RADICAL REALIST

Overwhelming, anxiety-inducing, terrifying – are the kinds of words most of use when confronted with the climate crisis, before something in us goes numb and we look away, closing that virtual window.

We all do it. We’d have to be superhuman to absorb the full extent of this emergency and not explode. Our lizard brains know when to flick the switch.

But we also know, rationally, that if so many of us continue to disengage, rather than engage, with what’s happening, we will all, collectively, suffer the consequences.

Therein lies the dilemma. How can we allow ourselves to care about climate change – to make room for something so immense, so devastating and unknown – without tipping into a state of extreme distress and despair?

I’ve been running through my usual three big questions, starting with: Why.

In the Global North, why is our first instinct to ‘check out’? To stop listening, reading, watching? Why does the prospect of so much suffering make us want to retreat and bury our heads in the sand, rather than step into the ring and fight for human survival?

My second question is: How.

When I read Gavin Schmidt, Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, saying that it’s ‘it’s humbling, and a bit worrying, to admit that no year has confounded climate scientists’ predictive capabilities more than 2023,’ I feel helpless. I think to myself: If the scientists are this worried, what does that mean for the rest of us? How will the average person emerge from their apathy if those closest to the science keep delivering bad news?

And my final question: What now?

A major study by the Postdam Institute recently found that by 2049, the world will have suffered a permanent 19% loss of average income. Meanwhile, oil and gas companies are still not being held legally responsible for climate crimes, and greenhushing –  companies refusing to publish ESG information – appears to be on the rise. Business leaders are afraid of being held legally accountable for aiming high, and so are increasingly taking their climate goals (and methods for reaching them) behind closed doors. The people and industries that should be leading the charge are giving us little reason to trust them. Because they don’t trust us, either.

On one side, we see entrenched apathy, and on the other, among those who do care –actively – a general crisis of faith. So, what now?

I’m a climber, and like so many others, often look to mountains as metaphors for life challenges. One of the first things you’ll notice on a map, for example, is that there’s rarely ever just one route to the top. Mountaineers pick their own entry points and journeys, at a pace that suits them, with a style they consider to be the most fulfilling way of experiencing nature.

The point, here, for me, is about specificity, and a personal negotiation with a problem. Finding one’s own route and short-cuts up the proverbial mountain. For some it will be the law, for others finance, data analytics, fashion, science, writing or academia. None of us at the head of the trail can see the mountain, nor do we expect to – yet. We just start walking.

It is this line of thinking that has allowed me to find my own path, which happened to be an area I was excited about irrespective of climate change: the mobilisation of employees. People – and their willingness to adapt and evolve within a rapidly changing landscape – was what caught my attention and allowed me to start walking. This is why I set up Hurd, a unique, free app that turns every job into an opportunity for climate action.

We should be realistic – after all, people will only be able to care about climate on their own terms – but we should also be radical with ourselves and start climbing the mountain we cannot see. Our careers occupy so much of our time, and when they work well for us, they give us a sense of purpose and drive. Often, they allow us to interface with some of the most powerful institutions that shape our society. What better tool to leverage in the fight against climate change?

The great news is that the job market is getting greener by the day. According to a new report, the number of postings that can be categorised as green has soared by 93% since 2019. People are realising that every job is a climate job, and that there is, in fact, a place for everyone – for what they do, want, and care about – in a green future.

It just so happens that the mountain is climate change, and that the view, from the top, will be climate action, but for now, all I see around me – all I want to see – is people responding to climate issues within their roles, on their own terms, doing what they do best and unleashing the energy this crisis needs. I believe apathy disappears when people realise they can do things their way.