🌱 The Grumpy Optimists #66
A win for the Amazonian rainforest and a take on Greta Thunberg’s new book launch
Hello all, happy Monday. 👋
A lot has been going on politically recently, and it will be interesting to see what impact this holds for the climate’s future. Bolsonaro is out of a presidency in Brazil and the new president Luiz Inácio Lila da Silva could be great news for the rainforest. COP27 is also off to a slightly rocky start so stay tuned to see what the outcomes are. As well as the usual articles, Ella went to a Greta Thunberg event in London last week for her launch of The Climate Book so read on for her reflections, and Mari has a course recommendation. Let’s dive in 👇
👀 Articles to read
🚆Germany launches €49/month train ticket. In both an attempt to offer lower-cost travel and cut emissions, Germany will now allow citizens to travel nationwide for less than a 2-hour return train journey in the UK.
🌴 An election to save the rainforests? After Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva beat Jair Bolsonaro to become the president of Brazil last week, the real winner could be the Amazon and the planet. Deforestation has increased by 72% during Bolsonaro's time in office but president Lula could well help cut those figures and has committed bold action to the protection of the Amazon.
This comes as Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo look to form an ‘Opec of rainforests’ to coordinate conservation.
🧑🎨 Climate activists glue themselves to frames of two Goya paintings in Madrid. Activists have glued themselves to two paintings in Madrid’s Prado museum. They scrawled “+1,5°C” on the wall between the two paintings in reference to the Paris Agreement. The protest was for the rising world temperatures which will “provoke an unstable climate with serious consequences for all the planet”. No paintings were damaged.
🌏 Indigenous women rangers of the Great Barrier Reef make the finals of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize Awards. This dedicated team combines ancient knowledge and new technology including drones to gather data and monitor the health of the Great Barrier Reef. The data is used for educational purposes and to inform government action to protect the reef.
🏦 Blackrock raises $4.5bn for climate infrastructure. Blackrock, one of the largest asset managers in the world with $8 trillion in assets has launched the fund to invest in energy, transport and logistics and digital infrastructure. While Blackrock may get some back rep for a lot of what they do (rightly so) their increasing focus on decarbonisation is incredibly powerful.
🌱 An un-moss-able read. Nikita Arora plunges us straight into woodland and makes us consider the beauty, value and meaning of an overlooked plant that has carpeted the ground for millions of years: moss. This article takes us from a tale of 17th-century botany; to exploring the relationship between western science, colonialism and the exclusion of people from nature. Most of all, reading it makes you want to head to your nearest woodland, take a deep breath of fresh, autumnal air and feel some soft, spongy moss under your hands.
🎤 Greta Thunberg at the Southbank Centre - Ella
Last Sunday I was lucky enough to get a ticket to hear Greta Thunberg speak at the Southbank Centre in London. She has just launched a new book - The Climate Book and she gave a brilliant speech and was interviewed by journalist and writer Samira Ahmed.
The Climate Book is a handbook that brings together years of research to explain the basics of climate change, how all its intersections come together, and the voices of 100 experts from multiple fields to tell us what we can do about it. It’s the first of its kind as a climate manual and breaks down the science into manageable and understandable chunks. Greta also writes her own pieces throughout the book about the things she has discovered along her journey since accidentally starting the global school strike movement. The message is for system change, and the book breaks down what this really means and how we are starting to push for it.
It was amazing to hear Greta Thunberg speak in person - she is an incredibly knowledgeable and eloquent 19-year-old. In her speech, she spoke about how important activism is in combatting climate change and how it is one of the most impactful actions that an individual can take. She also spoke about how disheartening it is to see new leaders come into power and not do what they promised for the climate, with new oil fields being approved each day. However, there is also hope, which we need to start creating through activist communities and stop searching for elsewhere.
During her conversation with Samira Ahmed, I was struck by Greta’s sense of humour and how she has accidentally become a global figure. She didn’t set out with the intention of starting a movement but wanted to do something tangible to feel less overwhelmed by climate change. So one Friday she went to sit outside the Swedish parliament with a sign and, for a while, she was by herself. She says at first it was just her and some leaflets she made that were absolutely packed with information (which she wouldn’t use now because they were a bit too packed with facts). Slowly but surely, people started to pay attention (mostly because a school girl sat outside parliament with a sign was annoying - much to Greta’s enjoyment). Now, the school strikes for climate is a global movement, with millions of participants.
Many are talking about the world ‘going back to normal’ after COVID but we can’t go back to a normal that takes us in the wrong direction - speeding towards the climate crisis. It shouldn’t be up to the younger generations to fight for the future of the planet but we do need to pressure those in power to do more, and together we can’t be ignored.
I could say much more but it was incredible to hear Greta speak and you can even watch the event yourself here.
So what can you do?
Educate. Educate yourselves and those around you. There is so much information out there and it can be overwhelming but the science speaks for itself. Go and read as much as you can, and pass it on. The Climate Book would be a good start.
Activism. Activism takes many forms and everyone can join in, so go and find a local movement that works for you. Hope is stronger if we work together, and we know we’re not alone.
Change the system. I haven’t read The Climate Book yet but it sounds like it is full of answers and inspiration. You can do something different and contribute to the wider system change that needs to happen.
🇪🇬 COP27 kicks off and these are some of the things we’ve been reading about it:
Loss and damage must be at the heart of COP27 talks, experts say.
COP27: crucial climate talks more fragile than ever after a year of turmoil
Africa is being devastated by a climate crisis it didn’t cause. COP27 must help.
🧑🏾🎓 A course to check out: Learning for Nature
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has its own learning platform to help upskill and connect biodiversity policy-makers, conservationists and fellow nature nerds to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. They have a whole host of courses, webinars and podcasts to help you learn more about the natural world and the skills and tools to help protect it.
I (Mari) am currently doing their Ecosystem Restoration Course. What I like about it is the variety of methods used to teach it. With video lectures and case studies, interactive lessons, and a forum for students to discuss the content, it caters to a diverse set of learning styles and needs. I also came across this insanely cool interactive app which maps out different biomes (split into “ecoregions”) across the world (geographers, please contain your excitement). This can help in planning and targeting resources for restoration projects.
The Grumpy Optimists 💚