Is "adaptation" enough? (Ch 1)

[Stacia]

Hi Everyone,

I was reading through the discussion topics provided on thischangeseverything.org and I found a topic that I wanted to discuss in our group. The question is "Klein argues that "adaptation" is not enough. Do you agree with this argument?" This is something I heard being discussed at multiple UN conferences and I don't really understand why "adaptation" and "mitigation" have been seen as mutually exclusive for so long.

I believe that our governments and IGOs should be working towards mitigating the amount of CO2 and GHGs that are emitted into the atmosphere while also funding adaptation projects that prevent the negative effects of climate change such as disaster readiness programs. I suppose many government officials do not feel funding would be best spent on these types of projects, as we've read, and would rather put the funds towards military and bank bailouts...

What do you guys think? Is there even a point to any of this? I mean, it took the UN 21 years to actually agree on an international climate agreement. Are we too late?

[Christine]

Stacia,

I like this discussion topic. I think for a brief moment the issue is still in our hands. We don't have much time left but there is a growing movement of activists around the world fighting for and demanding action now.

I personally don't believe in our politicians, UN agencies, or intergovernmental organizations. Like you said it took them 21 years to come to an international climate agreement. If we would have taken the advice set forth immediately after the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, which was cutting emissions by 20% below 1988 levels by 2005, then we would be in a much better place today. Imagine what wealthy nations could have done with renewable technologies and clean energy. and developing nations could have completely bypassed the entire fossil fuel era and created incredible opportunities for overcoming poverty on low-carbon alternatives. Klein mentions if we would have taken this path, we would be on track to a completely de-carbonized global economy by the mid-century. Instead she says "we kicked the can around for more than two decades...based on the rules of free market fundamentalism", leaving us to where we are now.

So what will happen if we continue relying on the governments to adapt and mitigate, that like you say are only interested in bank bailouts? In my opinion I think we need to continue fighting back as activists to make the real movement like what we are seeing with Standing Rock and hundreds of other people's marches, blockades, etc. We need to get the youth involved in this because we are ultimately the ones who will have to deal with their mess.

[Stacia]

Christine, thank you for your inspiring and uplifting post. Reading TCE has definitely begun a bit of an existential crisis for me but I am glad to hear your perspective and bit of optimism for the future. I agree about necessity for activist groups like those at the Standing Rock protest. Who knows, maybe Trump's horrific cabinet picks will bring others towards the environmental movement and we could see an increase in citizens becoming involved in the conservation of the environment. At this point, we can only fight for the best outcome.