and different perspectives. And boy, it has worked.

Einstein apparently said: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Our economies are based on growth. We have ‘green recoveries’ and ‘green growth’. We have ‘sustainable development’. But those phrases are oxymorons. Infinite growth, on a planet with finite resources, isn’t possible.

What if we question whether infinite growth is necessary.. or realistic… let alone even possible?

What if we question whether degrowth - a transition away from using GDP to measure ‘success’ - is an alternative that will allow our planet to breathe again; and perhaps even help us live happier, more meaningful lives, too?

7) Reject the pre-tipping point failures

Incremental change. Far-away deadlines. Tinkering at the edges. Pledges, promises and goals - in lieu of action. This is where we are at with the environmental crisis.

We’ve seen a lot of talk. A few gestures towards ‘more recyclable’ or ‘by 2050’.

But when we recognise that we have a consumption crisis; when we see what happened to get us to this tipping point - then it’s easier to spot and reject this green-wishing and green-washing.

We’ve reached a tipping point. Our leaders have failed. They’ve failed to acknowledge the true problem, and failed to take meaningful action.

But the rest of us? We’ve got this.