The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis

by Christiana Figueres

Denying climate change is tantamount to saying you don’t believe in gravity. The science of climate change is not a belief, a religion, or a political ideology. It presents facts that are measurable and verifiable. Just as gravity exerts its force on all of us whether we believe in it or not, climate change is already affecting us all no matter where we were born or where we live.

Anger that sinks into despair is powerless to make a change. Anger that evolves into conviction is unstoppable.

Here’s the good news. We are still, just barely, inside a zone where we can stave off the worst and manage the remaining long-term effects. But only if we do what is required of us in the short term. This is the last time in history when we will be able to do this. Soon it will be too late.

change any longer. We now need to let go of half-hearted attempts and instead act in proportion to the magnitude of the challenge.

We believe three mindsets are fundamental to us all in our pursuit to co-create a better world. With intentional provocation, we call them Stubborn Optimism, Endless Abundance and Radical Regeneration.

When your mind tells you that it is too late to make a difference, remember that every fraction of a degree of extra warming makes a big difference, and therefore any reduction in emissions lessens the burden on the future.

And when your mind tells you that you are just one person, too small to make a difference, so why bother, you can remind yourself that tipping points are non-linear. We don’t know what is going to make the difference, but we know that in the end systems do shift and all the little actions add up to a new world. Every time you make an individual choice to be a responsible custodian of this beautiful Earth, you contribute to major transformations.

In the face of climate change, we all have to be optimistic, not because success is guaranteed but because failure is unthinkable.

We need both systemic transformation and individual behavioural changes. One without the other will not get us to the necessary scale of change at the necessary pace.

When considering an action, we have to ask: does it actively contribute to humans and nature thriving together as one integrated system on this planet? If yes, green light. If not, red light. Period.

The time for doing what we can has passed. Each of us must now do what is necessary.

Having a vision is essential, but we have to be open to doing things in new ways. So hold on to your vision, but remain flexible and adaptive about the route to get there.

A recent analysis by MIT shows that on Twitter lies spread on average six times faster than truth, and that truth never reaches the same level of penetration.22 Social media is an engine for the production and dissemination of lies.

In no period of history did leaders ever speak the truth at all times, but right now an altogether different level of lying is evident in the political arena.

Humans are vulnerable to the post-truth world for a reason. Our natural inclination seems to be to seek confirmation of things we already believe to be true, rather than evidence for an objective reality.

Populist authoritarian rulers will not seek to address the complex climate crisis with long-term solutions; instead they will find someone to blame. We cannot allow them to use the coming disasters to exacerbate tragedy to the detriment of us all.

Facts aren’t enough to change the mind of a climate denier, so presenting statistics and sources won’t help. If you reach them, it will be because you sincerely listened to them and strove to understand their concerns. By giving care, love and attention to every individual, we can counter the forces pulling us apart.

But rather than meeting our needs, buying things in order to achieve a sense of satisfaction or belonging can become addictive and lead to self-doubt and confusion about our very identity and life direction.

We must ensure that decision-making at all levels of society involves increasing numbers of women, because when women lead, good things happen. That is the unequivocal conclusion of years of research.

We will be able to manage climate change better if we can improve the ratio of women making the decisions about how to do it. It’s time to either become one of those decision-makers or support women you know to become one.

Civil disobedience is not only a moral choice, it is also the most powerful way of shaping world politics.

We want you to know two things. First, even at this late hour we still have a choice about our future, and therefore every action we take from this moment forward counts. Second, we are capable of making the right choices about our own destiny. We are not doomed to a devastating future, and humanity is not flawed and incapable of responding to big problems if we act.