Living with Respect for Creation Choosing Justice Over Empire

The Plan The Climate Change Story Climate Crisis as a Justice Issue Moving Forward

The Climate Change Story

How Does Carbon Get into the Atmosphere?

The Climate Change Story The Earth has a finite carbon budget The Magic Numbers

Climate Change in the Arctic

Species Extinction 150 species lost per day % of species will disappear by 2050 Climate Change

Some of the Effects

Climate Change Vulnerability Index 166Norway 163Canada 164Japan 155USA 151Germany

Cause & Effect % of the damage caused by Global Warming will be suffered by developing countries; the majority of the world’s population Justin Lin, Chief Economist of the World Bank

Climate Change Vulnerability Index 166Norway1Somalia 163Canada2Haiti 164Japan3Afghanistan 155USA4Sierra Leone 151Germany5Burundi

Climate Change in the Global South Higher impact because warmer weather greater reliance on agriculture do not have the resources to adapt sensitive to higher or lower rainfall

So Who’s Responsible?

Wealth and Responsibility

Our Carbon Foot Prints USA Canada China India CountryFootprint USA28.6 Canada19.6 UK15 China3.1 India1.8

US refused to sign Kyoto unless India & China also limited emissions Copenhagen goal: 2 C increase result: 4 C increase Poorest countries signing to get $100 billion promised Copenhagen & Beyond International Talks

How Would You Describe This Situation?

“If you drive your car into your neighbour’s living room, don’t you owe your neighbour something? On this planet we’re driving the climate car into our neighbour’s living room, and they don’t have insurance and we do.” Peter Gleik, Pacific Insitutute

Empire

What do you think of when you think of Empire?

The Unfinished Wheel CORE PERIPHERY

A Word-based Definition “Empire is the convergence of economic, political, cultural, geographic and military imperial interests, systems and networks that seek to dominate political power and economic wealth. It typically forces and facilitates the flow of wealth and power from vulnerable persons, communities and countries to the more powerful.”

Do you see similarities between the system responsible for the climate crisis & these definitions of Empire?

“Empire” Lens as a Tool To help increase our ability to do complex analysis of systems. Can be applied to different domains: food, consumerism, militarism... The focus is the impact of systems on people.

Sometimes we see more...

...when we change lenses

Putting it Together: Climate Justice historical responsibility ecological debt polluter pays all share the sky

...in concrete terms People living in poverty have a right to develop survival emissions vs. luxury emissions We took more than our share & now asked to stop over-consuming & over-polluting for $600 billion / year

The earth does not have enough for the North to live better and better, but it does have enough for all to live well. Evo Morales, President of Bolivia

Looking for Places to Start

By unleashing a collective genius of those around us to creatively and proactively design our energy descent, we can build ways of living that are more connected, more enriching, and that recognize the biological limits of the planet. the Transition Towns Initiative

Broader Action

Thank You