Forgive me. I feel moved to pen a brief autobiography seen in glimpses through IPCC Reports over a quarter of a century. When the First Assessment Report came out, I was a kid, at high school, and dimly aware of it. I was very concerned about the environment, but for me at the time that meant bushwalking and David Attenborough. When the Second Assessment Report was released, I was at Uni, getting politically active. It helped me become more aware. I recall wondering why it got so little attention. When the Third Assessment Report was put out, I had already begun working on climate policy at the Nature Conservation Council of NSW. It made for devastating reading, and helped confirm for me that this was the ultimate calling. Nothing mattered more. On the release of the Fourth Assessment Report, when I was working for Christine Milne, I spent months walking the Press Gallery, desperately trying to get journalists to understand the seriousness of the issue. I wrote detailed summaries, I sat down with them individually, walked them through the graphs. A few paid attention, wanted to find out, and were concerned. Most couldnt see the relevance to their work. With the Fifth Assessment Report, Im in the process of rethinking a lot about how change happens. Wed better work it out damn fast and make it happen at extraordinary speed. Whatever happens, the next quarter of a century wont be so forgiving. Change is a-coming. Either we will change, or we will be changed - thats the only choice we face. For those of you whove read this far, I have a question. Are you doing everything you can to stop this blind heading rush to catastrophe? And, if not, how will that make you feel in 2038?
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 11:07:32 +0000
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