Restore for Victory

                                    Remembrance Day, Do We Remember the Earth?!

We have just finished celebrating a Day of Remembrance where we honoured all veterans who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.  In my mind, the war continues, the casualties are still mounting.  We have lived our lives as if we are at war with the Earth!  We try to capture its resources for our desires, demolish any natural obstacles to our insatiable appetites and march to the orders of profits, as if there is no tomorrow.  This unconscious Earth War has resulted in a man-made Climate Emergency and has placed people and all of Earth’s ecosystems at risk.  We now realise, the enemy is us. I think of all the species that have made the ultimate sacrifice to provide us with a unsustainable economy.  Now is the time to Remember the Earth! It’s time for a ‘Restore for Victory’ Decade.

Coincidentally, we have just wrapped up COP 26, a clarion call for action for the Planet’s sake.

Yes, this does mean it’s time surrender, surrender to the Earth, become an ally with nature to combat Climate Change.  In this circumstance surrendering is not a disgrace.  It’s an admission of guilt.  Collectively, we have lived beyond our means and treated the Earth as a bottomless cupboard and landfill.  There is still time to recover if we as individuals working within a responsible community act as better global citizens and make good choices.  We must summon all the hearts and minds to take adaptation and mitigation action now.

In World War II many were under the threat of domination by the Nazis. Men, women and children united to ‘Dig for Victory’ and were encouraged to plant ‘Victory Gardens’ for food security.                           

Now the stakes are much higher.  Climate Change has been ignored for too long.  The Climate Emergency is real and jeopardizes tens of millions of people around the world.  Nature itself is at risk from mass extinctions.  Nature may be able to survive but humans may not.  But we still have a chance. 

Over the next ten years we must unite as Earth’s Green Guardians to begin a world-wide ‘Restore for Victory’ campaign.  In our haste we must not panic and make irrational decisions that might make things worse in the long term. We must use our wits to develop technology and an educational system that is in harmony with nature. I propose a new unit of study called Harmonology, with a vision for protecting those that live seven generations into the future. What would this campaign look like?

The world-wide-web and a revitalised school curriculum could be used guide people through the following stages:

Restore habitat and biodiversity.

Quickly but justly transition from fossil fuel to nature based renewable energy economy

Adapt our school curriculums to help students Connect with nature, restore habitat, and prepare for green collar jobs, integrating all subject areas around Sustainability.   

Develop a ‘Restoration Economy’ that is circular in nature and not Take, Make, Waste.

Transition to a local economy

Build the price of carbon output and biodiversity loss into the goods we purchase rather than leaving the ultimate cost to our children and grandchildren.

Learn what it means to Live Lightly and Walk in Balance on the Earth.

We don’t need to live in caves and sacrifice all our creature comforts, but we need to find ways to dramatically reduce what we waste.  Conservation first, then reuse and recycle.

We still have time to do this if we stand together and acknowledge that we are nature too.

earthgg.org.uk

Rich Stever

Newlyn