#65: War & Parenting
On the systems that create the conditions for war, and the human qualities that dismantle it
Mōrena and Eid Mubarak for this weekend!
Today is ANZAC Day in Aotearoa. It is always sobering to remember the tragedies of wars; even more so when our world feels ever more uncertain. War fuels climate change, and climate change fuels war. It is incredibly emissions intensive. It steals the time, energy, money, and resources that we need, and pours it into a fight against fellow humans - our allies in our fight against climate change. Many are concerned about conflicts that may arise from competition for Earth’s limited resources. This is why IPCC climate scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize for peace (not science) in 2007.
Over the weekend, I saw some fantastic panel discussions at HER Wom*n’s Festival. One of them was a panel on “Mothering Through Climate Change”. “Mothering” is such a contrasting topic to war. In many ways, parenting pulls people in the opposite direction towards nurturing and growth, evoking concepts like care, love, humility, and connection. These are key elements of humanity that are hard to monetize, but are critical to our peaceful coexistence with each other and the climate.
The four women in the panel were all at different stages of their parenting journey and had different perspectives, but they seemed united in their strength and pragmatism borne of the unending care, attention, learning, and unlearning that parenting requires. It reminded me of this quote:
“Our fates are linked, to each other, to the places where we are, and everyone and everything that lives in them. How much more real my responsibility feels when I think about it this way! This is much more than just an abstract understanding that our survival is threatened by global warming, or even a cerebral appreciation for other living beings and systems. Instead this is an urgent, personal recognition that my emotional and physical survival are bound up with these ‘strangers’, not just now, but for life.”
― Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy
As we remember the ANZACs, let’s recognise the systems that create the conditions for war. Let’s also value the human qualities of love, care, and connection that dismantle it.
What can we do today?
The most-clicked link from last week’s issue was Consumer NZ’s campaign for a product repairability label. This will help us reduce the amount of resources we need to mine, process, emit, and consume - let’s keep it going!
🐝 If you have 5 minutes: Let’s not contain container return schemes
We’ve shared about the container return scheme before, and it was a win when the government under Ardern decided to bring it in! Unfortunately this March, the Labour government have decided to defer the scheme to an undetermined date. The scheme would have helped increase our recycling, and create green jobs in the community.
Action: Call to bring back the container return schemeThere are a couple of interesting new roles open in the NZ climate space!
Action: Check out open climate roles and share with friends who might be interested
🐇 If you have 15 minutes: Let’s talk about tax baby
We don’t talk enough about taxes, even though they are a powerful tool for driving societal change and combating inequality (and remember that the richest 1% emit 100x more than the poorest half of the world). We very rarely share actions around donation, but we believe that this campaign by Tax Justice Aotearoa is not only crucial for climate justice, but social justice too.
Action: Learn more about the Fair Tax 2023 election campaign, and help them get the word out there (tweet here)
Action: If you have the resources, consider pledging to/sharing their crowdsourcing campaign
💃🏽 If you have 30 minutes or more: Capital is key to keep our Capital running
Two of our last remaining long-distance passenger rail services, Capital Connection (Palmerston North-Wellington) and Wairarapa Connection (Masterton-Wellington), need urgent funding for new trains. This year’s 2023 Budget (due to be released 9 May) could be their last chance. Passenger rail is our best bet at reducing long-distance transport emissions - let’s make sure these services get the investment they need.
Action: Before the end of April, email our ministers to tell them why it’s crucial that these networks get funded this year with this template6pm this Thursday, online: Associate Professor Simon Michaux is running a free public lecture that debunks some of the myths around green growth and transitioning to renewables without thinking about reducing consumption.
Action: Bring a friend along to this online seminar on rethinking the Green TransitionIf you’re a parent (or aunty or uncle or someone involved with the kids in your life), consider joining the Parents for Climate group!
Wins!
A big deal & a powerful example of collaboration & persistence working: last week, the Environment Court upheld an appeal against a new proposed coal mine on the West coast. Coal Action Network Aotearoa, later joined by Forest & Bird, won the case after sticking with it through 6 years of presenting evidence and partnering with experts in court. Follow them to hear more about their mahi and how you can get involved, or amplify this win on socials here: Twitter, Facebook
That’s all for today, folks 👋🏽 Thanks for taking action. Enjoy this poem “For the Commonwealth” by Karlo Mila.
See you next week,
Jenny & the Climate Club team
#65: War & Parenting
thanks for this refection on mothering being the opposite in so many ways to war mongering. It resonates with me as I have been hanging out with some peace activists and Quakers in the last 6 months - and I have a younger friend who was just talking the other day about postponing thoughts of becoming a mother because of the uncertain/scary future ahead due to climate chaos. She might find this useful as it comes at mothering from a different direction.