#147: Time to say ‘enough’

On gift economies and imagining abundance

Mōrena, happy Tuesday and ngā mihi o te tau hou!

Around New Year I usually consider my theme for the year ahead, and I’m making 2025 my year of “enough.” Not in a “that’s it, I’m done!” way (though tempting), I mean in the sense of slowing down and considering what really matters and taking only what I need.

This idea of “enough-ness” comes from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s The Serviceberry (read the essay version here). Kimmerer, a botanist and writer who belongs to the Potawatomi Nation, radically shakes up what our Western economy takes for granted, by setting out her vision of the gift economy. In this view, everything that we eat, drink, and use are understood, not as commodities or resources, but as gifts from the Earth to be shared freely. When we take only what is enough, and share what we’ve been given, we can create communities of mutual well-being where we support and are supported in turn.

Maybe it sounds like a utopian fantasy…but our current system also runs on a fantasy: the fantasy of scarcity. This idea insists there’s never enough, that we have to accumulate as much as we can because generosity is risky. It’s an idea that pushes us to exploit our natural resources further and further, leading to the climate crisis we see today. But uniform scarcity just doesn’t match reality. We already produce more than enough food to feed everyone on Earth, for example. Hunger isn’t caused by a lack of food; it’s caused by poverty, inequality, and systems that prioritise profit over people.

The gift economy offers another way. It’s not about taking more but giving back. Trusting that when we all take just what we need, there’s more than enough to go around. Imagine living in a world where we didn’t see scarcity everywhere. What could we build? How might we treat each other? How might we treat the planet? What could we gain if we approached the climate crisis with this mindset in 2025?

What can we do today?

The most clicked link in the last newsletter was to email the Minister for Climate Change to stop subsidising pollution.

🐝 5 minutes: Playing it fair

• Aotearoa New Zealand has a responsibility to do our bit for communities in the Pacific and beyond, as climate change continues to be a major threat to their way of life. Oxfam is calling for increased climate finance grants—starting with at least $558 million next year—and urging world leaders to make rich polluters pay by ending subsidies for climate pollution and taxing the super-rich. Join over 700,000 others and add your voice to the call for climate justice!

  Action: Add your name to the make polluters pay petition

🐇 15 minutes: Parliamentary pen pals

• Next month will be a milestone in Aotearoa NZ’s reputation as a clean green country- on February 10th, we have to announce our next climate pledge for the Paris agreement. It’s important that our politicians know how important climate action and emissions reduction is to us, as well as to our country’s standing on the international stage.

  Action: Email your local MP about strengthening our climate pledges

💃🏽 30+ minutes: Honey, I radicalised the kids

• Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington: Fridays for Future are a welcoming climate group who have been taking a stand for future generations for many months. Each Tuesday, they protest outside of the Parliament buildings to call for the urgent action required.
  Action: Join the Fridays for Future team every Tuesday 12:30-1:30pm at the NZ parliament lawn

• Calling all young people aged 16-24! Become a Youth MP to get your generation’s voice heard. Held every three years, Youth Parliament is a unique youth development opportunity for participants to learn about our democracy, have your voices heard, and contribute to their communities. The 2025 programme will run from Monday 28 April to Friday 29 August.

  Action: Learn more and apply here before Friday 28 February 2025

• Any budding young writers (under 25)? The Rod Oram memorial essay prize gives you the opportunity to get your thoughts down on paper and tell us “What must we do – and do now – to ensure that future generations live well in Aotearoa New Zealand?”. Rod was a huge advocate for climate action and a reader & supporter of the climate club

  Action: Learn more here and enter by March 14th!

Wins!

• Montana's Supreme Court has upheld a lower court's decision that sided with 16 young activists who argued that the state violated their right to a clean environment. The lawsuit was brought by students arguing that a state law banning the consideration of climate when choosing energy policy was unconstitutional. In a 6-to-1 ruling, the top court found that the plaintiffs, between ages five and 22, had a "fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment". These kinds of cases set an important precedent for politicians to look at when making their next decisions.

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That’s all for today, folks 👋🏽 Thanks for taking action. Enjoy this newly launched Solutions Hub by Yale Climate Connect, which helps people like your friends and family connect with the action that works best for their life (all they need is a nudge from you 🙂).

See you next week,

Cathy & the Climate Club team

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