Motivational Gifts...

Campaigning to prevent the worst of climate change and strive for a better, safer, fairer, more optimistic future may not be easy but I can’t imagine anything else that matters as much.

In the moments before each public talk to residents about the process of extracting shale gas by fracking, I always felt huge remorse. I used to call the talk “The Unwelcome Gift” because I knew that once they each realised the genuine threat to their health and wellbeing, that they wouldn’t be able to un-know it, wouldn't be able to walk out and figure someone would sort it because it was clear, there WAS only us.

And I knew too that once they got involved with one tiny aspect of what fossil fuel extraction does to life on this planet, that a whole world of other environmental information would become evident, and their lives would be changed.

In the next moment (amazing how much thinking you can cram into a moment!), the question in my head would come: “Why am I here?”; followed sharply by an image of my granddaughter’s face (and all the grandchildren’s faces) on the exit door, and that was the place from which I spoke.

When you walk through the door labelled ‘activist’ – it’s a sheer drop and on landing, you find a thousand more doors that need walking through and realise you have probably been in the wrong room most of your life. Green Party of England and Wales IS my activism, the political heart of it and its leadership needs to be dedicated, creative and focused on what all members do agree on – the climate will kill us if we don’t wrestle power from those driving and facilitating the harm.

Since Martin Hemingway and I declared we are standing for the leadership of The Green Party Leadership Election 2021 - Tina Rothery & Martin Hemingway, life has certainly changed. In activism it's all about co-operation, being part of the group, supporting each other to achieve the aim and looking past the differences to get this done; standing against others to lead a party means there's a need to self-promote, stand out from the crowd, strive to be different. Unlike championing a cause or Party, this takes some getting used to.

Online I see members asking candidates what motivates them to run in this leadership campaign and I think it's such a key question; what we do will be driven by our motives.

*The Unwelcome Gift blog 2013: Tina Louise: The Unwelcome Gift 

Just... a single issue?

We're on a planet aflame (or as Greta Thunberg would say "Our house is on fire.") and those least able to escape, least able to build-back - are already experiencing the droughts, floods, fires and failed crops that lead to suffering, death, upheaval, war, migration. There is no justice for them and won't be unless those with the power to act decisively on climate-harming industries, actually do something. The impacts of our changing climate don't stop in the South, as we've seen with floods and fires in Europe and America, it's coming for the rest of us if we don't act now (even as I type that I realise how sick I am of reading that call for action year in year out).

Since deciding to stand as Co-Leader of the Green Party along with Martin Hemingway, my research and conversations clearly have come to increase the focus on political issues alongside the usual environmental ones. Someone questioned whether an environmental campaigner could be a politician; I wondered how long it will take till politicians, wet round the ankles or sweating in the heat, have no choice but to become environmental campaigners. 

"So is focusing on the climate emergency enough - surely it's just a single issue and leaves out all the other stuff of life?" 

It's not just enough, it's everything. The trashing of our life-support system threatens and impacts every life in every way:

-it's about labour and unions and how we represent, support and train people for alternative industries, as dangerous ones are brought to an end

-it's about international relations and co-operation in order to achieve GLOBAL solutions together and in turn, build better relationships that will serve us in the future

-it's about land ownership, land use, housing and agriculture as we transition to safer more sustainable provision of homes that are of a standard that reduces costs and minimises impact. And agricultural solutions that improve conditions, reduce food miles and toxicity

-it's about inclusivity – the climate crisis is happening to our shared planet and we need to fight for the whole, not just parts of it and we need to act together, whatever else we disagree on

-it's about elections and striving for Green Councillors who raise the issue in their Councils; ensuring the climate crisis remains the focus around which decisions are made ie: planning applications they choose to progress or reject need to come with a clear answer as to the impact on nature, bio-diversity, climate, the environment etc

-it's about healthcare as we seek to prevent the worst of the pollution in our air that already takes too many lives and we need to value our NHS and its staff for the incredible value they provide

-it's about social support that takes people above the poverty line with a Universal Basic Income and opens the way to further education, training and jobs so they don't have to work in fossilised industries of the past

-it's about education that tells the truth of our past, our present and our potential futures and training that is fit for the world we live in today; providing the skills that will be needed for all the tomorrows

It's about every aspect of our lives that are entirely intertwined with our life-support system on earth. There is no justice, no opportunity, no inclusion, no children and no anything on a planet without a life support system. We need to empathise wit each other's plight - we share it.

...

"The climate does not change within decades unless something fundamental is broken. We need to concentrate what dwindling resources we have left as a civilization, as societies, on fixing problems we have no idea how to fix yet. Anyone know how to stop flooding? Not just deal with the damage of the floods — but prevent the flood? Anyone know how to reverse a planetary tipping point?" Is This the Beginning of Runaway Global Warming? | by umair haque