🌱 The Grumpy Optimists #51

The IPCC's latest report and reasons to stay optimistic, and International Women's Day's take on sustainability

Happy Monday 👋

Welcome back to week 51 of The Grumpy Optimists, yes 51 weeks! Once again, above all else our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine, here is an incredibly useful tool to show you how to help. One thing we’ve learned in the last week is that ‘Kyiv’ is pronounced ‘Keev’ in Ukrainian, ‘Kiev’ is the Russian pronunciation. It’s a small thing, but something useful to understand.

This week we’re looking at the IPCC’s latest report and why we need to remain positive, how Nigel Farage sets his sights on creating a new era of climate politics, and what International Women’s Day means to sustainability. Let’s dig in...

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👀 Articles to read

🌎 IPCC warns some impacts of climate change now ‘irreversible.’ The UN’s latest report suggests while it may be too late to halt many impacts of global heating, there is still a short window of time to avoid the very worst.

💭 Why there is still reason to be optimistic: Let’s be honest - the timing of this report isn’t great. This report comes in a week where the news has been even more tumultuous than usual. There’s no point glossing over the headlines here - it is too late to prevent certain aspects of climate change. However, there is still time for us to avoid the most catastrophic impacts if we act now - and one positive is that the data suggests this is very much still in our own hands. The report summary talks about the importance of climate resilient development - and that ultimately avoiding the most destructive impacts of global heating will depend on how well we can strengthen our health, education, and welfare systems to help mitigate the damage caused by the change which is already locked in. Prioritising the rapid transition towards these climate resilient development models can still offer us hope to avoid the worst - but we must act swiftly.

🇺🇦 Is the world’s rally behind Ukraine a lesson for the climate fight? The unanimous show of support that the international community has shown for the people of Ukraine over the last week provides hope that humankind can still act rapidly to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, according to a leading Ukrainian scientist. Dr Svitlana Krakovska had to stop working on the latest IPCC report when the Russian invasion began just over a week ago.

🗳️ Farage sets his sights on a net zero referendum. Nigel Farage is using the rising cost of living and energy bills to campaign against the ‘green agenda’. The move could be seen as nothing more than a man trying to reclaim the spotlight, but we believe it sets a dangerous precedent for inaction, in an era where now more than ever we need to cut emissions. We very much see this as a new era of climate politics.

💼 Climate change is shaping the way Gen Z work. Gen Z-ers get a lot of stick for being too fussy about their career choices and being unwilling to roll up their sleeves to do the dirty work. But young people’s desire to align their work with social values could be critical in the fight against climate change. Don’t listen to them, snowflakes.

🌊 Crucial ’plastic treaty’ signed by 175 countries. Last week, 175 UN member states signed a treaty in Nairobi to tackle plastic pollution. It aims to tackle one of the most crucial environmental issues we are currently facing, and aims to address both production of plastics and the prolific plastic waste that is now found globally. Signatories have until 2024 to craft the details of the treaty, agree on funding and collaboration.

‘Turn off the plastic tap’ by artist Benjamin von Wong made with plastic waste collected from Kibera slums, at the venue of the fifth session of the U.S. Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday.

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♀️International Women’s Day - 8 March

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.’

This is a great plug for our old friend intersectionality; a reminder that climate change is not an exclusively ‘environmental’ crisis, but is inextricably connected to other social issues and movements, one of which is gender equality. Women and children are the most affected by the impacts of climate change, and therefore it is critical that they are at the forefront of the decisions to tackle it. Project Drawdown, a list of the 100 most effective climate solutions, includes ‘educating girls’ as number 6 and ‘family planning’ as number 7 of the 10 most impactful solutions based on gigatons of C02 saved. Moreover, this is a powerful reminder that steps taken to mitigate against the impacts of climate change must also address other social issues such as gender inequality, in tandem with one another.

To get us in the mood for Tuesday, we’ve rounded up a couple of headlines to show the central role which intersectionality plays in the fight against climate change:

• Tanzania is the latest country to take strides to ensure women and children are empowered as leaders in all aspects of climate change governance. Their work follows recommendations outlined in the Glasgow Women’s Leadership Statement, which came out of COP26 last year.

• In Singapore, the Minister for Sustainability and Environment, Grace Fu, made a keynote speech that celebrated the increasing number of women taking the lead in the fight against climate change. In her speech, Ms. Fu also noted how it was important to foster equality in the workplace so that women can better juggle work and family duties - a great example of policies empowering women to give them equal opportunity to succeed in these positions and drive positive change for the planet.

If you want to learn more about International Women’s Day, from its origins to the various ways it is celebrated across the globe, check out this article!

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Have a great week and let us know how you’ll be celebrating International Women’s Day below 👇

The Grumpy Optimists 💚