1.5°C Slipping Away – Why Climate Denialism Isnât A Solution
In 2015, Naomi Klein published her (in)famous book âThis Changes Everythingâ, warning us about the impending detriments of our capitalist society to the growing climate crisis. The Stockholm Resilience Centre, just a month ago, issued a warning, about the breach of the seventh (of the nine) planetary boundary, alongside recent reports documenting how the 1.5 degree threshold for global temperature goals is âslipping awayâ. Now, the title sentiment of Kleinâs book seems ever-relevant, only, with added emphasis – This Changes Everything.
In a now not so nascent ethos of sustainable focus and climate concern, denying the prevalent and impending issue of climate change seems an incessant act of societal self-harm. In 2014, about 97% of climate scientists concluded that man-made climate change is happening âhere and nowâ. A decade on, with the insistence of neoliberalism and economic progression at the neglect of environmental protection and detrimental impact to planetary and civilisational health, the term âhot moneyâ becomes sardonic. Over the course of the foregone decade we have seen record-breaking temperatures, accelerated ice melting (with Venezuela becoming the first tropical to lose all its glaciers), a breach in ocean acidification boundaries and still, a burning (note the irony) lack of action and worse so – of recognition.Â
Perhaps, your front lawn needs to literally ignite into flame for you to pay any attention. Except, the issue is, across the globe plenty of front lawns are already in ashes. Sitting and waiting with a hose until yours ignites, is nothing but ill-timed indolence and squandered privilege. Even if, as an individual, you would claim yourself environmentally conscious and eco-friendly: consuming less clothes, driving less miles, eating less meat – you are applauded, but not innocent. The issue still prevails and it is still yours. Less unsustainable action is âmoreâ. It contributes something towards a sustainable, healthy, liveable future, but it is not enough. More action is needed.Â
For those of you quickly scrolling past to avoid facing a guilty conscience, change starts small. Even the act of buying less, or buying second-hand clothing and technology is a necessary, and easy, contribution. I do not wish to weaponise people’s guilt or anxiety. In partial retreat, it is noted, that change is hard, crises are scary. Research on systematic risk and the psychology of climate anxiety prove that such disconnect between urgency and (climate) action is common and explainable.
In humanity, we are geared towards a desire for stability and security. We are pushed into a fast-moving stream of trends, and supposedly status-affirming regimes that are hard to break free from. Our social media is drowned in the latest clothes, the ânext best thingâ, the impossible avoidance of AI as the âsaviourâ of our generation. But that new jacket – you don’t need it. At risk of being clichĂ©, and to quote a common idiom, we must âface our fearsâ.
Lights out, cameras off, action.Â
Denialism is not the solution. I hope, if nothing else has yet worked, that the recent reports stating that the Paris Agreement’s temperature threshold is slipping away, are a wake-up call. This threshold, which entered into force in November 2016, sought to refrain global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius. This was deemed crucial to mitigating catastrophic environmental casualties. Now it is necessary.Â
Evidently, there is an irritating, pestering paradox in climate change: less is more, and more is less. More action. Less damage. Less unsustainable action. More hope. This is a collective, government-civilian, global fight. Extreme weather around the world is destroying homes; rising sea levels are threatening nations and communities; we face global hunger, increasing health risks, dying species. None of this is new news. We must look, accept and act. You can no longer deny, deny, deny, you are only innocent until proven too late. The climate crisis is only ever more pressing, and we only ever have less time.