Writing for life

Published in the WOW! supplement of the Evening Echo 23/01/2008

You’re probably sick of reading about climate change, about how humanity is clinging to a precipice by its worn and weary fingernails, hanging above the yawning abyss of uncertainty. We’re heading into unknown territory, they say, and things need to change if we want to save the planet… yaddy, yaddy, yadda.

First of all, it’s got nothing to do with saving the planet. Climate change won’t destroy the world. At the very worst, on a planetary scale, it will represent a tiny hiccup: the earth redressing the balance as its most prolific and successful species to-date engages in the biggest mass suicide in history. In terms of geological time it will be a mere blip.

So we’re not talking about saving the planet here – the planet, I assure you, will carry on regardless. What we’re really talking about is saving our own skins. Climate change is not a planetary issue, it’s a human one… whatever you believe might be causing it.

At this stage the nay-sayers who claim that humanity is not the cause of climate change (and there are still plenty of well-respected, intelligent and knowledgeable individuals sitting in that camp) have been well and truly shot down, and it is widely acknowledged now that we are, if not the direct cause of climate change, at least contributing to and accelerating it.

Climate change is happening… there’s no doubt about that. Whatever you believe is causing it, it’s a no-brainer that our unsustainable plundering of the planet’s natural resources has to stop. Nature, you see, is very good at balance, and we ignore that balance at our peril.

Life – all life – is inextricably linked to its environment. Upset the balance of that environment– as we’ve been doing for decades – and, once its built-in sinks and buffers have been used up, nature will restore its equilibrium… and from our perspective the results are unlikely to be pretty.

All of the indicators are screaming that nature’s capacious tolerances are all but exhausted. If we’re to have any hope of averting the backlash, or at least reducing its impact, we really have to act now, and act decisively. And there again there is a problem.

The message from various climate change campaigners is all about cutting back, reducing, eliminating. We need to tighten our belts, stop using so much, curtail our extravagant lifestyles. All of which makes perfect sense… but it’s hardly an appealing message.

Make people believe that they have to sacrifice something in order to make a difference to the climate and you’re fighting a loosing battle. Sure you’ll get groups of enthusiastic long-haired activists with flowing skirts and goatie beards who smell faintly of lentils and essential oils to sign up. People who are doing these things anyway will nod sagely and bask in the affirmation that they’re making a difference. But let’s face it, that’s a niche market, and to have any sort of impact at all the climate change message has to reach out to the mainstream.

Like trying to sell anything, the emphasis needs to be on benefits. Don’t tell people to cut back, eliminate and reduce… highlight how changing the way they do things will make their lives better in all sorts of ways, now and in the future. At the end of the day we’re selfish beings – our modus operandi is typically WIIFM (what’s in it for me?). If the answer is nothing, then unfortunately that’s exactly what most of us will do… nothing!

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