Living with Respect for Creation

1. Living with Respect for Creation • Choosing Justice Over Empire

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

3. The Climate Change Story

4. How Does Carbon Get into the Atmosphere?

5. How Does Carbon Get into the Atmosphere?

6. The Climate Change Story • The Earth has a finite carbon budget • The Magic Numbers • 280 • 390 • 350

7. Climate Change in the Arctic

8. Species Extinction Climate Change • 150 species lost per day • 15 - 37% of species will disappear by 2050

9. Some of the Effects

10. Climate Change Vulnerability Index

11. 75 - 80% of the damage caused by Global Warming will be suffered by developing countries; the majority of the world’s population Cause & Effect Justin Lin, Chief Economist of the World Bank

12. Climate Change Vulnerability Index

13. 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

14. So Who’s Responsible?

15. Wealth and Responsibility

16. Our Carbon Foot Prints USA China India Canada

17. International Talks Copenhagen & Beyond • 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

18. How Would You Describe This Situation?

19. “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

20. Empire

21. What do you think of when you think of Empire?

22. What do you think of when you think of Empire?

23. The Unfinished Wheel CORE PERIPHERY

24. 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.”

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

26. 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. “Empire” Lens as a Tool

27. Sometimes we see more...

28. ...when we change lenses

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

30. ...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

31. 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

32. Looking for Places to Start

33. 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

34. Broader Action

35. Thank You