Climate and Compassion

“To save our planet, we must be willing to listen to and amplify the voices of those who have been silenced in the past. Specifically, members of the Indigenous community, who have cared for this Earth for thousands of years and have the sacred knowledge to guide us all, should we be prepared to listen.”

When climate change is the topic of conversation, the discussion is generally focused on mitigation (preventing future emissions) or adaptation (adjusting to life on a warmer planet). However, this focus is misguided: current emissions constitute only 5% of the climate change issue. By focusing on present-day emissions, we are ignoring the bulk of the problem and overlooking the solutions that address the real threat to our planet: legacy CO2, which is the trillion tons of excess carbon that has been accumulating in our atmosphere for the last two hundred years.

Bleak, yes. But we already have technology that can address this legacy CO2, and there is no better time than the present to put these technologies in motion. After all, it is our entire existence that is at stake. 

By Delaney Pues

I’m delighted to inform you that this will not proceed as a bleak knowledge exchange. I intend to gift you the feeling of hope when you read about climate, unlike that which you may come across in the daily news. However, it’s important to note that the hope I’m here to share will be combined with opportunities to take the much-needed action. We are at a crossroads as it relates to our planet’s health. But as it goes with human lifeforms, Mother Earth also has the ability to be restored to her breathable, sustainable, and everlasting form. 

Introducing Climate Restoration 

So how do we address the remaining 95% of the problem causing climate change? We remove what is causing our planet and our loved one’s harm. An overload of carbon dioxide (414.68 ppm to be exact, but we’ll talk about that later) is what has been amplifying the Earth’s greenhouse effect.

Our current international commitment to preventing our global temperature from rising above 2° C over pre-industrial conditions will not prevent these CO2 levels from reaching 450 parts per million in 2050. This level of CO2 is 50% higher than human beings have ever survived to date.

Climate Restoration serves as the goal and framework for associated actions to safely and permanently remove the trillion tons of this legacy CO2 from our atmosphere. In order to fit the criteria of climate restoration, both natural and technological solutions must prove to be permanent, scalable, and financeable. To give humanity and Earth the best chance at a flourishing future, we must restore CO2 to levels proven to be safe for human civilization by 2050. By setting a time-bound, specific, and measurable goal, we are able to guide plans, policy, and technology while forming a movement we can all rally behind.

Now is the time to come together as one species in our commitment to restoring our climate.

By Delaney Pues

In recent years, there has been a rise in climate leadership that is rooted in compassion, connection, creativity, and collaboration. These traits of the Divine Feminine have initiated a climate renaissance that is heart-centered. This “new” approach is nothing new at all. It is a return to who we really are. With the rise in climate justice awareness, it is clear that to restore our planet, no living being can be left behind. 

The industrialization of our world improved the quality of life for billions of people, but it also brought harm to the planet and further disconnected us from the natural world and one another. The exploitive practice of the commodification of humanity and our planet’s resources has exacerbated the polarization of our world by treating our ecosystem as capital assets for profit and personal gain. Specifically, by those of us educated in the Western tradition where human beings are acknowledged as separate and superior to the natural world, Earth and nature have frequently been objectified.

On the contrary, Indigenous people have personified nature through the concept of spirit, establishing a connection between the elements of the natural world and humans, while recognizing everything as sacred. 

With our detachment comes a lack of empathy that prevents us from protecting and caring for the planet as if we are a part of it. While the negative impact this disconnection has caused is increasingly visible, there has been an increasing awareness of our ability to create solutions through reconnection and recognition of the interconnectivity of all living things. The fault we have caused is also the fault we can repair.

To save our planet, we must be willing to listen to and amplify the voices of those who have been silenced in the past. Specifically, members of the Indigenous community, who have cared for this Earth for thousands of years and have the sacred knowledge to guide us all, should we be prepared to listen.

Indigenous knowledge acknowledges the deep interrelatedness of all elements within Creation, both sacred and secular. This holistic vision stems from the ancient wisdom which expresses the importance of living in balance with all Beings on Mother Earth. As insightfully stated by Sherri Mitchell,

“The anthropocentric beliefs and philosophies that have ruled mainstream ideologies for generations are incapable of accommodating the holistic view needed to escape our current predicament.”

By shifting the central point of our awareness away from an outmoded and humanistic ethic towards a one that acknowledges a kincentric ecology, we can recognize the responsibility we have to the network of a billion living beings connected by the Earth and live harmoniously as we once began.

Restoring our world begins and ends with restoring the core of our Being. We have the collective capacity and responsibility to improve the condition of our Earth and humanity. As we connect to the inner core of our Being, we can challenge previous misconceptions about our relationship to nature while realizing that harm to one entity entails harm to all entities. This shift acknowledges the deep ecology perspective which argues that non-vital human interference with or destruction of the natural world is a threat to all living organisms.

When we cultivate worth beyond the limits of anthropocentric valuations that have historically been analogous to patriarchal viewpoints, we create space for previously exploited groups to be considered. Through this adjustment, we in turn allow for perspectives on ecofeminism and environmental justice to take the center stage of the climate movement. 

Every action we take to address climate change is an act of compassion for all living beings - past, present, and future. Our optimism is an essential component of climate action because hope will always surpass fear. Addressing the climate crisis is a moral challenge that requires us to consider the kincentric ecology and deep ecology approaches to forge solutions that are sustainable and equitable. A new world is calling that acknowledges the inherent worth of all living and sentient beings beyond the context of human needs and utility. Climate restoration is a matter of humanity, despite our differences, to come together for one common goal - the survival and flourishing of existence. 

Take Action to Restore Today: 

To further serve as a guide through Dated, I will be providing resources to take action for restoration along with supplementary materials to learn more about topics I engage with. I hope you’ll find them insightful and helpful. I can’t wait to continue evolving together as we dive deeper into the hopeful side of the climate problem. Thank you for reading and for being here to grow with me.