Getting off the Climate Couch

Here's what we know:

• climate change is real
• the effects are pretty scary especially when they are happening to you
• the widely accepted goal is an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 (based on 1990 levels)
• it's not going to be easy

There are still a lot of naysayers out there - vested interests, general curmudgeons, and the ideologically opposed. We may be in a period of enlightenment, but  public and political opinion can easily swayed back to the side of inaction. Especially if our climate plans fail to please.

Public and political will has got us to this point. Keeping the momentum going over the next 10 to 30 years is going to require more than just social marketing -- it's going to require community engagement and social benefit.

In other words, we need to design our climate plans with people in mind. How will climate solutions also improve our lives?  Will they protect us from extreme weather, or help us prepare? Will they save us money, reduce commuting stress, make roads safe for cycling, give us better food that is locally grown, create local and quality work, and create more livable complete communities?

More than just marketing, it's designing climate plans from the bottom up.

It's about helping people take action in their own lives, in their own way, and for their own reasons.

It's about building a strong social component into every climate plan.

It's about investing in the future we want, as opposed to focusing on the future we fear.

For more ideas on how to design a social component into climate plans, see https://climateaction.ca/the-plan/