The Silver Lining & Possible Game Changer Regarding Climate Change

What makes the current scientific study about climate change a game changer for the environmental movement fighting Climate Change is this: Previous information aroused people (and some governments) with a conscience considering the damage to come for world order and the disappearance of millions of species. 

The droughts, floods, wild fires, increased hurricanes, rising seas, that made headlines woke some people and some governments up.  Enough to inspire some collective efforts to do something.  (One considers COP 28 for example.) 

But this too is proving insufficient, according to the most recent scientific data.  And it has not inspired corporations including banks and fossil fuel companies to change.

But the latest news could and should and can bring about profound change of awareness so that many industry leaders and corporate titans and bank presidents and political climate deniers might finally wake up.  

Many capitalists might think through their denial long enough to see the writing on the wall and the smell in the air.

Why is that so?

Because the focus of this latest study is precisely on money.  On profit and loss, especially the loss.  Those whose value system is about making the most money they can—and garnishing the most power they can so that they can play games buying the most politicians they can and the most media influence they can and the most judges they can along with the most legislators they can—will finally have to see beyond their ideology of “you never have enough money” to a new way of seeing the world: “How can our company survive the expense of eco-destruction?”

It is true that within 25 years the world economy will drop by 38% if we do not act together and drastically to turn back global climate change economies will tank all over the world.  In the richer, northern countries, American and the German economies will drop by 11%, France’s by 13%, England’s by 7%. 

And in the southern hemisphere, which is the warmest already, Iraq’s economy drops by 30%, Botswana by 25%, Brazil by 21%. 

It’s almost as if scientist Leonie Wenz, who headed the study, is right when he says, “This clearly show that protecting our climate is much cheaper than not doing so.”  Saving the environment saves people and other species and economies and even companies themselves.

To be continued.

* Olivia Rosane, “Climate Crisis to Cost Global Economy $38 Trillion a Year by 2050” on CommonDreams.org

See Matthew Fox, “Your Mother is Dying: A Crucifixion Story for Our Time,” in Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, pp. 11-34.

And Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, Jennifer Listug, Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action.

And Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.

And Fox, “Creation—All Our Relations,” in Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths, pp. 26-49.

Banner Image: Youth at the COP22 talks in Marrakech hold up a “People’s Presidential To-Do List,” including “Break Free from Fossil Fuels,” “Respect Indigenous Sovereignty,” “Zero by 2050,” and “No Corporate Trade Deals. Photo by John Englart on Flickr.

Queries for Contemplation

If protecting the environment is much cheaper than continuing to push fossil fuels, do you see that as a game changer?  Do you see it interfering with the self-interest of many companies and banks in a good way?  And how they might link up with others committing to healing the planet?

Recommended Reading

The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance

In what may be considered the most comprehensive outline of the Christian paradigm shift of our Age, Matthew Fox eloquently foreshadows the manner in which the spirit of Christ resurrects in terms of the return to an earth-based mysticism, the expression of creativity, mystical sexuality, the respect due the young, the rebirth of effective forms of worship—all of these mirroring the ongoing blessings of Mother Earth and the recovery of Eros, the feminine aspect of the Divine.
“The eighth wonder of the world…convincing proof that our Western religious tradition does indeed have the depth of imagination to reinvent its faith.” — Brian Swimme, author of The Universe Story and Journey of the Universe.
 “This book is a classic.” Thomas Berry, author of The Great Work and The Dream of the Earth.

Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
By Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jen Listug

In the midst of global fire, earthquake and flood – as species are going extinct every day and national and global economies totter – the planet doesn’t need another church or religion. What it needs is a new Order, grounded in the Wisdom traditions of both East and West, including science and indigenous. An Order of the Sacred Earth united in one sacred vow: “I promise to be the best lover and defender of the Earth that I can be.”
Co-authored by Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jennifer Berit Listug, with a forward by David Korten, this collection of essays by 21 spiritual visionaries including Brian Swimme, Mirabai Starr, Theodore Richards, and Kristal Parks marks the founding of the diverse and inclusive Order of the Sacred Earth, a community now evolving around the world.
“The Order of the Sacred Earth not only calls us home to our true nature as Earth, but also offers us invaluable guidance and company on the way.”  ~~ Joanna Macy, environmental activist and author of Active Hope.

Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth

Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.

One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths

Matthew Fox calls on all the world traditions for their wisdom and their inspiration in a work that is far more than a list of theological position papers but a new way to pray—to meditate in a global spiritual context on the wisdom all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes that are foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all the world spiritual traditions offer wisdom about each.“Reading One River, Many Wells is like entering the rich silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you read this text, you reflect, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Truly no words can fully express my respect and awe for this magnificent contribution to contemporary spirituality.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit