Is Climate Optimism Dangerous?

Article inspired by the post Climate optimism, dangerous? But how? contributed by Amanda Gibbens from The Copy Whale.

I’ve seen Anne share this question before, and my instinctive reaction was to say ‘No of course not!’.

Why?

Several reasons, and I admit the first is based on my own failings in the face of anxiety and danger.

Lots of us can’t handle the bad news

Quite a few influential people in climate circles say it’s crucial to accept the bad news as well as the good. Of course, the wonderful Anne Therese Gennari (who is so graciously letting me write this) encourages us to create and nurture our climate optimism from within, instead of relying on other people’s stories to provide us with hope.

But I can’t do that. Climate news has reached the point where it instantly throws me into a state of abject despair and inaction. I wonder whether I should take my children out of school. Should we simply homeschool, travel the world, and spend time together? Why plan for a normal future when it might not exist?

And when I feel that way, it’s hard enough making dinner. Even sorting the recycling starts to feel futile.

I feel embarrassed to admit this about myself, but it’s a pretty common phenomenon. Doom and gloom messaging is overwhelming and causes the ‘ostrich’ effect - people put their heads in the metaphorical sand and hope the threat goes away.

Countering this can only be done by gifting people the belief that change is possible, and that they have the power to create it.

Which is where climate optimism steps in. The comments under optimistic climate news and influencer posts are filled with people delighted by the sense of hope and possibility. And far from being passive, they’re inspired to copy the actions that others are taking. For myself, hope surges within me, and that makes action feel possible! I can do something beyond donate to Greenpeace and cry over the lack of bumblebees.

Optimistic climate stories show us that none of us are too small to create change - and seeing other people do it makes us feel braver to try.

Imagination is stunted by fear

At a time when we need radical imagination at full strength, it’s not ideal to be consumed with fear and anxiety about the state of the planet.

That’s a view shared by Joanna Grover, therapist and author of ‘The Choice Point, who states that being in crisis mode and terrified of some impending doom shrinks our imagination, and our ability to think bigger.

If we cannot imagine a good, liveable future, how are we going to bring it to life?

The podcast ‘From What If To What Next?’ went so far as to invent a time machine to help counter this imagination problem. For 100 episodes, guests from a range of fields were transported forward to 2030 to explore a future resulting from everything possible being done to create change in a particular way. Eye-opening and inspiring, the podcast used these trips to produce an ‘Imagination Manifesto’ for this year of many elections around the world.

How else can we support imagination in an age where war, climate breakdown, hunger, all seem just around the corner, and on top of that life and work and family still have to be kept moving forward?

Of course, one of my answers is through optimistic climate stories. But also I think by inspiring each other to feel powerful and inviting each other to engage with the actions that create change.

Complacency is what stops action, not optimism

Despite my enthusiasm for positive climate stories, I admit that danger does come when people hear positive climate news and then do nothing to nurture it further. All along, fossil fuel companies have suppressed action on climate change - and a key part of that comes from public and leadership complacency.

We can create millions of jobs and turn around the climate change situation, but normal citizens are the ones who have to bring this to life. Countries are ruled by the people who benefit from the system causing this. Either the people make it happen, or it never will.

So we need to ensure that our optimistic climate stories are participatory. An invitation to everyone to get involved in turning these possibilities into our new reality.

Jon Alexander shares examples of this blossoming in his work on recreating ourselves as citizens rather than consumers or subjects. He argues that we can all make change happen when we identify the domains where we have influence, roll up our sleeves, and get involved.

Sometimes it is emergencies that inspire humans to take action and create a better way of living. In the recent pandemic, things that had never been done before came to life. Communities reached out and supported their frail and vulnerable. New structures sprang to life within weeks.

Sometimes being able to see something’s possible is enough to inspire people. I run an awareness campaign called Blue Campaign. Its mission is to encourage garden owners to set aside a patch of their land and leave it alone. The idea is that when left alone, local plants and animals will re-establish themselves and begin to flourish - bringing entire local ecosystems back to life. Gardeners who take part can put a blue heart sign in their garden, to signal intentionality - and we have found that one blue heart often inspires others to appear. They act as an invitation to take part, and perhaps even provide some tacit social approval.

It’s only too late if you give up

I work as a freelance copywriter and email marketing specialist. When I was getting started, the idea of cold pitching terrified me. But as many experts said, if you don’t even send the email, then you definitely won’t get work.

Similarly, if we give up and stop trying, then we definitely won’t beat the climate crisis. So we have to keep going. And if optimism about the end result helps more of us to keep taking action, how can it be bad?

Links

Rob Hopkins podcast, From What If To What Next.

https://www.robhopkins.net/podcast/

The only podcast with a functioning time machine; the show believes that only by reimagining the world can we create one that is socially and environmentally just.

The Imagination Manifesto

https://www.robhopkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ministry-of-the-Imagination_compressed-1.pdf

Jon Alexander - Citizens

https://www.jonalexander.net/

And a quick mention of my own piece of activism - the Blue Campaign www.bluecampaignhub.com. Free and achievable by just doing less, we encourage everyone with access to a green space to help nature regenerate.