Policy Briefs
Community Climate Clubs to Motivate and Create Personal Action for an Equitable World
Task Force: Climate and environmentAuthors:John Aston ,Ilan Chabay ,Jesus Crespo Cuaresma ,Mei Lin Fung ,David Roos ,Pedro Ahlers ,Navroop K. Sahdev
Abstract
The health and vitality of our planet should not be in the hands of a select few individuals, organisations or governments. The wellbeing of the planet should be in the hands of each and every individual. In the current landscape, individuals and communities are unaware of the reality of the climate crisis and feel powerless to do anything to create change. Progress to an Equitable World Climate action must be translated into something K-12, rural, poor, urban, vulnerable and all communities can benefit from. To succeed, individuals and communities must be the driver of this transformation. Once aware as an individual, the second part of this proposition is to increase the sense of personal agency by connecting individuals with new common purpose into a group/club/community that becomes the source of more powerful collective agency to address the need and purpose. Through project-based learning and community endeavours, science and engineering challenges and the Emissions Clock, each person can witness their own efforts making a difference and feel incentivized and motivated to make better choices. Future Fridays, CAN – the Climate Action Network in the UK, CBS Climate Club in Denmark, EarthTeam in the US are already underway and represent networks we can connect. It is not enough just to look at the climate data, we have to take the data “in the round” including all economic, climate, human well being data, to actually understand how the impact of climate change is causing harm. But there is also good news: Benefits from mitigation of climate risk could improve well being, reduce waste, help people reconnect to the world they live in