It’s questionable whether the ritualized debates over global warming, typified by reaction to last week’s report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are serving a useful purpose any longer. The two camps are, probably accurately, described as alarmists and deniers; but neither alarm nor denial is a sound basis for policy development.
Perhaps unexpectedly, major corporations are now leading the way on a sustainable, zero-carbon future, for reasons that include preventing climate change – but also because it makes good business and environmental sense. A question we raise in New Normal Radical Shift is whether we are neglecting other environmental challenges.
More fundamentally, we need a narrative of hope, rather than one of excessive alarm or fear.
From New Normal, Radical Shift:
“A natural advantage of corporate social responsibility managers is a tendency to focus on practical, but also optimistic, objectives. This is in contrast with many non-corporate social and environmental campaigners who have a tendency to project images of doom, especially about prospects for the climate; and hatred of the forces of capitalism. This creates a climate of fear, which can cause potential supporters to feel disengagement or impotence. Progressive change has never been effected through fear. Martin Luther King did not promise vengeance upon lynch mobs. He had a dream. Nelson Mandela did not pledge to drive the white folk of out South Africa. He promised equality.”
Buy the book: http://tinyurl.com/mp8w4lg
For Neela’s blog, go to: http://www.neelabettridge.com/category/blog/
Join the Linked-in group Radical Shift: http://tinyurl.com/nbmg754
If you are interested in learning more about training courses linked to these themes, or to invite Neela or Philip to give a talk on any of these subjects, please contact us on:
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
