{"id":1664,"date":"2019-04-08T22:29:27","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T22:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carbonconsultgroup.com\/en\/?p=1664"},"modified":"2024-03-27T16:31:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T16:31:17","slug":"being-down-to-earth-about-the-climate-table-talk-version","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ccgclimat.com\/en\/2019\/04\/08\/being-down-to-earth-about-the-climate-table-talk-version\/","title":{"rendered":"Being down-to-earth about the climate; table talk version!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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I was raised in a very humble suburb south of Montreal and, like most kids in my city, the climate was the least of our concerns. Having a ball to play with or a bicycle to ride to the nearest parks was top priority for most of us.<\/span> <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, conversations around the dinner table <\/span>were mostly around hockey or politics and <\/span>never made any reference to the environment – or any other climate-related issues<\/span> for that matter<\/span> – <\/span>apart <\/span>perhaps <\/span>from whether it was going to be sunny and warm for the next few days<\/span>. O<\/span>therwise, we never talked about pollution, greenhouse gas, ozone depletion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like most families we were <\/span>throwing our leftovers directly in the garbage<\/span> can<\/span> along with <\/span>everything else: <\/span>bottles, plastic containers and newspaper<\/span>s. Then came the revolutionary idea that it would be a good thing to separate waste and perhaps recycle it! I remember how this became a major topic of conversations among adults; \u201cThey want us to what? Separate waste? Why <\/span>sh<\/span>ould we <\/span>ever <\/span>have to <\/span>d<\/span>o this?\u201d People were extremely frustrated and confused as to the underlying reason <\/span>for <\/span>taking on such endeavour which would now make us <\/span>put the newspapers in a bin, the tin cans and the glass bottles in another, and the rest of the waste in a bag. <\/span>Really<\/span>, that just didn\u2019t make sense!<\/span> For what purpose?<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a moment <\/span>here <\/span>to <\/span>ask ourselves if we could <\/span>ever foresee<\/span> having this discussion over a dinner table today. Would it be conceivable to hear someone say<\/span> something like<\/span> \u201cWhy are we doing this: separating the food in one bin; the glass bottles, the plastic and the newspapers in another; and the rest of the waste in a separate bag?\u201d We\u2019d likely look<\/span> at each other and pretend <\/span>to either consider the question as a joke or, depending <\/span>on whether<\/span> we intimately kn<\/span>ew<\/span> the person, challenge him or her on its core values. In any case, I don\u2019t think anyone would understand why this <\/span>\u201c<\/span>civil duty<\/span>\u201d<\/span> is being questioned, today. Yet, only <\/span>a <\/span>30<\/span>–<\/span>year<\/span> time<\/span>line<\/span> separate<\/span>s<\/span> the two scenarios (the first selective waste collection<\/a> was done in NDG in 1989).<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the moral<\/span> of the story<\/span> here? Well, it takes time to break paradigms. <\/span>Indeed, breaking <\/span>mores is achievable<\/span>, but can\u2019t be done overnight<\/span>.<\/span> Then, we need to perceive the benefits of making these efforts; i<\/span>t\u2019s one thing to try to ch<\/span>ange<\/span> people\u2019s habit with a stick, and quite another to bring them to reason so they act<\/span> on their own, <\/span>in sync with the solution.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

How does that all relate to the climate? Well, I still hear conversations around the table questioning the real emergency and need around changing our resource intensive lifestyle. \u201cWhy should we make any effort<\/span> <\/span>when big corporate polluters and developing countries are the <\/span>culprit <\/span>for all the GHG spewed in the atmosphere?\u201d In fact, this statement is partly true. Indeed<\/span>, large emitters <\/span>around the world are mostly responsible for the tremendous speed at which the earth is warming. <\/span>But, let\u2019s ask the question differently: Given that you can\u2019t stop them from polluting, would you be willing to change your consumption lifestyle? You\u2019d be surprised to know that the only reason they don\u2019t change their polluting habit is simply because we buy the products produced by them and therefore justify their existence. Of course, it<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s <\/span>fairly<\/span> more complex than that. <\/span>Let us simplify the situation <\/span>for argument\u2019s sake; say an important proportion of us were to stop buying large emitter\u2019s products, stating that we would not resume until they put climate at the forefront of their development strategy. Well, they would have no other option but to change this strategy and find appealing solutions for their clients.<\/p>\n

Now, let us fast forward this story by <\/span>three <\/span>decade<\/span>s<\/span>. We<\/span>\u2019<\/span>re in 20<\/span>49<\/span> and the climate is really showing its <\/span>teeth:<\/span> <\/span>hotter summers, intense <\/span>rainfall events causing <\/span>more flooding, incremental diseases<\/span>, etc<\/span>. A<\/span>nd let\u2019s pretend we<\/span>\u2019<\/span>re at a table in a restaurant with a bunch of friends <\/span>30<\/span> years old (meaning th<\/span>at they were born in 2019<\/span>). How do you think it would be perceived if <\/span>anyone around the table w<\/span>ould <\/span>say: \u201cNot sure about this climate thing! I\u2019ll do my part when the big polluters start doing theirs!\u201d Let me guess. You\u2019d probably <\/span>look at each other and pretend to either consider the question as a joke or, depending <\/span>on whether<\/span> <\/span>you<\/span> intimately knew the person, challenge him or her on its core values. In any case, <\/span>fair to <\/span>think <\/span>that <\/span>his or her <\/span>level of <\/span>\u201c<\/span>civil duty<\/span>\u201d<\/span> <\/span>might be questioned<\/span>, right?<\/span> <\/span>S<\/span>eeing any parallel<\/span> with our previous story<\/span>?<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, unfortunately, thousands of independent scientists around the world c<\/span>a<\/span>me to the same conclusion: we have got about a 10 to 30 years<\/span> top<\/span> to make a change or else the climate will go array<\/span> with no mean<\/span>s<\/span> to return beyond that point. (with a high de<\/span><\/span>g<\/span><\/span>ree of con<\/span><\/span>fidence the GIEC Report<\/a><\/span><\/span> states that \u201c<\/span><\/span>Global warming is likely to reach 1.5\u00b0C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate.<\/span><\/span>\u201d)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hey, t<\/span>hat is pretty much the same time frame<\/span> for a break in the paradigm, isn\u2019t it?<\/span> <\/span> <\/span><\/p>

Picture credit: Eco Life<\/a>
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I was raised in a very humble suburb south of Montreal and, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-low-carbon-transition"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccgclimat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccgclimat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccgclimat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccgclimat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccgclimat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1664"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ccgclimat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3112,"href":"https:\/\/ccgclimat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1664\/revisions\/3112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccgclimat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccgclimat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccgclimat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccgclimat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}