Joe Smith 5 May 09
Steve Willoughby with Joe Smith
We were delighted to welcome Dr Joe Smith from the Open University to our fifth event in the series. The meeting was chaired by Steve Willoughby and was attended by around 70 people.
Steve introduced Joe as a geographer, social and political scientist, and author. Before he heard Joe speak at an Open University Interfaculty meeting last summer, Steve thought that Climate Change was mainly about politics and science, but Joe convincingly made the case that it’s much more than that – it is also about cultural attitudes, and needs everything that human creativity can throw at it.
Joe's talk was based around a Powerpoint presentation which can be dowloaded here in ppt (7.9 MB) or here in pdf (1.7 MB). The following notes should be read in conjunction with the presentation.
Joe began by explaining that actions taken by communities can really make a difference. Communities can take responsibility for themselves, and by their actions and speaking to others with confidence they will also make a difference.
75% of the world's people are concerned about climate change, but nothing seems to change - there is frustration over transport and energy policies, for example, because everything seems to stay as it is. The issue seems to be urgent and important, yet distant and unfocussed. The scientific and political response, with both trying to see the future with the best brains doing their best, is a dull one. Climate change is complex with many facets, so there is too much to think about, too many interconnecting strands to unravel.
Water, eco systems, food, coasts and health are all important areas, but it is better to talk about risk management rather than certainties.
The task ahead is how to communicate and make people aware of how much CO2 we use. What most of us use in a month we should try to use in 9 months, for example.
The Worldmapper website is a powerful tool for revealing vulnerabilities and realities (for example carbon damage). Responsibilities also need to be revealed. Joe gave as an example the Tata Nano car produced in India. The Indian subcontinent should have access to mobility which is fair and responsible, where access to a car rather than ownership of it is advocated. This is in contrast to western thinking where ownership of multiple cars is the norm.
It is important to think clearly: climate change is a risk not a certainty. See The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See.
It is useful, too, to question quality of life - seeing carbon, seeing benefits of change, seeing perverse life syles. An example is the person who is prepared unquestioningly to sit in a traffic queue for hours during their daily commute.
It is also time to question dreams. A good illustration is a Euro referendum film showing a hoarding advertising and marketing a new supermarket. The film shows people rushing to the new supermarket, but it's just a facade and brings to people's attention what is important in life.
Ambiguity should be explored. Change is about recognising where people are now. Humour and generosity can be used to good effect e.g. Cheat Neutral "Cheatneutral offsets your cheating by funding someone else to be faithful and NOT cheat. This neutralises the pain and unhappy emotion and leaves you with a clear conscience". The way in which the climate change message is communicated is very important.
The good news. Food, energy, oil crunch etc - none of it feels like good news which is why it's difficult to get people on board. Try to identify a better place e.g. no traffic jams, a time rich life, better local food. A good example is the Ashden Award received by Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha for building up a fleet of 88 boats that use solar energy to bring education, training and renewable energy supplies to over 400,000 people living in the remote Chalanbeel region of Bangladesh. This shows what can be achieved.
Who are we? Where are we going to find the energy for the demands of our life? It isn't a question of worrying about the next five years, and that's it: the situation will be with us for a very long time. Climate change asks us who we are - we are in and of nature. Humans are stewards of the planet, but as James Lovelock points out, we are more like shop stewards whose role is to think through problems.
Joe concluded by quoting an extract from George Eliot's Middlemarch:
"[...] for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs." Grass roots action is really important.
Dr Joe Smith addressing the WiT meeting
Report by Ginny Willoughby
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