Naomi Klein is asking what many of us have been thinking: What is it about climate change that makes us look away and bury our heads, as opposed to reacting with drive, purpose and commitment to change? In her new documentary (based on her best-selling book), she raises a valid, and important point: people have been told that we are the problem, that it is our nature to be destructive.
All over Sweden, both private and public companies and services have been experimenting with a six hour work day, in the hopes that employees will be more productive and quality of output would improve. One company, Filimungus explains employees almost universally report being happier, more energized and engaged in their work.
In Norway’s capital city, they are taking steps towards a car-free city center by 2019. It is part of a larger plan, which would see the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2020. That’s right, FIVE years from now.
Framing climate change as a human rights issue is currently gaining momentum. Former Irish President Mary Robinson recently spoke about climate justice, pointing out that not only are more affluent nations better able to protect themselves, they are also responsible for the majority of the carbon emissions that are currently affecting their less developed neighbours in life changing ways.
As we vote today for the incoming federal government, there has been a lot of missing dialogue in one of the longest campaigns in Canadian history. Why? Why has there been so little discussion about our health infrastructure, so much debate about the economy and no talk about poverty?
The Global Apollo Program is a 10 year project to make renewable energy cheaper than fossil fuels through internationally coordinated and publicly funded research into renewable energy technology. It has attracted celebrity endorsements from the likes of Sir David Attenborough, and has a community of investors and backers as diverse as fossil fuel executives, economists and energy ministers. The program focuses on securing more public funding for research and development.
There is a long and storied history behind the actions of pop stars and their ability to affect society at large with their various beliefs, endorsements and endeavors. One Direction, perhaps best known for their legions of adoring teenage (and not-so-teenaged) fans, recently put together quite the movement, putting them squarely into the “good influence” category, as celebrities go.
Every time an election rolls around, we end up hearing the same question: How do we get the youth out and voting? Voter turnout by the youth demographic has been described as “dismal”, “sparse” and even “non-existent”. Many claim this is due to a general apathy amongst young people in general, or a lack of understanding of the importance of the democratic process as a whole. I would argue that this is not at all the case, but that younger people just aren’t connecting with the unchanging voting process, which is still very much analog in a digital world.
Often, with social change or any innovations, people focus on the big fix and miss the many small steps that culminatively make a difference--a kind of threshold effect just as in ecological systems. A San Francisco based start-up called Nebia a new shower head that conserves water, and that is designed to respond to people's needs. In theory, we all want to conserve water, but at the same time many of us love standing in a long, hot shower.