Unprecedented Climate Mobilization is the title of a book just released by authors Elizabeth Woodworth and David Ray Griffin. Although I’m pleased with the launch of the pan-Canadian framework for clean growth and climate change, it falls far short of the kind of climate action needed to keep our world habitable for future generations. This book is a call “for society to mobilize at every level….The evidence of the need for a global climate mobilization is overwhelming,” says Peter Carter, the Director of the Climate Emergency Institute.
Unprecedented Climate Mobilization Needed
(Note: The remainder of this article features excerpts and key concepts from the book.)
I had the privilege to review and critique Unprecedented Climate Mobilization prior to its release. I provided this inside-the-cover blurb:
The accelerating rate of global warming requires an urgent response that far exceeds the level of commitment shown by world leaders to date. The gap between climate change and climate action is widening. This book helps us to confront an unprecedented emergency that requires dramatic action — a World War II like mobilization. ~ Rolly Montpellier, Editor for Below2C
The Imperative of All Time
Climate mobilization has become the “imperative of all time”. The warming of our planet is now in overdrive. 2016 will go down as the hottest year on record, besting 2015, which bested 2014.
The IPPC 2007 4th Assessment Report stressed that global emission must be on the decline by 2015. Global mobilization is imperative even for a 2°C limit and immediate mobilization is needed in order not to exceed 1.5°C.
And yet the Paris Agreement does nothing “that will put global emissions on course for 1.5°C or 2°C.” In fact, the “combined emissions targets of world governments …would result in an increase in global emissions by 2030.” It has become crystal clear that governments and world leaders cannot and will not solve the climate crisis. Woodworth and Griffin are right. Society needs to mobilize at every level.
The world must mobilize to force governments to stop pushing fossil fuels on the world and to stop destroying the planet for all future generations.
Leadership Must Come From Everywhere
“United action is inconceivable without a common goal and a plan that will unite everyone for the public good,” say the authors. The book emphasizes that nothing short of a WWII-like mobilization will be successful in slowing and stopping the climate threat.
The idea that we can stop the rise of carbon emissions gradually or incrementally “is delusional”. The time for gradualism is over. We have entered an era of consequences, a term used by Churchill as the forces of war were gathering in Europe in the late 1930s.
Leadership from everywhere:
- The United States and other governments declaring a national emergency
- Corporate media messaging
- Academics: books, articles, lectures, community leadership, political statements
- Activists and Environmentalists
- Business and Finance
- Economists
- Scientists
- Elected Officials – Members of Parliament, Senators, Premiers, Mayors (Canada)
- Elders
- Entertainment
- Fossil Fuel CEOs
- Health Professionals
- The Military
- Religious and Moral leaders
- Trade Unions
- Technology
- Youth and Women
Tools Available
- Government public announcements of targets and incentives
- Participatory planning
- Civil disobedience
- Political noncooperation
- Nonviolent intervention directed at government
- Economic intervention and boycotting
- Targeting of fossil fuel and automotive industry
- Workplace resistance
- Social media platforms
- Blogging platforms
- Online petitions
“The battle to implement a full climate mobilization — the only timely response remaining to head off global warming — will be played out all around the world,” according to the authors. And we have the know-how. And we have the technology. But do we have the willpower to make this happen? The answer is YES. And there is no other choice.
The atmosphere on which we all depend is in grave danger, and we must address this danger as though our lives depended on it — because they do. ~ Dr. Jill Stein, US Green Party Leader
I highly recommend Unprecedented Climate Mobilization as a must-have. It will become your guide and your handbook for building the climate effort of the next few decades.
*
Elizabeth Woodworth is a writer on climate change science and activism publishing on Global Research. She is the co-producer of the COP21 video A Climate Revolution For All. She is author of the popular handbook on nuclear weapons activism, What Can I Do? and the novel, The November Deep. For 25 years, she served as head medical librarian for the BC Government. Elizabeth holds a BA from Queen’s and a Library Sciences Degree from UBC.
David Ray Griffin is Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Theology, Emeritus, Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University (1973-2004). He is Co-Director, Center for Process Studies. He is author of Unprecedented: Can Civilization Survive the CO2 Crisis? He edited the SUNY Series in Constructive Postmodern Thought (1987-2004), which published 31 volumes. David has written 30 books, edited 13 books, and authored 250 articles and chapters.
The best tool we can use and maybe the only one needed is “economic intervention and boycotting”. You gotta hit them where it hurts: their money. But see, that means that we the people gotta sacrifice. I’m not talking about little bit of boycotting, I mean massive boycotting where your purchasing will fall by as much as 50%, just buying food and very basic needs and NOTHING else for months. You wanna win? That’s what we gotta do. All that other stuff is minuscule in impact, the main emphasis has to be economic intervention and boycotting. Will we do that? We will for sure when the real troubles start and mass death kicks in, before then is quite unlikely but, there it is.
Economic intervention and boycotting is one of the tools available as you say Danny — hitting them where it hurts the most.
As I scrolled quickly through the list of “tools available,” I thought I saw “begging” (it was actually “Blogging platforms”).
It got me wondering whether begging would work. Begging and pleading. Beseeching and entreating. Imploring and importuning. Instead of simply assuming that our elected “leaders” naturally know (a) that we want them to do something about the climate crisis, and (b) what to do.
Perhaps we should get a copy of this book into the hands of every elected official. Hmmmm.
The Climate Mobilization is building steam (metaphorically solar-generated steam) in Canada, so this is a project we could take on. And perhaps the American Climate Mobilization team could do the same in the USA.
Great strategy Julie. I just don’t know how well I would do at begging. Maybe worth a try.
But seriously, I think our leaders know what has to be done – they get it. But the politics of climate change in Canada are very complicated with the dysfunctional relationship between the provinces and the Feds. I like your suggestion of getting this book to all the MPs perhaps something Elizabeth Woodworth and David Griffin would consider. I will contact them with your suggestion.
“clean growth” is a oxymoron!
When GROWTH is the main problem, more GROWTH can never be “clean”! We must STOP GROWING NOW! Governments must stop promoting more GROWTH, that is what is destroying us & all life on this planet, we have become earths CANCER because of GROWTH!
Even so called “clean energy” isn’t really “clean” when it’s made in CHINA with TEMPORARY FOSSIL RESOURCES !
Have you seen China’s POLLUTION!!!! That is NOT “CLEAN” either!
Those who’s business is religion are not “leaders” they are lying parasites, they are not what we need for the future, we need to dump religion because of the damage it’s been doing to us for thousands of years, enough of religion!
I do NOT however advocate any harrassment or harm of the religious or their holy places, just ignore them, do not harm them.
With a good science education, religion fades away.
Cutting back on what you buy that you don’t actually need is a good move but it will hurt fellow workers, that’s also part of the trouble we now have, the human population & it’s demands continue to GROW but we must stop feeding that growth. That will HURT!
This means billions of people will suffer but we are doomed now to collapse anyhow no matter what else we try to do & collapse will certainly also cut consumption!
We should do what we can to reduce our carbon footprint but it won’t be enough because of our complete dependence upon OIL, COAL & NATURAL GAS, you may as well tell us to breath less. What STUPID FOOLS we were to allow ourselves to become so dependent upon TEMPORARY resources!
The best we can hope for now is to reduce the damage we are doing before our inevitable collapse, we owe the rest of life at least that before we go down.
If there are survivors & I think there will be, I hope they will have finally learned that growth is NOT sustainable & that we must learn to live within earths natural, sustainable, LIMITS!
Enjoy this “modern” way of life while it lasts, it’s time is ending forever.
Prepare for the return of the STONE AGE. (Not the “stoned” age! ;^ ) )
On the other hand considering what we are facing, I imagine there will be a lot of “stoned” people trying to cope.
( Gee Boomer, I would have thought you would have been the LAST person to be promoting more GROWTH!)
Sheila
I’m not promoting more growth just for the sake of growth. But inevitably there will continue to be economic development and yes growth. It’s what we do and have been doing since the beginning of time. But I do think that growth should be done in such a way what we will not exceed planetary limits. Capitalism is destroying the planet.
I am at a loss to know what the best sort of action actually looks like. Sheila is right that it is still the mining of resources and some ‘dirty’ processing to produce solar panels. I guess we need more development in the farming of bacteria and naturally occurring plant solutions. We need carbon sequestering and ways to make our effluence inert or beneficial. I actually listened to some commonsense on the radio a couple of weeks ago. A scientist (also an elderly and sensible woman) said that recycling plastic wasn’t the answer as much of it ends up contaminated. She said to save the pollution of the land, all plastic must be burned after use and the gases put through special scrubbing processes to make them inert to our atmosphere. Sounds logical. I think we also need a way to use excessive CO2 as a power source. One Indian company producing soda bicarbonate claims to have done just that.
Donald Trump is not really seeing the business potential in new technologies. He is an old man who will put America back 30 years…he is the last of the tycoons who thinks he can have a last blast…his failure will be one of the most profound moments of this century.
I totally agree with your comments about Donald Trump. With him as President, America is entering a very dark age. But as a businessman will he see the huge economic potential of the clean energy revolution or will his pro-fossil fuel entourage just ignore it, dragging America down with them? Time will tell.
Other countries will continue to make great strides in solar and wind energy. China has just become the world leader in renewables and it will soar forward leaving all of us behind if we don’t get with the program.
Donald Trump is about to become our president due to a huge mistake on the part of Barack Obama. We would not have Donald Trump as our President Elect if President Obama had taken my advice and not put the health care interests of the American people ahead of the health of the entire human race, and I have well over a hundred documents on file that establish this as a fact beyond doubt. And these documents include 35 letters I mailed to Obama and his administration, and they all call for him to put the global warming issue ahead of the Affordable Care Act as his top priority. I say that ramming through the Affordable Care Act so divided this nation that the Democrat nominee (as likeable by Democrats and as unlikeable by Republicans as she is) would have won the election by a far larger margin than she did.
Consider; In a leaked draft of a forthcoming encyclical on the earth and its environment Pope Francis says that; “Preservation of the environment, promotion of sustainable development and particular attention to climate change are matters of grave concern for the entire human family.”
The document gives climate change an almost ontological importance: “The relationship between individuals and communities and the environment ultimately stems from their relationship with God. When a man turns his back on the Creator’s plan, he provokes a disorder which has inevitable repercussions on the rest of the created order. “
I agree that we would all have been better off if Obama had made climate change is priority from the start rather than focusing on health care. But I don’t know about the Creator’s plan concept. We have turned our back on nature and on the planet. Bringing religion into the formula is just not very scientific.