Yes, I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world
– Oscar Wilde -
The world has changed profoundly this year, as has the way we live and work. We have by now acclimatized to working from home and grown accustomed to days filled with virtual meetings. For many of us the pandemic has been an opportunity to slow down, travel less and to re-focus priorities on family and friends. However, it has also highlighted and in some cases, exacerbated, quite profoundly, the high levels of inequality which persists both within and between countries. The most vulnerable are among those hardest hit by COVID-19. During the pandemic the Black Lives Matter movement has grown and intensified. Conversations about the need for more focus on achieving racial equality in the implementation of climate policy are increasingly frequently Clearly there is a lot of work to be done to achieve a world in which all humans are equal, warming is kept below 1.5°C and each person, community and country has the means to respond to and address the impacts of climate change.
In the midst of everything going on in the world today, climate-related hazards have continued to intensify, with impacts being felt worldwide. In early April a category five cyclone – Harold – hit Vanuatu causing widespread damage and leaving up to 90 percent of the population homeless. Due to fears of COVID-19, the response and recovery was internal. Vanuatu closed its borders in March which has had significant repercussions for the economy. In late May Cyclone Amphan hit India and Bangladesh, causing 13 billion USD in loss and damage to infrastructure in Bangladesh alone. The cyclone hit a region in the midst of an economic, health and social crisis. Remittances from migrants working overseas are predicted to be 25 percent lower in Bangladesh, leaving many households scrambling to make ends meet. The garment industry has been significantly impacted with billions of USD lost when orders were cancelled by global fashion brands, leaving thousands of garment workers without an income.
The outlook for sustainable development and climate action in the midst of COVID-19 might seem daunting. However, there are opportunities for transformation within a resilient and just recovery from COVID-19; one that ensures that everyone has the support they need not only to build resilience to, but to ultimately thrive, in the midst of climate change. I strongly believe that we can choose to see the events of 2020 as an opportunity to create an equitable and just world and that this new world will inevitably emerge if we are willing to do the work to shift our perceptions of what is possible. While political leadership is important, we all have a role to play in creating the world we want to live in. In this blog I reflect on the lessons that have emerged from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic for leadership and how we might take these forward in our work on climate change.
Taking care of one another: Scaling up acts of kindness to global solidarity
One of the most powerful messages that has emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic is how great out capacity both to adapt to change quickly and to take care of one another during difficult times. Leadership has emerged to drive local, national and, in some cases global, initiatives to support those most at risk from COVID-19. I have many friends and colleagues who have become involved with locally driven, mutually aid groups to support the most vulnerable residents within the communities in which they live. I have been overwhelmed with the level of kindness I have personally witnessed, ranging from interactions during my weekly trip to the supermarket to the global thought leaders and spiritual teachers who are starting movements to connect people all over the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that as humans we are hard wired to take care of one another in a crisis. We have an innate and profound capacity to empathize with others. In his article on the importance of acts ensuring that kindness extended to the most vulnerable and marginalized in our societies, Peter Fonagy wrote:
“Kindness is more than mere sentiment. Real kindness and concern require us to understand how the other person came to think and feel the way they do, no matter how alien or difficult that may seem to us. Our capacity to see both our own and others’ point of view is the essence of humanity, which from an evolutionary point of view has enabled our planetary ascendance. Our species’ dominance is the result of our capacity to collaborate, which allows us to transmit and develop complex ideas.”
We want to feel connected with one another, which is one of the reasons why collaboration comes naturally.
The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that humans are basically good – a central tenet of Buddhism. Buddhist nun Pema Chödron argues that, “[w]e all have the seeds of basic goodness within us – we only have to nourish them.” Research has shown that humans might be more willing to extent kindness to and compassion to others when they perceive those others to be similar to themselves. In response to this phenomenon, psychologist Paul Ekman argued that, “individuals should not only be compassionate to strangers in his or her own nation, but extend that concern to all peoples, of all nations, and of all races” (Tenpel, 2019).
Nourishing and taking the concept of basic goodness global requires extending compassion and altruism towards all humans and finding what connects us rather than focusing on our differences, which are minimal at the end of the day. Some of the most profound experiences of my life have occurred while visiting climate affected communities in vulnerable developing countries. Each time I came away with this profound sense of how we are all connected.
To take kindness global in a resilient and just recovery from COViD-19 requires an unprecedented level of global solidarity. We now know that it is possible to trigger billions of dollars, pounds and euros in a matter of hours. We must now scale up support to vulnerable developing countries to ensure that every person on the planet has what they need to not just cope with climate change, but to thrive.
The power of infinite mindset: Creating a vision for a new world
Albert Einstein often talked about the importance of the imagination in his work. In one interview he argued that, “[i]magination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” Einstein knew that before anything is created, it must first be imagined. During my PhD research I had the opportunity to see firsthand the power of the imagination while studying the way in which policy is shaped. What I found during my research is that those who drive policy change have big visions and bold goals for the future. They are not afraid of holding and moving towards those bold visions, though they often take risks in doing so. These individuals do not let the reality around them dictate what is possible but rather are guided by their imaginations.
We can move towards a new world; one in which global average warming is kept below 1.5°C and both ecosystems and human populations are thriving; a world which is equitable and just. In order to do so, we must first co-create a vision of the future and believe these bold visions can be achieved. The power of our imaginations have been tested during the COVID-19 pandemic; the limits of possibility challenged repeatedly. Innovations have arisen seemingly overnight to address complex challenges. Resources have flowed when needed.
In his latest book, The Infinite Game, leadership expert Simon Sinek describes infinite games as games with both known and unknown players with no pre-determined rules. While there may be some conventions governing how the players should behave, players can determine how they want to act within those boundaries. There are no time frames or finish lines in infinite games with the primary objective being to keep playing (Sinek, 2019). With an infinite mindset, “players” are focused on a bigger vision than winning a “game”. They expect and welcome surprises as they know that there is always something to be gained in the process. The global climate change regime is an infinite game. While some of the players are known within the formal process, others are not. Though we have a finite goal in limiting global average warming to below 1.5°C, I would frame our ultimate objective as a world in which all humans and ecosystems are thriving. In that sense, there is no end game but rather an on-going effort to ensure that this goal is both achieved and sustained.
Reading The Infinite Game reminded me of the philosophy of the stoics, which is built on the premise that there are opportunities in adversity (Holiday, 2014). Stoicism is enjoying a renaissance at the moment as we contemplate the opportunities that could emerge from the events that have shaped the world this year, from the COVID-19 pandemic to Black Lives Matter and most recently, an election in the United States which brought political change and hope. I would argue that climate change in itself is a challenge we could see as an opportunity to transform our world. We cling to the status quo so tightly without realizing that so much more is possible and climate change could be the impetus to create a better world. With an infinite mindset and a robust imagination anything is possible.
We can all be optimists
A few years ago I was skeptical of the power of optimism. I found it hard to remain optimistic given that my day job was spent focused on two of the most wicked problems facing the world today: climate change and poverty. At one time in the very recent past I spent more than half of my time in countries highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. I wondered how could one be optimistic in the face of so much poverty and given the increasing magnitude and frequency of climate change impacts which have the most profound impacts on those already struggling to survive. Now I know that optimism is needed more than ever in challenges times. Optimism and believing in infinite possibilities allows us to develop visions of alternative futures and to believe that they can be achieved.
In their book released earlier this year, The Future We Choose, Christian Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac argue that it is still possible to choose a new story and to make the decision necessary to move towards the future we want, rather than a future we dread (Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac, 2020). They believe so strongly in the power of optimism that they co-created a global movement called Global Optimism. Though a recent convert, I too believe that we can all be optimists while focusing our work on the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In fact, we must all be optimists. I order to create the world we want we must believe that it is possible to achieve.
Moving towards the world we want
In moving towards the new resilient, equitable and just world that will emerge over the coming months and years, all types of leadership is needed and at all levels. Emergent leaders have already stretched our imaginations of what is possible. We now need to build on this and cultivate other types of leadership. We all have a role to play in cultivating kindness and encouraging collaboration. This will need to be scaled up and taken global to meet the challenge of climate change and ensure that all human societies and ecological systems can thrive. The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound implications for economies and societies worldwide. But like climate change, it is also an opportunity for transformation.
We all have a role to play in creating the world we want but we must take action, both to change our mindsets, imagine what is possible and then take the steps needed to achieve it. I would love to see the Secretary General establish a group of thought leaders and global change makers to help lead the UN into a new era. I hope to see heads of state and government convene virtual town halls during which they co-create visions of the future with citizens. I expect to see global solidarity scaled up to ensure that all humans are taken care of, full equality is realized and ecosystems are thriving – all while limiting global average warming to below 1.5°C. These are a few ideas of what the people we call “leaders” could do – but in fact we can all be leaders. I would love to hear other ideas and to start a conversation about the new world we collectively envision will emerge in 2021 and beyond.
References
Figueres, C. and T. Rivett-Carnac (2020). The Future We Choose. London: Manilla Press.
Holiday, R. (2014). Obstacle Is the Way. The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumph. New York: Penguin House.
Scharmer, O. (2016). Theory U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Senge, P., Scharmer, C.O., Jaworski, J. and Flowers, B.S. (2005). Presence: Exploring Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society. London and Boston: Nicolas Brealey Publishing.
Sinek, S. (2019). The Infinite Game. London: Penguin Random House UK.
Tenpel (2019). Between Basic Goodness and the Lows of Human Behaviour [online] Available at: https://buddhism-controversy-blog.com/2019/03/31/basic-goodness-but-also-some-bad-news-about-human-nature/.
Erin Roberts is a climate policy researcher and strategist working on global climate policy with a focus on adaptation and Loss and Damage. Her “Why” is to ensure all countries, all communities and all the people within them have the capacity to thrive. She is a recent convert to the power of optimism. Her focus at the moment is working with young climate leaders from the global South, including through the Climate Leadership Initiative.
