01 Aug E47: Could COVID be a roadmap for Climate Action?

Tying together FoW, Climate Action & COVID

What if COVID is the dress rehearsal, a road map for how we as humans can handle the environmental crisis? We have now shown that nations can quickly agree on a consistent course of action, humans can make sacrifices for the common good.

New Normal or Leapfrog?

What if as we take the tiny actions and gigantic that will return us to normal, we instead leapfrog over those that hurt the environment, absorb the incremental economic and social cost and then leapfrog –  jump straight towards a new post-COVID normal that also supports human’s continuing presence on Earth while absorbing an accelerated Future of Work?

Regardless of whether we’re able to turn the clock on climate, Weather and all its ripple effects are going to impact what started as the Future of Work and will soon be the new Nature of Work.

There is a tight synergy between these events.

We have a shrinking window within which to effect change – and the COVID crisis has gifted us with the vision that it is possible for peoples from all nations to work together quickly, to make momentous decisions with speed, to dissolve the invisible constraints we had placed on our ability to take action.

What follows is an episode that was taped in September of 2019. It is just as relevant today.
And today I see a way forward.

I hope you will also feel the possibility in the air as we move back towards a new normal.

Future of Work, Climate Crisis, Climate Action

Welcome to series 2 in my podcast Tilt the Future, where we discuss the Future of Work, Climate Crisis, and Climate Action.

(This episode has been retaped during the COVID crisis)

Struggling

So, I have really been struggling with the introduction to this new series, a series on climate catastrophe & climate action.

Some people have been asking:

What does Climate have to do with the Future of Work?

Who am I to make this series?

Let me tell you who I am.

Patterns & Signals

I am the one who watches for patterns,
I am the one who watches for signals.

That is what I do.

I am the one who watches for outliers that interrupt cycles,
for outliers that become clusters which then show up as trends.

Well, there’s no denying the trend that we’re seeing
since the summer of 2019.

There is a trend.

And it indicates that we’re almost at a tipping point.

Scout

I am the one who normally walks a little ahead,
and comes back to the group to say ‘We may have a problem ahead’.

Well?

We have a problem ahead.

TILT the Future

I am the one who has created Tilt the Future
a framework that discusses how we search for the opportunities at every stage,

How we optimize the situations that we find our selves in,
and right now we find ourselves in a situation that does not look too good.

The problem – created from great intentions with unintended consequences

I think my generation and the ones before me are the ones that discovered the wonders of that black gold called oil.

We used it to do great things like shrinking the world through global travel, create the convenience grocery store and fast food.

But in gathering short term efficiency and gain, we were doing irreparable damage to the Earth.

Parent & Human

So, who do I think I am?

I am a parent
a mother who wants to see my children grow up in a world where they are guaranteed to breathe fresh air and drink clean water.

I am a human
who has watched one too many dystopian movies.

I would like to see the human race continue.

Like you, I care about our children.
And our children’s children.

And I am emotionally challenged and motivated to create this series
by the gathering number of intelligent young adults who are losing so much hope
they are pledging (#No Future, No Children) to not bring new life to this Earth,
for fear of the quality of life they will impose on their child.

You are the Future

So who do I think I am?
I’m the one …
who wants to look these young people in the eye and say:

‘You do have a future.
You ARE the future’

This challenge is the calling of your generation.

Just as the Space Race and Nuclear Disarmament was the calling of mine,
and the Second World War was for a generation before that.

Doing the impossible

50 years ago, young women and men such as these put their collective power together and
they did the impossible.

They sent men to walk on the moon – and then brought them back.
All with a computer with less processing power than the GPS in the phone in our hands.

‘We do this, not because it is easy, but because it is hard’.

said JFK in 1962 as he united the political focus and the harnessed the funding necessary to meet a moonshot goal.

Once again, in history, the fate of mankind will rest on the able shoulders of young men and women in their teens, twenties, and thirties:

• scattered in homes on various continents
• sitting in colleges and universities across the globe
• entering the workplace
• raising their young families

Young activists alongside older crusaders

But right now, they need us to support and help fix the problem.

They need to know they are seen and heard
and that we have their backs.

So who am I?

I am the one …
who is going to march alongside so many of Generation Z, Centennials & Millennials
to show the depth of my support for the many brave young activists like Greta Thurnberg and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez.

I am the one …
who is going to use my platforms to give this topic the focus it requires
to discuss the connection of the Future of Work with Climate Crisis and Climate Action.

I am the one …
who is going to encourage you to have interesting, respectful and productive discussions among yourselves

And to vote – with your ballot, your money, and your feet.

Future of Work

We are surrounded by young brilliant minds and strong bodies.

They are addressing issues –
issues such as Cancer or poverty,
sanitation or Food Security.

These are not just their ‘jobs of the future’ or their ‘Future of Work’.

These are their purpose and their mission –
to leave the world better than they found it

Climate Catastrophe

But Climate Catastrophe acts as a magnifier on all these issues and all these problems.

It creates instability
not just in the air, wind, and water around us,
but also in geographic regions leading to political instability and conflict,
– which makes their already difficult jobs even more challenging.

I am the one …
who wants to remind generations of all ages that
none of our professions and careers and jobs will be safe from the encroaching impact of the climate crisis.

Mental models and dealing with accelerating change

So who do I think I am?

I am the one …
who wants to talk solutions but also mitigation.

Whether we are discussing the rampant runaway climate crises
or recognizing that the climate is indeed changing

I want to talk about innovation and embracing new technologies to
create new dwellings, clothing or menus to accommodate it,
I want us to highlight the conversation around Climate Catastrophe.

I am the one …
who is going to talk about mental models
to talk about developing mental toughness and mind-shift models
that give all of us a flexible framework which positions us to be able to deal with the variety of changes coming our way.

Learning and hopeful

I am the one …
who is curious about what is around the corner,
how we are going to work with it,
how we could tilt it
and mitigate it,
put a plan in place that is defensive or protective.
And, yes, how we are going to pay for it.

Appreciation and gratitude

I am also the one who wants to continue to be grateful for the nature that we do have.

I want to continue to enjoy the simple gifts of nature
like a falling star or a brilliant red fall Maple leaf

Or the special treasure
of watching a pair of whales salute you goodbye with their tails silhouetted against the sunset.

Patterns and rhythms

My parents had their share of trials and tribulations.

From them, I learned to ground myself in the cyclical rhythm of nature.

To trust the sun rises every day, like clockwork,
giving us a fresh 24 hours to call our own,
to gain a new energy
and continue the work we are doing
or to make a fresh attempt if necessary.

I am the one who is still learning – and anxious to share what I have learned
so that others will share back.

Because I believe – in collaboration.
I believe – in hope.
I believe – that the sun will rise tomorrow.

What I wonder is if mankind will still be on Earth to see it.

So, this is who I am
And why I am choosing to talk about how the topics are linked – Future of Work with Climate Crisis and Climate Action.

But inspired by the words of Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez

Who are you?
What are you going to choose to do?

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez “Who am I”
Indigenous Climate Activist
at the 2015 Summer Youth Assembly at the UN

 

 

CREDIT & THANKS; DEFINITIONS & RESOURCES:

• • This episode was previously posted as:

• JFK speech given at Rice University Texas on September 12, 1962 available with transcript from the JFK library
• Xiuhtezcatl Martinez speech at the UN
• Xiuhtezcatl Martinez Who am I rap at the UN
• TILT the Future – my podcast discusses how little ideas, small shifts and minute moments can result in monumental changes in our lives https://karenadesouza.com/blog/
• Find a version of this thought for today article on LinkedIn and Instagram
• Photo, audio & video credits: Karena de Souza using Canva