Is the scale of marches for change today a significant number? They are certainly the largest individual marches and the largest globally coordinated march, and the first to include a virtual march which allowed people to participate without travelling long distance.
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/paris_virtual_march/
They say about 600,000 marched (excluding virtual marchers) around the world. That’s a lot of people bothering to go out to do a chore.
Maybe the number is higher. There are more on virtual marches. And many who were there in thought and spirit if not body.
It might not be enough. Politicians listen to money. Businesses might see opportunities, but are good at greenwash and we’re good at being blind-sided by advertising and mod cons – phones to cars, fast food to fast clothes, … must haves?
So we must remember tomorrow that we must still say no to more than enough. Less consumption. Less flying and driving. Less packaging and chemicals. Less deception and greed. It’s easy. We all know what to do if we think.
Does it matter?
Yes, in many ways. Climate is just one. Everything is connected. We must change the system to bring dignity to humanity, fix the financial system, clean up the food system, stop the waste of corruption and redress the pain of war.
Looking at climate alone, the temperature rise since 1850 has been 1 o C, while 2 o C is agreed ‘gateway’ to dangerous global warming. We’re well on the way to tipping point, if not there already.
We can emit up to 565 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide. At this rate we’ll have done that in 15 years. That means we’ve got 15 years to stop, not we’ve got to stop in 15 years. By the way, oil companies have in their current reserves 2,795 gigatonnes worth of carbon dioxide – so they have an incentive to sell that stuff, which will kill the planet as we know it. (Living on Mars might be better…) And just so you know how much they want it the CEO of Exxon gets paid $100,000 a day, yes a DAY. And you’re paying it.
There’s been a 4% decline in Arctic sea ice per decade since 1979
9 out of the 10 hottest years on record have occurred since 2000
It’s not a debate. If you’re smart it’s immoral to question whether humans are the cause or if fossil fuels are the problem.
There are other important facts. Like that the human population has doubled while half the wildlife has been wiped out in my life. Like the 30 million millionaires owning more than 3 billion people. Like the suicide rate among farmers. Like not being able to afford the food you buy. It’s not about religion. We’re all in this together. It’s crazy. We need common sense. We need to take a breath and do the right thing the right way.
We need to say no to the bad things and use alternatives. Drive less, travel less, turn the thermostat down, eat less junk, throw away less (and don’t buy it in the first place), cheat less, … Eat more veg, run and bike more, say sorry, say I’m wrong, be with family and friends more. And if we’re in charge, we’ve really got to do better. We all are part of the system and we need to change the system.
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