If you are reading this you are one of the most powerful people on the planet. You are literate in English, connected to the internet, have a bank account (maybe even superannuation and shares) and live in a high carbon emissions, high consumption society and a democracy.
Being literate is something we take for granted in Australia but only 86% of the worlds population are literate. Not only are you literate but you are literate in English which only 20% of the world’s population is. Why is this important? It means that not only can you read the large amounts of articles and research on climate change that are written in English but you can also use that language to communicate with the politicians, CEOs and corporations that are some of the major stumbling blocks to climate action. Not all the people you need to communicate with read English but most will.
You live in a democracy, something that only 4.5% of the worlds population do (there are degrees of democracy and that is the figure for a true democracy which doesn’t surprisingly include US) That means that unlike the people of China, Saudi Arabia and Russia you can actually vote out politicians who won’t act swiftly to regulate carbon population, ban coal mining and fracking, close coal power stations, fund renewables and public transport, regulate housing standards so that houses are not built that cannot keep its inhabitants safe without fossil fuel energy.
You are connected to the Internet (otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this). Not only can you freely access information on climate change on the internet but you can use it to reach out and communicate with politicians, CEOs and corporations. You can use it to connect to and organise with other people who want climate action.
Only 53% of the worlds population have a bank account. Not only does that suggest that day to day survival is going to be the main preoccupation of half the worlds population but if you have a bank account, superannuation fund or shares you can use it to hurt fossil fuel companies where it matters, in their pockets. Move your money. “I don’t have any money you say”. You can change your bank, change your mortgage (which if you are with one of the big four in Australia is lending billions to fossil fuels every year), change your superannuation fund (to one not leading to fossil fuel companies) and if you are one of the really fortunate people who has shares (move them out of fossil fuels). Check your bank/superannuation fund at Market Forces.
You live in a high carbon/high consumption society. The global average carbon emissions is 4 metric tonnes. The average Australian is 15 tonnes of carbon, average US citizen 20 tonnes, average EU citizen, average EU citizen is 6.9 tonnes. So you dropping your personal carbon emissions by half is more effective than hundreds of people in the rest of the world dropping theirs in half. If everyone lived at EU standards our worldwide emissions would drop by 30%. Australia although small in size exports 13% of the worlds fossil fuels and its high consumption of goods is one of the reasons why Chinas emissions are so large (one third of Chinas emissions are making things for export).
You are alive now. You are alive during the last decade when we can limit the climate emergency to maybe something that won’t destroy civilisation.
I don’t know exactly what percentage of the worlds population these advantages put you in but at least the top 10% of the worlds population in terms of powerfulness to prevent our planet losing the ability to support life. Nine out of ten people and all the animals and plants do not have the ability to stop this catastrophe but you do.
You ARE POWERFUL! How are you going to use it?
Being literate is something we take for granted in Australia but only 86% of the worlds population are literate. Not only are you literate but you are literate in English which only 20% of the world’s population is. Why is this important? It means that not only can you read the large amounts of articles and research on climate change that are written in English but you can also use that language to communicate with the politicians, CEOs and corporations that are some of the major stumbling blocks to climate action. Not all the people you need to communicate with read English but most will.
You live in a democracy, something that only 4.5% of the worlds population do (there are degrees of democracy and that is the figure for a true democracy which doesn’t surprisingly include US) That means that unlike the people of China, Saudi Arabia and Russia you can actually vote out politicians who won’t act swiftly to regulate carbon population, ban coal mining and fracking, close coal power stations, fund renewables and public transport, regulate housing standards so that houses are not built that cannot keep its inhabitants safe without fossil fuel energy.
You are connected to the Internet (otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this). Not only can you freely access information on climate change on the internet but you can use it to reach out and communicate with politicians, CEOs and corporations. You can use it to connect to and organise with other people who want climate action.
Only 53% of the worlds population have a bank account. Not only does that suggest that day to day survival is going to be the main preoccupation of half the worlds population but if you have a bank account, superannuation fund or shares you can use it to hurt fossil fuel companies where it matters, in their pockets. Move your money. “I don’t have any money you say”. You can change your bank, change your mortgage (which if you are with one of the big four in Australia is lending billions to fossil fuels every year), change your superannuation fund (to one not leading to fossil fuel companies) and if you are one of the really fortunate people who has shares (move them out of fossil fuels). Check your bank/superannuation fund at Market Forces.
You live in a high carbon/high consumption society. The global average carbon emissions is 4 metric tonnes. The average Australian is 15 tonnes of carbon, average US citizen 20 tonnes, average EU citizen, average EU citizen is 6.9 tonnes. So you dropping your personal carbon emissions by half is more effective than hundreds of people in the rest of the world dropping theirs in half. If everyone lived at EU standards our worldwide emissions would drop by 30%. Australia although small in size exports 13% of the worlds fossil fuels and its high consumption of goods is one of the reasons why Chinas emissions are so large (one third of Chinas emissions are making things for export).
You are alive now. You are alive during the last decade when we can limit the climate emergency to maybe something that won’t destroy civilisation.
I don’t know exactly what percentage of the worlds population these advantages put you in but at least the top 10% of the worlds population in terms of powerfulness to prevent our planet losing the ability to support life. Nine out of ten people and all the animals and plants do not have the ability to stop this catastrophe but you do.
You ARE POWERFUL! How are you going to use it?
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