How can a country kick-start systemic greening and bring everyone onboard

"The facts of science are real enough, and so are the techniques that scientists use, and so are the technologies based on them. But the belief system that governs conventional scientific thinking is an act of faith."

-Rupert Sheldrake

Systemic greening instigation – seeing is believing

Today, we may think that more and more people know that countries started to transition technologically, logistically, industrially in a more focussed than ever effort to green up – decarbonise – their economies. We may also assume that people should get it by now and live more ecologically, as green journalists and activists have told the world that climate change is real! However, what we are leaving behind and missing in this big picture of trying to forever keep up with rapidly changing political, scientific, and psychological landscapes is the vast potential of tapping into our collective reserves of knowledge, experience and creativity.

And that this is happening regardless of what the carbon emissions numbers are showing those in the know. The climate emergency message to act and adjust one's lifestyle gets lost on many as the economic survival matters more and those hit the worst have little or no awareness of it or say in the matter. What we are not addressing at the core is the phenomenon of consumerism in every nation, but especially so in developed nations that have historically caused most pollution!

Systemic greening instigation – creating the right conditions in our neighbourhoods

There exists a vast untapped potential in focussing on the local route as well as international roadmap towards green transition and systemic greening. Both routes shouldn't be mutually exclusive, and, in fact, local routes can significantly help central governments in meeting their broader sustainable development and climate action goals.

Locally, social spaces such as ecoplazas could provide a platform for us to come together to learn how to act responsibly exponentially faster than we do today in isolation. Where we can exchange our know-how, learn about all available solutions and tools to update and correct our fragmented and often skewed worldviews. They can provide a practical transitional tool for a true regeneration of our societies to take root.

Why systemic greening cannot work properly in the current political and economic climate?

We cannot talk about coherent realignment of our societies with nature and climate dynamics unless we factor the entire population in a climate action plan. I say this because, states with their artificially drawn boundaries and climate change driven pressures on resources can only flourish peacefully if their diverse peoples are entirely on board with the climate action. Otherwise, as we have seen with the "yellow vests" protests, wrongly introduced green-climate reforms will meet with strong opposition.

 Why do we then assume that the creation of positive behavioural change is the top-down process? That, if we make people (others outside of our intellectually hermetic in-crowd) understand that they must consume less and more ethically, and we give them gadgets and apps that somehow this switch will happen overnight. As if by some fortuity?! Such assumptions are baseless and short of irrational. Social surveys and scientific findings have proven wrong those who we consider to have had answers.

This article presenting the original award-winning concepts is the work of the Earthvoice editor, Kinga Monica. She is available for consulting on practical instigation of these concepts, sustainability, and ecotourism consulting, internationally.

To read more on this topic and the solutions that have helped shift some gears of the climate change action to date,
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