Climate Club #50: Systemic Change Summer

On staying cool and shifting to systemic thinking over summer

Mōrena, happy Tuesday, and meri kirihimete in advance! 🎄

This will be our last issue for the year since we’ll be taking a break over the summer holidays ☀️and we hope you’ll be getting some rest too. We know it gets busy this time of year, so we’ve changing the format up a bit to share with you: one action 🐝, three resources we’ve written for you 💌, and some book/podcast/show recommendations for your break 📚

🐝 What can you do today? 

This is our one last formal action for the year - a very important Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) submission closing on Christmas Eve! The ETS is a critical way that New Zealand controls the price of carbon to push emissions down (read our guide to the ETS). The government is proposing more transparency and regulation of the carbon market, which reportedly suffers from insider trading & market manipulation.

Action: Take 5 mins to submit on ETS market governance using our submission guide, before Christmas Eve

💌 Three resources we’ve written for you

• The Climate Club Starter pack: actions that you can share, set, and forget, but will continue to have impact. Great to share with the friends & fam you catch up with these holidays!

• FAQ: Why does Climate Club focus on collective actions? A primer on why we’re so keen on collective action & systemic change over/in addition to individual action.

• FAQ: What is the Emissions Trading Scheme and why should I care about it? Some extra background for this week’s action!

☀️ Summer Recommendations

Read

We’ve been appreciating library books as a great way to deep dive and reflect on key issues. They might even change your approach or mindset towards climate change as you enter the new year! Here are some of our favourites:

• This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein: Naomi Klein is always great at getting to the high level causes, and she does that for climate change in her latest book.  

• No Other Place To Stand: An anthology of climate change poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand: a collection of poetry by 91 writers from across the motu.  

• Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in Without Going Crazy by Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone: How do we keep going when the climate crisis in front of us is so large? This book gives a framework for staying resilient, hopeful, and effective, while acknowledging the scale of the disaster and not resorting to false cheerfulness.

• How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell: A meandering, smart look at our attention that ends up as a political manifesto. Read if you enjoy unions, birdwatching, or rivers - or even if you don’t. 

Listen/Watch

If you prefer to get your climate fix through a movie night or podcasts, we really enjoyed these: 

• Outrage and Optimism: Climate Change Podcast: a great broad overview of recent climate events, hosted by three energising and optimistic expert hosts. 

• Hali Hewa: African climate activists cover indigenous people, women, and climate emergencies from the African perspective.

• The Citizen’s Handbook Season 2 (6 x 10 min episodes): Robbie Nicol provides a humorous guide for effecting change in Aotearoa, illustrating key points with fascinating examples of collective action wins which still impact us today!

Do

We’d also recommend: 

• A mindful walk through nature 💚

• A guided meditation

• A conversation with a loved one, where you ask them their thoughts on the environment with no expectations. Here are some resources on how to speak on various topics, especially this guide about climate change.

That’s all for this year, folks 👋🏽 Thanks for taking action. Enjoy these Oxfam Christmas Cards by Māori artists and Luna below, embodying the ✨Kiwi summer ✨. Happy holidays - see you in 2023! 

See you next year, 

Dhanya, Emily, and Jenny from the Climate Club