The Nature of Urgency
Guest article by Stuart Scott (stuart.h.scott@gmail.com) from the UN climate meetings in Bonn
While we debate and negotiate, let’s not forget what is really at stake here. There is a growing possibility humanity will trigger runaway climate change, ‘the Venus Syndrome’, by which we may render the Earth unable to support life. If triggered, no level of privilege or material wealth will protect any individual or nation. No technology can isolate a sustainable bubble of life in a world of runaway climate change. In the words of Dr. James Hansen (December 2008), “Now the danger that we face is the Venus Syndrome. There is no escape from the Venus Syndrome [once triggered]. Venus will never have oceans again.”
The survival of our children, of humanity, and of all life on Earth is at stake. Ultimately, there will be no separate winners and losers in these negotiations. Ultimately we all win, or we all lose. Let that recognition advise us in all we do here in Bonn, in our consultations with our governments, in our work when we return home, and in everything we do to ensure the strongest possible climate protection treaty this year in Copenhagen.
