“There’s a story being told about you, about what you need, about what you care about, about what’s possible,” begins the new video from Possible, one of my favourite climate charities. There is a prevailing narrative about climate change that it doesn’t matter to people, that it’s too expensive to do anything about, that it can’t be fixed anyway and we should learn to live with it.
I have heard points like this made by friends and relatives, often on lower incomes and in working class towns, unaware that this is a story told by the richest. Chris Goodall demonstrated that in his Climate Commentary newsletter this week, quoting exactly these points in articles from the Financial Times, the Telegraph and the Spectator. The latter was written by Matt Ridley, a Viscount who has a huge open-cast coal mine on his inherited estate.
In Ridley’s case, the conflict of interest is visible from space. Other wealthy people hide behind their newspapers. They use their tabloid mouthpieces to shape public opinion and protect their investments in the fossil fuelled status quo. Day after day, the drip-feed continues. Every mention of environmentalists is negative – doom-mongers, obsessives, fanatics, cultists. Climate action is never being suggested and rolled out, it’s being pushed, imposed, “rammed down our throats”. Everything is ramped up to hysterical extremes. ‘Net zero is a national suicide pact’, is the headline of the aforementioned Telegraph article.
For Possible, the answer lies in working with communities to deliver climate action that makes a visible difference – lower energy bills, warmer and more comfortable homes, more attractive public spaces. People don’t need to be persuaded on environmental talking points if they can see it working for themselves in their neighbourhood.
We have a similar approach at Ashden, and I’ve written before about projects like Energise Barnsley that are all about showcasing solutions for ordinary people. In my own work, I get to pursue practical climate action in schools and demonstrate the difference in energy savings, heatwave resilience, better playgrounds and cleaner air.
As Possible say, “climate action makes life better.” I wouldn’t be working on it if I didn’t wholeheartedly agree, and it’s why I’m a supporter of Possible.
Here’s their video:
