The devastating threat of climate change is on our doorstep. The resources we need to decarbonise in a timely manner are more readily available than ever before. They are not yet enough, but increased government and business commitments, technology advances, trillions of dollars that are shifting toward clean technologies and an ever-growing civil society movement, together represent an historic abundance of efforts towards our shared purpose of addressing climate change at speed and at scale.
But the most important resource is still scarce. That resource is trust. Trust is the glue that will hold our collective efforts together through the extremely difficult challenges we are facing. It is hard won and easily lost. Unless we intentionally rebuild trust—in ourselves and in each other—our work to secure a liveable future for humanity will falter and ultimately fail.
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First, we need to rebuild trust in ourselves: trust that we can do what is necessary within the time range determined by science. According to a recent survey of young people, more than half of them feel they are doomed, that humanity is doomed. It is no wonder they are taking to the streets, and I very much welcome this needed pressure on the system. At the same time, I ask myself if there is compelling historical evidence that we are incapable of rising to the challenges of the times. And I see that we humans have accomplished extraordinary feats.
We’ve conquered deadly diseases, expanded girls’ education, and brought millions out of poverty. We can now communicate with every corner of the world cheaply and instantly; we have dematerialized music, information, and banking. And energy from the everlasting wind and sun is channeling into power grids everywhere.
None of those advancements are finished, but what we have already achieved is remarkable and shows how ingeniously humans can come together to tackle what often seem like insurmountable goals. The current…
Source : time
