April 2020

For almost three decades, world governments have met every year to forge a global response to the climate emergency. Under the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), every country on earth is treaty-bound to “avoid dangerous climate change” and find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally in an equitable way. But, to this day, global emissions continue to rise and the impacts of climate change are hitting harder and earlier than ever. Scientific warnings are dramatized by unprecedented glacial melting in Greenland and wildfires in Australia. In fact, the nations of the earth have accomplished very little thus far to avert an impending, entirely foreseeable catastrophe. What keeps our elected officials and mankind as a whole from altering its path of apparent self-destruction? If solutions are cheaper, public opinion is mobilized and the impacts much clearer, why is political action not following?

Science tells us again and again that without a big increase in our actions it will be practically impossible to keep climate change within safe limits. Yet, the 25th iteration of the Conference of the Parties (COP25), which took place in Madrid at the close of 2019, saw delegates from nearly 200 countries struggling to reach agreement on key issues on the framework underpinning the Paris Climate Accord. All relevant and pressing issues such as drawing up rules on a carbon market between countries were deferred to the next climate summit in November 2020, marking yet another missed opportunity to ratchet up ambitions on climate action. The staggering failure of international leadership is all the more important in light of a plethora of new studies that showcase the urgency to act swiftly.

We could list a myriad of reasons as to why our leaders seem to fail us in meeting the twin objectives of a low-carbon and climate-resilient development pathway: from bureaucratic inertia to ideological resistance; from nations like the USA or Brazil, who threatened to pull out of the Paris Accord thus undermining effective international climate negotiations, to powerful multinational corporations, which weigh in all their accumulated power to continue their business as usual whilst destroying land and polluting the air. What they all have in common is a basic narrative around climate change, which is itself part of the problem: it makes climate change seem unsolvable and narrows it down to fossil fuel and emissions, instead of placing more emphasis on the planet as a living being.

Shifting focus
Globalization and its discontents have been wreaking havoc on the very organs and tissues of this being, including ecosystems, biodiversity, wetlands and coral reefs. By degrading the biosphere, the planet becomes much less capable of dealing with challenges such as rising sea levels. Even if we could cut carbon emissions overnight and engineer our way out of the climate crisis through innovative technologies and superimposed laws and regulations, the planet would still die a death of a million cuts. As long as the dominating narrative is not shifting towards a more holistic approach of regeneration, conservation and the healing of the planet in all its facets, we sidestep the core problem and delay our moral duty to care for the earth.

This brings the focus on environmental urgency to a local level, and makes it much more tangible as we see the damage being done to our rivers, soils and forests right in front of our eyes. The phenomenon of climate change also becomes much more concrete when we can act on it right here and now. However, it requires a fundamental change in our relationship to the material world and a growing recognition of our individual role in it, for therein lies the real problem: our spiritual crisis! Crises like the looming climate collapse are but symptoms and expression of this main cause. Our collective failure is to be found in the people’s deeply ingrained materialistic and egoistic perception of life, the mode of living that comes with it, as well as in the complacency that refuses to act differently and to refrain from the luxury we have grown accustomed to, foremost in developed nations, which drive the climate crisis in the first place. Scapegoating others leads only to a dead end and diverts attention away from real solutions.

In this way, the climate crisis almost forces us to the realization of our interdependence, because the losses we are seeing are connecting us with all life on earth. As long as we do not demonstrate and put to daily practice a sense of local and global companionship and express principles along the lines of sharing and trust, we will inevitably face existential threats. As Einstein said: “We cannot solve the problems that face us today with the same level of thinking that created them.” If not carried out with a different set of values and motivations, reducing the number of global carbon emissions only transfers our real problem to another playing field. The underlying question of concern is, therefore, one of consciousness and right motive. The moral compass of humanity needs to be aligned to its inherentinterconnectedness with all living beings.

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The people’s voice is the ultimate yardstick
Politics will not change unless the awareness of people everywhere undergoes a shift towards a more genuine and shared sense of oneness with all humanity, our brothers and sisters – for politicians delay when they fear the risks of action outweigh the risks of inaction. The people’s voice is the ultimate yardstick by which to measure changes for the better. The inherently sensed truth that all deserve a dignified life is already propelling millions to demand changes, be they related to the climate crisis or other ills of modern society. The momentum is gaining speed on the part of those who feel a deep urge to transform a profoundly unjust system, as their innate quest for a more fulfilling life no longer resonates with the outworn structures of today. A critical mass of those people can inspire and galvanize men and women everywhere until a social tipping point is reached where people join a global movement, capable of overcoming present deadlocks in all fields. People will then find it easier to follow suit and stand up for what they inwardly know to be true and in line with their spiritual nature, affirming sharing and justice as the natural and only way to engender trust and a safer world for all.

Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi famously said that there is enough on Earth for everybody’s need, but not enough for everybody’s greed. He also said that “A certain degree of physical comfort is necessary but above a certain level it becomes a hindrance instead of a help; therefore the ideal of creating an unlimited number of wants and satisfying them seems to be a delusion and a trap. … Europeans will have to remodel their outlook if they are not to perish under the weight of the comforts to which they are becoming slaves.”

Despite those and many similar warnings, in the 1920s (significantly in the interlude between WW1 and WW2) a new concept found its way into manufacturing — “planned obsolescence”. This deliberate short-term durability became the norm. What made it even more powerful was that it was consciously morphed into a further even more powerful ‘delusion’ — that of “the obsolescence of desirability”. Advertising, as many people now take for granted, was used to inculcate a feeling of insufficiency or a personal sense of failure if the newest, latest, biggest, best product remained beyond our grasp.

Now, we find ourselves in that ‘trap’ and the effects of greed are clear enough to most thoughtful observers. The Earth is suffering and, as economist and author Jeffrey Sachs put it: “The world is hitting global limits in its use of resources. We are feeling the shocks each day in catastrophic floods, droughts, and storms — and in the resulting surge in prices in the marketplace. Our fate now depends on whether we co-operate or fall victim to self-defeating greed.”

The notion of sustainability applied as widely as possible to all areas of life is finally here. What started as citizens’ local projects which expanded to be accepted as a practical norm have gradually developed into policies as local, federal, national bodies are beginning to incorporate and implement them. The throw-away lifestyle is transitioning into what may one day become known as ‘post-consumerism’ with recycling, reusing, repair, mend and make-do as the key factors in a new relationship of responsible stewardship, and correct husbandry of the resources provided by our planet.

Slovenia has embraced the need for such change and is playing a leading role in the recycling and the waste management revolution. Its capital, Ljubljana, was named European Green Capital in 2016. Re-use of objects is also high on the Slovene agenda and the following interview is a small-scale but effective example of sustainability in action.

Humanity is faced with a series of self-made, interrelated crises, from the environmental catastrophe to poverty, inequality, the absence of peace and an unprecedented level of displaced persons, among other pressing issues. All have been brought about by the negative behaviour of mankind, by the pervasive modes of living, the corrosive values and ideologies that dominate all aspects of contemporary life.

The latest crisis is the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and the potential resulting collapse of the world economy. It is a collective crisis the like of which we have never seen before. Whole populations are being forced to change behaviour, to stop travelling, to withdraw, stop shopping, stay at home and to support others in the community. It is forcing people to shift their focus and slow down, to simplify and re-examine their lives. Worrying and unsettling in the immediate term, but potentially liberating, providing the space in which to be quiet, to reflect and look within, and good for the natural environment.

With crisis comes opportunity, the possibility for growth and realignment with purpose; for change to take place — change that inculcates harmony, allowing for that which has hitherto been inhibited to be to be expressed.

There is a natural order to life and certain fundamental laws that underpin all manifestation. When this rhythm is inhibited — individually or collectively — stasis takes place leading to dis-ease, and a crisis of some kind occurs. The greater the resistance the more inevitable and intense the crisis becomes.

Current modes of living are disharmonious, the socio-economic and political systems are totally unjust, favouring the few at the expense of the many; driven by divisive materialistic values and the reductive ideology of greed they sit at the core of most if not all of our problems. Ecosystems have been disrupted by self-centred human activity, weather patterns completely altered by the poisons daily poured into the atmosphere, leading to disharmony within the climate. Huge numbers of people recognize these facts and the need for a new way of living, but resistance among governments and corporate power is fierce; attachment to the status quo deep; fear of loss of power and privilege, intense. And so the required changes are consistently blocked; the natural order, which forever moves towards harmony for that is its inherent quality is consistently blocked, creating further inflammation.

The Coronavirus is beyond the control of governments, institutions and corporate bodies of power. It is causing widespread chaos and this will intensify and broaden in scope, affecting not just public health but social order and will devastate the consumer-led economy. As stock markets tumble, businesses fail, global supply chains fracture and nations are forced to turn within, governments (predictably) talk about the ‘fundamental strength of the economy’ and the ability of the markets to ‘bounce back’ quickly after the crisis has passed, returning to business as usual. The ‘usual’ however is the problem: the ‘usual’ has poisoned the planet, created enormous levels of inequality, set one against another, nation against nation, sustained widespread exploitation of the vulnerable and encouraged a pernicious value system fuelling all manner of social ills. It is of the past and must now come to an end.

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As the world faces the Covid-19 crisis, a coordinated response to the health demands and the economic impacts are needed; community service and simple acts of kindness are essential, as is sharing. This is a global crisis and a united response is called for, enough of competition and tribal nationalism — America first, China first, India first, etc., humanity and the planet first. Unity, cooperation, tolerance and understanding, these, together with sharing are the hallmarks of the time and must guide our thoughts and actions, now more than ever.

The pandemic will be overcome, and, if we embrace the opportunity this crisis offers there is a real chance that afterwards life could be fundamentally changed forever and for the good. A chance to re-imagine how to live, to introduce new modes of living that encourage the good, that cultivate unity, peace and natural happiness and allow the space in which to be.