Force of Nature Will POLITICS save or destroy the planet? We need to talk about eco-anxiety
About the Episode
In this episode, We Need to Talk about Eco-Anxiety, Clover investigates how modern politics have generated the climate crisis and heightened global eco-anxiety; and what we must do to find a unifying vision for the future.
First up, Clover meets Colombe Cahen-Salvador, co-founder of ATLAS, to learn more about how politicians have escalated the climate crisis and whether they actually want us to politically disengage. We then hear from young people around the world on how they think politicians have shaped the climate conversation and Clover sits down with Jeremy Oppenheim, the founder of SYSTEMIQ, to learn why it's so hard to find political consensus on tackling the crisis and whether there’s opportunity in our ‘climate odyssey’.
Top Quotes
"Why don't we have an age limit in politics? How come you can run when you're 80 but you can't run when you're 20? It's ridiculous. Someone who is so much older cannot properly represent the youth" - Colombe Cahen-Salvador
"Just look at history. When you look at any society shifting event it wasn't easy. It looked impossible until it was done and it will always look impossible until it's done." - Colombe Cahen-Salvador
About the Guests
Colombe Cahen-Salvador is the co-founder of ATLAS. They push for global change through social campaigns, electoral activities, and direct actions. The movement is fuelled by the passion of people and communities uniting all over the world to fight common global challenges. They are present in over 130 countries with a membership of more than 20,000 people.
Jeremy Oppenheim is the Founder and Managing Partner of SYSTEMIQ - a systems change company that partners with business, finance, policy-makers, and civil society to make economic systems truly sustainable. Jeremy is a regular speaker at global resource productivity and sustainability events, and is lead author of Resource Revolution: Meeting the World's Energy, Materials, Food and Water Needs.
Caroline Hickman is a psychotherapist and Climate Psychology Therapist in Education at the University of Bath. Her research specialises in children and young people's relationships with nature, and their feelings about the climate and ecological crisis.
About the Sponsor
SYSTEMIQ was set up in 2016 and today, is a team of over 250 professionals across the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Indonesia and Brazil. They started out to bring business, institutions and governments around the same table to drive the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Rather than focus on individual companies, SYSTEMIQ takes a coalition and partnership-based approach to ensure the right people are in the room for systems-level transformation. This includes working closely with civil society, academia and finance. Its distinctive approach combines cutting-edge analysis with practical advice, policy insights, and scaling solutions that work locally and globally.
Resources
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Read our latest blog over on The Bloom, written by one of our young content creators inspired by this episode https://www.forceofnature.xyz/the-bloom