I don’t think anyone has so elegantly illuminated the ticking time bomb that is the need for us to change the ways we conduct our lives than my friend and colleague Chris Selth. In ‘Facing an interest rate shock’ Chris neatly draws the interconnected background that has led to our present energy crisis and interest rate hikes, emphasising that the war in the Ukraine is definitely the last straw and not the camel in this catastrophe.
Chris illuminates our lack of action to invest in alternative energy, innovation and critical infrastructure over the past 20 years and the accelerated degradation of our environment along with the increasing natural disasters caused by this disregard; he points out the political and economic advantage enjoyed by certain energy producing nations because these alternative energies have not been better planned and resourced … and follows these and many other threads ̶ cheap credit, economic inequality, polarising politics, deteriorating human services ̶ all the way through to our rising energy bills and interest rates. I have not done Chris' article justice (more here). Not quite the full catastrophe but a large part of it.
All you need to do add is the population movement that will be required as more and more land becomes inarable; aggressive land/resource grabs as the needs of nations' demographics change and grow while their fertile spaces diminish; the increase in crime and terrorist recruitment as lands (and life) become impossible to sustain, and then … we do have the perfect storm.
Time to get off our butts if we are not already :)
To end with something uplifting. There are many amazing initiatives ̶ both Government and community driven (although we need many, many more) ̶ occurring at present . The Green Wall of the Sahel region of Africa is just one of these. While listening to a radio broadcast about a book called ‘Design Emergency’, I became fascinated by a description of this growing world wonder.
“The Green Wall is an $8-billion project intends to restore 100 million hectares (250 million acres …) of degraded land by 2030, which would create 350,000 rural jobs and absorb 250 million tonnes (250 million long tons; 280 million short tons) of CO2 from the atmosphere.
“A decade in and roughly 15% underway, the initiative is already bringing life back to Africa’s degraded landscapes at an unprecedented scale; providing food security, jobs and a reason to stay for the millions who live along its path.
The Wall promises to be a compelling solution to the many urgent threats not only facing the African Continent, but the global community as a whole – notably climate change, drought, famine, conflict and migration.
Once complete, the Great Green Wall will be the largest living structure on the planet, 3 times the size of the Great Barrier Reef.
Go you Great Green Thing!
Comments