Food for Thought
What the Climate Movement Can Learn From Collective Trauma Healing
Practices for helping large groups of people integrate traumatic histories could inform more effective action.
Christiana Figueres, the Costa Rican diplomat who played a key role in brokering the Paris Agreement, was renowned for using every conceivable ruse to charm, chivvy, and cajole world leaders to act.
But this week she will address a theme, rarely mentioned in U.N. negotiations, that she sees as the hidden culprit behind 30 years of missed chances to confront the climate crisis: the legacy of collective trauma.&
It’s well established that individuals can suffer lasting consequences from traumatic experiences, whether they be a child who survived abuse or a soldier returning from combat. But there is now a growing movement of practitioners working to unravel how communal experiences of war, slavery, racism, genocide, colonialism, gender violence and other forms of oppression can cause shared trauma on a collective scale. Leaders in this emerging field argue that the impact of events that took place decades or even centuries ago, can cascade through generations, silently shaping the destiny of communities, cultures, and nations — and perhaps the planet itself.
In the case of climate change, the sheer insanity of allowing carbon emissions to balloon to the point where the resulting heating threatens all life on Earth has prompted a search for deeper explanations. What lies underneath the perennial deadlocks at climate conferences, or the enduring grip of the fossil fuel lobby on the way we order our lives?
What the Climate Movement Can Learn From Collective Trauma Healing& by Matthew Green, DeSmog, Sep 26, 2022&
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Sun, Sep 25, 2022
- Tropical Storm Ian forecast to reach Category 4 strength as it tracks toward Florida by Derek Van Dam & Haley Brink, CNN, Sep 24, 2022
- Houses washed away after storm Fiona as Canada sends in military for cleanup, AP/The Guardian, Sep 25, 2022
- Thousands call for ‘climate reparations and justice’ in global protests& by& Damien Gayle, The Guardian, Sep 23, 2022
- Rethinking insurance for floods, wildfires and other catastrophes& by Emily Underwood, Knowable Magazine, Sep 21, 2022
Mon, Sep 26, 2022
- What will it take to recycle millions of worn-out EV batteries?& by Ula Chrobak, Knowable Magazine, Sep 21, 2022
- Watching the detections& by Gavin Schmidt, RealClimate, Sep 25, 2022
- ‘Field of drQeams’: ueensland plans to build Australia’s largest publicly owned windfarm& by Graham Readfearn, The Guardian, Sep 25, 2022
- We all love trees, but they’re not the climate solution we need by William Chapman, Yale Climate Connections, Sep 25, 2022
Tue, Sep 27, 2022
- I Was Going to Nome, Alaska, but Climate Disruption Got in My Way& by Arne O Holm, High North News, Sep 23, 2022
- Typhoon Noru leaves 6 rescuers dead in the northern Philippines, AP/NPR News, Sep 26, 2022
- How the Greenland ice sheet fared in 2022, Guest Post by Dr Martin Stendel && & Dr Ruth Mottram, Carbon Brief, Sep 22, 2022
- Climate change is causing hurricanes to intensify faster than ever& by& & && , CNN, Sep 27, 2022
Wed, Sep 28, 2022
- Gap to 1.5C yawns, as most governments miss UN deadline to improve climate plans& by Joe Lo, Climate Home News, Sep 26, 2022
- How Do I Talk to a Climate Change Denier? by&
- Explainer: How methane leaks accelerate global warming& by Tim Cocks, Reuters, Sep 28, 2022
- Ian smashes into southwest Florida with historic force& by Jeff Masters & Bob Henson, Yale Climate Connections, Sep 28, 2022
Thu, Sep 29, 2022
- Scaling up renewables means big changes to electricity networks by Joe Lo, Climate Home News, Sep 28, 2022
- Loss and damage: What happens when climate change destroys lives and cultures?& by Daisy Dunne & Aruna Chandrasekhar, Carbon Brief, Sep 28, 2022
- Researchers Hit With Lawsuits, Records Requests for Fact-Checking Climate Claims& by Margi Murphy, Bloomberg News, Sep 19, 2022
- Feeling Overwhelmed About Going All-Electric at Home? Here’s How to Get Started& by Dan Gearino, Inside Climate News, Sep 29, 2022
Fri, Sep 30, 2022
- Ian’s rampage across Florida leaves a trail of ruin& by& Jeff Masters & Bob Henson, Yale Climate Connections, Sep 29, 2022
- Scientists Discover Arctic Waters Are Rapidly Becoming Acidic in Dire Climate Warning& by Chloe Xiang, Motherboard/Vice, Sep 29, 2022
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #39 2022& by Doug Bostrom & Marc Kodack, Skeptical Science, Sept 29, 2022
- ‘Top 1%’ of emitters caused almost a quarter of global emissions since 1990& by Ayesha Tandon, Carbon Brief, Sep 29, 2022
Sat, Oct 1, 2022
- How Do We Deal With the Polarization Around Climate Change?& by Renee Cho, State of the Planet, Sep 23, 2022
- Fossil Fuel Industry May Be Seriously Undercounting Greenhouse Gas Emissions& by Molly Taft, Gizmodo/Motherboard, Sep 30, 2022
- What the Climate Movement Can Learn From Collective Trauma Healing& by Matthew Green, DeSmog, Sep 26, 2022
- Hurricane Ian is no anomaly. The climate crisis is making storms more powerful, Opinion by Michael E Mann & Susan Joy Hassol, Comment is Free, The Guardian, Sep 30, 2022
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