Facing up to Climate Reality
This project starting in 2017 addresses the widening chasm between climate science and climate policy, the reasons for it, and how to bridge it. Its starting point is that the time for false hope is past, and only courageous realism will enable us to respond adequately to now inevitable and impending serious climate damage. This message can be cathartic, leading to a realistic assessment of future needs and prospects and avoiding a fragile or shallow optimism.
‘Official! – climate change is real’. Now: what is to be done?
Climate danger is no longer just one interpretation of the evidence, but what the evidence now decisively demonstrates how things really are. the UK Green Party should actively pursue necessary political changes to climate catastrophe, without waiting for majorities to be convinced by its campaigns
Conflicted about emotions: ecological grief, love and truth
Emotions are important in explaining our motivations and behaviour but have been left out of the discourse on climate change. Mental health impacts of climate change need to be acknowledged. We need a collective mourning of what we are losing so we create space for the new, better ways of living
Dealing with Extreme Weather
An international conference linked to our 'Facing up to Climate Reality' project, on how to deal with the kind of extreme weather events that climate change is bringing.
Facing up to Climate Reality: Introduction to the Project
This essay lays out the premises that shape the facing up to climate reality project undertaken by Greenhouse in 2017-18. The project addressed the widening chasm between climate science and climate policy, the reasons for it, and how to bridge it.
Towards Deep Hope: Climate Tragedy, Realism and Policy
What can climate change tells us about the place of humans in the world and what being realistic about our climate future entails? Escaping popular wicked-problem framing of issues, but building awareness into policy thinking can mean hope for reaching transformative change while remaining realistic
This Moment: the emergency, the opportunity
The climate situation must be declared and treated as a global emergency if we are to have any chance of responding appropriately. At present, on climate change, the UK government combines self-congratulation, disavowal, missed opportunities, incoherence and delay.