The Aanimad Assertion on Climate Change
Earlier this year, Andrew Welch, thought leader and author of The Value Crisis, challenged the Canadian Association for the Club of Rome (a 50-year-old Ottawa think-tank) with a bold assertion - one which had its roots in one of his earlier Perspectives for West Hill. He will revisit that provocative idea, which puts our climate emergency in a new light, discuss how it has evolved, and where it might lead. As with all of Andrew's presentations, this talk, despite its environmental topic, is grounded in value explorations.
First Reading
People have always faced challenges. But what is happening now implies a different scale of consequence. Unless we change the direction and momentum of events, global systems on which humanity depends for its existence will unravel, and civilization with it. It is essential that we step back from whatever we are doing and mentally come to terms with the polycrisis. Three questions demand answers: What is the full spectrum of risks that we face? Why are we failing to manage or reduce these risks? And finally, since these risks are human-generated, why are we creating so many threats to our own future?
Richard Heinberg
Second
Climate change gets all the attention these days. Fundamentally, however, climate change is only a symptom of a bigger problem, Modern societies, and Canadians in particular, are grossly overshooting the world’s carrying capacity. Cutting fossil use and greenhouse gas emissions alone will not solve the overshoot problem. [...] Canada, with multiple resource industries and growth-obsessed politicians, is arguably one of the greatest obstacles to the urgently need transition to a resource-efficient world, and hence to human survival. We cling to the fantasy of endless economic growth.
Ole Hendrickson