OUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE!
Chief Marik Koftau I used to tell us:
- “We are all part of an ecosystem”
This undeniable truth used to be a good starting point for many conversations, sometimes while drinking Kava…
- “…how to resist to the “Kranky System” and Save the Lagoons?”
For this prolific type of discussions within the Erakor Community we call it “Kava Wise”….
- Tukfa!
Humans
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) states that there are 8.7 million species on the Planet Earth. There is only one Planet Earth.
Humans are part of a bigger family of species Hominidae: Humans are the Homo Sapiens.
Homo Sapiens represent 0.000000115 of all the species. Sapiens means Knowledge.
Different from the monkeys, Humans are spelled with capital letter. Humans have memories, think and dream… dogs and pigs too. Humans came out with the idea that only they have Knowledge.
…Knowledge
Is a bit difficult to define, even for the Homo Sapiens. We could say that there are 4 different levels of Knowledge. There is a kind of progression – ….maybe regression… – on from one to the next level. These levels started from the early moments of the Homo Sapiens till today.
- Rationality
This is related with logical concepts such as true or false; right or wrong; up or down; yesterday and tomorrow; 1+2 =3. Logic. Facts. Numbers.
You do not need to speak the same language to understand this. Some languages in Vanuatu have a 5 base system. Some 10 base. In the South of Vanuatu you may say for 6, 5+1. In the North People say 6, which means the same.
Rationality is available to all Humans. You do not need to go to school to learn it, to know it.
- Scientific Knowledge
Is a methodology used to build Knowledge, using rationality. Based on a Hypothesis, Experiment, and a conclusion, The prove that the hypothesis was right or wrong.
Example of a Hypothesis is: the Planet is not Flat.
Scientists proved that the statement is right and used different ways to prove it, using the scientific method. But still…, some people “believe” that the Earth is flat.
Believing is not scientific knowledge. Is personal knowledge.
- Personal Knowledge
I know that Cristiano Ronaldo plays better than Messi. You may disagree. Two people may believe in different, or even opposite ways. That is why it is personal knowledge.
My boss believes that entrepreneurship is the best way to develop the country, and that we shouldn’t have taxes on businesses and attract investors from overseas because money will “trikle down” to workers and then the community, so they have money to consume the products and services owned by the entrepreneurs. My boss is knowledgeable, but knowledgeable workers may not agree with him.
I have a friend who has a religion with multiple Gods. He prays to different ones depending on his struggles. Another friend doesn’t believe in God.
- Political Knowledge
This knowledge is made within the Political sphere and is not accessible to most of the People. This “Superior Level” of Knowledge is exclusive of an absolute minority, also called politicians, their staff and those who are very close to politicians, also called lobbyists.
When politicians and their exclusive friends meet,. they have “High-Level meetings”.
Knowledge, at this “high-level”, sometimes is based on the capacity to argue – rather than the substance of the ideas – as the main driver of arguments is about accessing Power and Resources.
The political sphere of Knowledge is a bit more difficult to understand to most of the People. Ordinary People feel more comfortable when situated the lower levels of Knowledge. For example, Children are very rational and easily understand the logical concepts right and wrong.
When young activist Greta Thunberg understood what Climate Change is, at 8 years old. She could not understand why so little was being done about it. And because she had a disorder, an obsession, Asperger syndrome, she could not simply ignore the problem, like the others could. She called her illness a “superpower”.
The political sphere derived from various groups of interest, regional, religion, ideological, corporations, or any other reason, that makes a group with the mix of personalities. Leaders are recognised as having knowledge, that the individuals of their groups classify as Clever or Smart.
Politicians are focused on forcefully defending the interest of their own group. It is acceptable, along their own professional life, to change from a group to another group of interest because Politicians are also developing their own personal Knowledge.
Political decisions can be difficult to predict, as there are complex pieces of information that usually are not be accessible to the general public. So, logic and rationality may not apply.
To justify the acceptance of these decisions, ordinary people believe (personal knowledge) that the politicians needed to decide, in their way, because the matters are “COMPLEX”. Complexity is a dead-end argument to avoid further reflection by ordinary people. Politicians rely of classifying issues as complex to decide the way they do, so ordinary people accept.
So, people choose their own representatives politicians to make decisions for them and trust them to do so. But this involves gambling and betting on politicians because if your choice is wrong that has consequences. Gambling is considered a form of Knowledge by addicted gamblers.
Mia Couto, a Mozambique writer wrote about Politics: Is the Art of making lies that are only able to be countered by other politicians.
In this extreme case, the Political knowledge passes from the Cleaver, Smart into the sublevel of Sneaky Knowledge. Hard to counter with Rationality, Scientific, or Personal Knowledge.
“The System” was built and developed, at the Superior Level of the Political Knowledge, by the Homo Sapiens.
Like decisions on Wars and the Climate Change Negotiations happen in the sphere of the Political Knowledge
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”
Robert Swan
Unlike the Political knowledge, the scientific knowledge progress is based on the principles sharing of information, transparency and peer review. This allowed a steady advancement of technology, for example.
Scientists have been seriously alerting for the dangerous of the climate change for many decades. Today there is scientific consensus on climate change and global warming.
Climate Change is the most recent major impact of Humans on the Planet. And this is part of new geological epoch dating from the significant impact of Humans on the Planet Earth to the present day: the Anthropocene, that also considers the effects of Humans on Earth’s geology, Oceans, landscape, including rivers, lakes and ecosystems, dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth up to the present day. For example, in 2020, The Human-made materials where equal weight of all life on Earth.
Probably because the scientific knowledge is open, transparently available and is rational resonates to most People.
As the politicians need People’s votes to remain in power, at least in democratic countries, the Political Knowledge wanted to provide the perception to People that governments accommodated the rationality and scientific knowledge in their actions.
Playing with words is one of the major strengths of the Political Knowledge, and it is now commonly to see Climate Crisis rather than Climate Change in political documents. It looks better, considering the State of Emergency: “climate crisis poses an existential threat”.
Now, the latest version of the Homo Sapiens of the 21st Century is relying on the “Conference of the Parties” COPs to solve its own created Climate Crisis. In some countries, politicians made declarations of Climate Emergency. Declarations are great for the Political sphere, because most are non-biding declarations. Politicians have power and are cleaver.
Emergency means a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action. It is hard to understand what the meaning of the Climate Emergency is because it is hard to see any immediate action.
Some countries who declared Climate Emergency have increased their carbon footprint by starting new explorations of coal, oil and gas.
Watering down the meaning of words seems to be a strategy of the Political Knowledge. But it is certainly dangerous, literally playing with fire.
To make more complicated, colonization invented the idea of Borders, multiplied in the decolonization process. On some occasions, colonial powers intentionally come with the idea to divide and create problems to the future countries, a sort of revenge for losing power and resources. The political sphere can invent borders to divide us. The borders of India, and West and East Pakistan, currently Bangladesh, is just an example.
Borders are like walls – gives us ideas that we live in different Worlds. Each one with its own exclusive reality. But the real reality is that we all live in the same house: The Earth.
Borders exacerbates the Homo Sapiens illusions. With borders, different Jurisdictions were created. Different official power to make legal decisions and judgements. So, Humans can now have many judgements, including contradictory, depending on which Jurisdiction.
Multiple Jurisdictions are of the major obstacles to Climate Justice.
Let’s imagine that we all live all under the same building within one Jurisdiction. If I organised a party in my apartment – and I know there are rules of cohabitation – I incur in the risk of disturbing my neighbors. Either I increase the isolation of my apartment – mitigation or I have to have strategies for adaptation – invite them for the Party so they don’t complain… If I have a bbq in my apartment and the smoke blew across to my next door neighbors apartment making their cloths smell bad it would be tolerable. But, in the worst case scenario the bbq could turn into a fire both my house and the neighbors house is damage. What would happen?
The Police will come and will make me pay to the loss and damage I have caused to my neighbors or I go to court and the application of the law will make me pay. That is fair enough. It is Justice. We all accept it in most of the Jurisdictions of the World.
Why is so hard to achieve Climate Justice?
Plastics is made of Fossil Fuel. Basically the same industry. Fossil Fuel corporations are owned by, basically, about 200 families, as the major shareholders of all these companies.
Fossil Fuel and other corporations, strategically sponsor sports and community events that are considered very popular for the People of many countries. Even in countries that promoted a resolution to the International Court of Justice on the climate crisis and Human Rights, declared climate emergency, promised to phase out fossil fuels and ban some single use plastics.
Politicians are usually close to corporations as these finance Politicians, their political campaigns and social fun life like parties, and fun runs. That is not illegal… is acceptable. Some countries are changing laws to prevent it. Greenwashing
If the Fossil Fuels and Plastics are the same industry why there is Negotiations on the Climate Crisis and Negotiations on the Plastic Treaty?
The Climate Change and Plastic negotiations are the part of the Political sphere.
The governments, politicians, recruited people to represent them as negotiators in the Conference of the Parties (COPs) and Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INCs). Many negotiators are Scientists…. Dragging science into the political sphere seems to be a great strategy from politicians as inspire seriousness on the deals. With a high risk of taking credibility of Science by ordinary Homo Sapiens.
The Scientific method is supposed to be universally accepted and not to be used as a political bullet. It is more than obvious the resistance to energy transition promoted by the fossil fuel corporations and car producers; Science has been used in the political sphere and that is making the Homo Sapiens confused and not able to use the brain.
Politicians are also great to pretend to conveniently use Rationality. The country only contributes with just over 1% for the Green House Gas emissions. While omitting country’s per capita emissions.
Or another country, states proudly that emits only 0.0016% of global GHG emissions. Omitting that its average annual increase is +7.18% per year. Faster than the average.
Keep kicking the tin along the road will lead us to the end on the road… then there will be a cliff that we can we orderly fell down on it.
Scientists say Climate emergency is not compatible with delaying action.
In the Political Knowledge sphere everything is possible: if not carbon neutral in 2030, then in 2040.
Just like, in the Personal knowledge, domestic violence is not such a good thing so commit to stop it in 2035?
The Paris agreement on climate change was exclusively negotiation by Humans who represent 0.000000115 of the Species.
Humans only scientifically described and catalogued 1.2 million of the 8.7 million species on Earth. Which represents 0.137931034 or 13%.
The agreement was considered a success in the Political sphere. The Agreement was not only an immediate dead sentence to millions of species and biodiversity but to full countries such low island states inhabited by Humans.
The lack of governments commitment to the lowering GHG emissions is affecting all countries. Humans do not care much on the impact of their live style on biodiversity. But we would expect that the impacts on Human Life would makes feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately, it is not the case.
If the Pacific wants to resist and show the example needs to be very carefully about its own links with Consumerism and Fossil Fuel Dependency – the end of the Pacific is few decades away, if nothing actually changes…
“Personal selfishness, self-indulgence, lack of generosity, small everyday cowards, all of this contributes to that pernicious form of mental blindness which consists of being in the world and not seeing the world, or only seeing in it what, in each moment, is likely to serve our interests.”
Jose’ Saramago, Literature Nobel Prize
We are all free to engage with the People and the Environment that surround us. Do we need really need a plastic and fossil fuel sponsorship to our sports or cultural events? or to go for a fun run in the bush when sponsored by fuel that is burning our house…?
We can all do better in our efforts to live with less dependent of fossil fuel, not only to commute but to organise our collective’s leisure time, Arts and Sports and events.
Reducing and refusing unnecessary consumption of fossil fuel and plastics is important. Accepting sponsorships that divert the attention from the environmentally destructive impacts it causes is also probably important if we are all serious about save our collective future.
These decisions can be made on Rational, Scientific, Personal, or Political Knowledge levels by any Homo Sapiens.
Business as Usual while Being in Climate Emergency is like going to the left and to the right at same time.
Climate Emergency Day makes you forget about the Climate Crisis 364 Days per Year
UPDATE: CLIMATE EMERGENCY DAY AT TANNA CINE
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