Education for people no matter their gender, indigenous land rights, roofs with freaking plants on them and farms that restore the health of the soil…these all sound like a nightmarish form of deprivation, right?
Actually, these are some of the actual solutions proposed to help counter the effects of climate change.
Climate action is often framed as a form of deprivation, in terms of the things that we need to give up in order to reduce our impact. However, that perspective is one that doesn’t account for all the things that humans and other beings around the world stand to gain in the process of climate action.
That “deprivation” perspective comes from those who feel threatened.
Climate action is often framed as deprivation because a relatively small fraction of the population might need to temper their expectations of what their wealth should be able to buy them. Meanwhile, people around the world — women, indigenous peoples, children who will have to inhabit the planet in the coming decades — stand to gain so much.
Climate advocacy threatens a small fraction of people who then in turn convince the rest of us that climate action is a sacrifice that isn’t worth making.
However, most of us stand to benefit from climate action, whether that’s through cleaner air, healthier food, or even more equitable economic opportunities.
(And for the small fraction of people who might need to take a little less, it’s not a sacrifice — it’s not a sacrifice if it was gained thanks to privilege. It’s finally making things right.)
So let’s focus on the jobs created by solar installation or on the holy crap oh-so-delicious butternut squash soup that we can chug with impunity — let’s not allow ourselves to get sucked into the idea that climate action is only about giving things up.
Let’s explore how we can spend the money that we need to spend in our daily lives in a way that enriches all of us and focus on everything that the vast majority of the world’s population stands to gain.