Leading the Fight Against Climate Change: The Importance of Conversations and Personal Action in Achieving Carbon Removal
Inspiring Hope and Empowering Action: One Man's Journey to Lead the Charge on Climate Change and Carbon Removal
Earlier this week I published an article on Forbes.com entitled, “Leading the Charge on Climate: Carbon Removal’s Role in Achieving New Zero.” You can read the full article here.
In addition to emphasizing the significance of carbon removal, clarifying its definition, and debunking prevalent misconceptions, I also stressed the importance of conversation to catalyze climate action. No one, as I note, has made this case more powerfully than Katherine Hayhoe:
In her book, Saving Us, Katherine Hayhoe makes the powerful case of how talking about personal actions to address climate change can have a significant impact. She cites an example of a man who had a few conversations in his immediate network, which led to 12,000 subsequent conversations, resulting in his local council taking action on climate change by divesting from fossil fuels and increasing the use of renewable energy.
I observed the transformative power of conversation firsthand at the beginning of the year, when I joined Craig Cohon on the start of his six-month walking journey from London to Istanbul, known as the "Walk It Back" campaign. I outline a bit about the walk and its purpose in the article:
So, why is Cohon doing the walk? Craig explains on his website, “I have lived a very privileged white man’s carbon-polluting Boomer life.” He goes on to quantify his lifetime carbon footprint, which equates to the distance from London to Istanbul when translated from carbon tons into miles.
Cohon has certainly put his money where his mouth is. With the support of the climate technology company, Patch, Cohon has invested 1 million pounds of his own pension fund into carbon removal technologies. Nonetheless, more than one person has criticized Craig's "Walk It Back" campaign for its perceived lack of clarity on how it will contribute to a larger scale of carbon removal. Arguably, such criticisms stem from the typical skepticism often exhibited towards advocacy efforts, which aim to impact policy decisions, rather than directly bringing about specific programmatic changes. Policy advocacy can be difficult yes, but, if it's effective, has the potential to impact millions of people.
To that end, partnering with Re-Earth, Cohon has compiled a robust policy agenda looking specifically at the role cities can play to scale carbon removal techniques, such as through their procurement policies. During his journey, Cohon is meeting with city leaders to promote these policies (according to his website, he has already met with 4). He has also developed a suite of actions businesses and individuals can take, including guidance on how to calculate their own lifetime emissions. Additionally, Cohon's walk is accompanied by a huge, refurbished shipping container powered by clean energy. It serves as both a home on wheels and a learning center showcasing prototypes of various carbon removal methods. Ultimately, the Walk It Back campaign seeks to inspire actions, initiatives and spin off campaigns that remove no less than 100,000 tonnes of carbon.
In my opinion, the real impact of Craig's walk, in accordance with Hayhoe's argument, could be more profound and reside in the influence it has on the individuals he encounters during his journey.
I met up with Craig just as he completed his first day of walking through a wet and miserable London. He had been accompanied that day with the CEO of a bank, EFG, that was inspired by the actions he was taken. They had walked through most of London, visiting a local MP and other supporters. I was to spend the night with Craig, in the shipping container, and then join him for the second day.
Waking up to a nice brew of coffee fairly early, we set out on the muddy path by 8am (we would encounter a lot of mud that day). On that bleak and overcast day when I joined Craig just south of London, through English fields, we encountered 14 people with differing reactions – some were disheartened while others were hopeful. I recall meeting a young man as we were waiting at a traffic light. He confided in us that he was aware of the issue of climate change but had been ignoring it. Another woman with her child told us she felt helpless and unable to take any action until something was done by a higher authority. The anxiety was palpable. However, one cheerful lady exuded optimism, stating her faith that "we will get through."
Regardless of the initial responses we received, after speaking with Craig and learning about his walk, most of the people we spoke with seemed to be in disbelief, but all appeared more motivated and empowered, leaving with a newfound sense of hope and a brisker step. As we continued our journey, I wondered if they would go on to take action and what the potential impact - ripples of change, of hope - could be. An African proverb seemed particularly apt, "To go fast, go alone. To go further, go together."
That day was an interesting one. In a comical way, it at one point evoked memories of a scene from "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," where Sam declares to Frodo that with one more step, it would be the furthest he had been from the Shire. As we approached the M25, a motorway that leads to the South of London and is considered to mark the outskirts of London, Craig remarked "Wow, this is where it gets real." He further pointed out, as we gazed at London's green belt surrounding us, how it has the potential to be transformed into a million hectares of forest, a formidable carbon sink capable of absorbing 40 tonnes of carbon.
That was over a month ago, and at the time of writing, Craig is now en route from Amsterdam to Berlin.
That day I was with Craig, it was intriguing to ponder what could drive a shift in public opinion and action on climate change. Hayhoe's thesis, which Craig personifies through his walk, is that conversation is the key. The day before our walk, on the same day Craig had set out, Extinction Rebellion in the UK announced a change in tactics from their more controversial methods of the previous year and instead declared a focus on mass mobilization. It was a stark contrast.
Bringing together people from different walks of life is a crucial aspect of advocacy and movement building. What is the role of public shaming and dialogue in these tactics? During our walk, Craig shared with me, "There are three layers of dialogue: shaming, telling, and conversing. You need all three, along with action, fact finding, inquiry and outreach. That's where we are now - the real work of conversing and taking action."
At the end of that miserable day, covered in mud we gathered in the shipping container once again, listening to the sounds of Craig's music meant to imitate carbon removal. His earlier thoughts on the importance of both conversation and action echoed in my mind as I thought about the vast potential of the green belt, which could be home to 300 million trees serving as breathing lungs for the earth. Although the solution appeared to be simple, the reality was that there was still much work to be done. Craig's words, "We have a long way to go," resonated with me.
