(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Few places know higher sea level on the body better than Venice. The island town where the apartment I now live stands two pairs of sea boots centrally located in the hallway. We are told that Venetians have become accustomed to hearing the alarm from the sick boat, which has a step-by-step alarm system where one flute means medium danger of flood, two noises mean great danger, and three noises mean extreme flood. The previous flood was in February. Venice is a classic example of the consequences of sea level rise, but it is also a classic example of the story of a civilization, in this case a city, growth and fall. In the legendary lecture by British author CP Snow, "The Two Cultures" of 1959, the author addresses the gap of understanding between the natural sciences and humanities and literature. Snow believes this gap prevents us from finding solutions to the world's major problems. In this lecture, which will later be published as a book, Snow uses Venice's growth and fall as an example. Venice emerged as a major trading power throughout the Middle Ages, and had its greatest days of prosperity beyond the 15th-1600th centuries. Venetians' control of intra-Mediterranean trade and caravan traffic to Asia made the city the center of world trade. But gradually – with Colombus' discovery of America, new colonial powers and increased competition – Venice's power is weakened. Before Napoleon put an end to the nearly 1000-year-old dog violence in 1897, the Venetians, rich in culture and art, have gone around in a kind of conscious self-denial, Snow argued. The mighty merchant Andrea Tron lamented in 1784 that Venetians just want to live in "excessive extravagance" and pursue "pretentious pleasures" instead of preserving the rich historical trade tradition. Snow writes, according to Wikipedia's article on the history of Venice, that the Venetians knew "that the course of history had begun to move toward them" and that in order to survive it was necessary "to break the pattern that had crystallized". But, Snow writes, the Venetians had "become fond of that pattern," and were never able to "find the will to break it." The president's cry. But the pattern eventually disappears. All patterns are shaking. That's the only thing we know. The oil dependency on Norway, the world and the capitalist system, which Venice was once building, will gradually be replaced as climate change becomes clearer. The battle that is going on today is about how this process will take place, how many must suffer. And who eventually becomes like the Venetians, the biggest losers. Important in this fight are what words are used. The rhetorical war has long begun. The words of Vanuatu's President Baldwin Lonsdale – the Anglican priest who was elected president in September 2014, after the cyclone and extreme weather "Pam" struck across the country late at night on Friday, March 13 – are perhaps the most important right now. When describing the damage to the BBC, President Lonsdale cried: "Most of the buildings are destroyed. Many houses are destroyed. Schools and health facilities are destroyed. " On Monday, March 16, Lonsdale spoke during a disaster management seminar in Sendai, Japan. Here, Vanuatu's president was very clear on the link between extreme weather and climate change. "We see the sea rising ... the cyclone seasons, the heat, the rain, all this is affected," the president said. "This year, we have noticed more than ever before ... Yes, climate change is contributing to this." Neighboring Kiribati President, Anote Tong, has become world famous for his climate commitment and warnings that his country will become uninhabitable by 2050. Tong followed up Londsdale from the pulpit at the same meeting. “For us leaders from these low-lying atolls, it is clear that the devastation from global warming is affecting our people. It is a disaster that threatens our rights and our future survival. ” Climate optimism. The voices of the leaders of the Pacific and other low-lying nations are the most important to listen to in the climate debate. Yet they rarely arrive. One who succeeds, however, is the 2007 Nobel Prize winner, Al Gore, who has toured as a climate-clad climate activist for many years. His powerpoint presentations have been called dystopian and intimidation propaganda by his enemies. But now the dystopias and scare images have been replaced with optimism. In an interview with the New York Times, Gore is portrayed as an avid technology optimist. He focuses on the growth in renewable energy that has taken off in a surprising way. The rise of solar cell technology in Dubai and Bangladesh, wind power in Germany, and the renewable energy revolution in China. He believes this is the sharp break with the past that the climate fight needs. Gore, the vegan with cowboy boots, compares the growth in the renewable industry with the one we have witnessed in mobile telephony. In 1980, consultants at AT&T predicted that by the year 2000, 900 mobile phones would be sold worldwide. In 000, 2000 million mobile phones were sold, today 109 billion. Gore believes the same pattern will occur within the renewable industry. He is considered one of the most important opinion-forming leaders in the global climate debate. And in Norway, politicians follow. "I become a change optimist by reading this report. The climate issue must not be seen as a burden that limits the opportunities for value creation, but rather as an opportunity for development and growth, "said Erna Solberg after a new international report on climate change, change and technology was launched last year by an international energy and climate commission. , where Jens Stoltenberg, among others, sits. Climate Minister Tina Sundtoft hung on and was happy that "what is good for the climate is also good for growth and welfare". We need to offer a credible climate movement. One that is big enough to give people hope for success. When that happens, people will jump on board. Optimism for trouble. So where do we stand in this climate debate in March 2015? A climate debate where in the cacophony of voices one hears everything from climate optimism to alarmism and crying. While climate investors sit in dry offices and believe that anything is possible, Vanuatu farmers see salt water penetrating into their fields. And between them – all other people, those who live their lives all over the world and in one way or another should be motivated to change thought patterns, dream new dreams and preferably take to the streets to demand change. In December, top executives will meet at a climate conference in Paris. Dreams of the great climate solution there have long since faded, after repeated bad solutions at previous conferences. We ask one of Norway's climate debaters who is also good with words. Espen Stueland publishes a climate pamphlet and is the initiator of the Authors' Climate Action. He believes that what we are now experiencing, this wavering between optimism and pessimism, is natural for people who are concerned about the climate crisis. "It's the whole gigantic globe it's about: complex, wonderful, unmanageable – and in dramatic, colossal change," Stueland told Ny Tid. He points out that there are countless observations, phenomena, data and processes to draw attention to, positive and negative. "If I understand Al Gore correctly, he now chooses to focus on what is being done, on restructuring and change processes. With that in mind, you will see that there are countless companies and people who contribute to finding, among other things, technological solutions. Small necessary steps anyone can take. " The big picture. Every day, a newsletter arrives from something called Clean Technica in the New Time inbox. The latest that has come in includes news from Georgetown in Texas, which is investing in 100 percent solar energy within two years, news that the solar plane Solar Impulse 2 recently took off from Varanasi in India in the direction of Mandalay in Burma, and that China will install wind power projects equivalent to more than 15 gigawatts during 2015. In other words, there is no shortage of good green news. However, climate author and activist Espen Stueland asks us not to forget the big picture. In that picture, there are other moments that become visible: heat records, extreme weather, water shortages, endangered species, an economic system that suffocates the climate, an enormous need for energy. «A relevant strategy highlights the promising, but does not forget the bigger picture. Nor the 'small picture', the way you and I live. The decisive changes will come, after political decision-making processes that intervene in the economy, in energy policy and so on. " The important question for Stueland is what to do with the politicians who completely lack understanding of the situation. Yes, what do you do? And what can people who see themselves as climate-committed people actually do? "The climate fight is about making everyone understand that they make a difference," says Stueland. "That the change cannot be left to posterity or to anyone else elsewhere on the planet." "We must all contribute to reducing climate change, Norway has a special responsibility. It's about making people understand that it's serious, but without scaring, without becoming an alarmist. This is hard. Passivity and paralysis are dangerous dead ends. " Global activism. In the climate crisis, however, there are so many casualties that it seems strange that there is no greater demand from a united world that something must happen, that something must be done. When wine farmers in Italy see that it can be difficult to grow grapes in the region in a few decades, why don't we see them merging with Pacific nations and environmental activists, insurance companies and indigenous peoples? Where is the global climate rage, the global climate frustration? One who lives close to this frustration on a daily basis is global climate activist Bill McKibben. Through countless books and the start of the grassroots organization 360.org The American has many experiences with how climate engagement is created. McKibben tells Ny Tid that there is no shortage of worries and frustration among people. It's just that people become so powerless. "Global warming feels so big, each and every one of us feels so small. And that's how it is, too, 'says McKibben. He continues: "But that is why we need to offer a credible climate movement. One that is big enough to give people hope for success. When that happens, people will jump on board. " In November, Ny Tid interviewed climate warriors in the Pacific, which blocked an Australian coal port under the auspices of 360.org. McKibben predicts more climate warriors in the time to come. “I know a lot of people who have already gone to jail. I hope and expect more in the time to come. ” McKibben received the Gandhi Peace Award in 2013, and has been placed on the list of the 100 most influential people in the world by Forbes magazine. His latest book is Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist (Times Books, 2013). And this is precisely the oil industry McKibben believes global climate activism must attack. "When the movement gets big enough, it will break the power of Exxon, Statoil and Gazprom. Let's hope that when that happens, there will be something left to save. ” He believes the major obstacle to climate change is these companies and "the small groups of men willing to destroy the planet instead of changing business model". He believes that these fossil bastions have too much power over the climate negotiations: "We need to put pressure on the fossil industry everywhere – if softened, control they have at the Paris negotiations in December will decrease." Climate rescue. In other words, the call could not have been clearer from Bill McKibben that Norwegians must begin to get involved in the fight against the oil company Statoil. Espen Stueland believes that it is the interaction between politicians and the oil industry that must be made visible: “As the world's richest nation, we have all the world's opportunities. So what do we do? Politicians manipulate the 'ice edge' and facilitate more oil production – even though they know it will contribute to global warming with all that entails. It's infinitely cynical, and it's not a passable road. " Back to Venice and the lecture by CP Snow, it has long been clear that Norway and other oil-dependent countries have solidified in a crystallized pattern that is difficult to break. Just listen to Minister of Petroleum Tord Lien (Frp), who on Monday this week stated the following to NTB about the opening of the new oil field Eldfisk II: «Eldfisk has been and is part of the fantastic development of the Ekofisk area that started for more than 40 years since. Eldfisk II makes it possible for production from the Ekofisk area, which has lasted for 40 years, to last for another 40 years. " There is much to learn from studying the growth and decline of different societies. Venice's downfall was foretold, and was the result of many different factors: changing trade patterns, new discoveries, new technology, and war and disaster. Nevertheless, the Dogs who ruled Venice managed to rule the trading state for almost 1000 years. We do not have that long today. In the same way, there are a number of factors that will eventually get the world through the climate crisis. We need both Al Gore at the top, grassroots activists like Bill McKibben, and writers like Espen Stueland who see that the climate fight must be fought at all levels. The question is what to do with the politicians who do not see that "the course of history has begun to go against them". Dog of today who clings to the old solutions to new problems, and who still listen most to the oil companies in their decision-making processes. In terms of climate understanding, Vanuatu's president has gone further than many Norwegian politicians. Bill McKibben has found that the best thing in the fight against these is to fight: "Instead of assuming that our leaders will make sense and solve the problem, we have understood that far too many of them have too close ties to the fossil fuel industry. We have found our own currency to work in: passion, spirit and creativity. " Torbjørn Tumyr Nilsen is a journalist at Ny Tid. torbjorn@nytid.no
