Reconsidering Watership Down Going Into COP28

Fri, 29 Dec 2023 12:23:36 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://freedium.cfd/https://medium.com/the-new-climate/reconsidering-watership-down-going-into-cop28-36de50a631ee>

"Two years ago, I wrote an article called Waiting for Bigwig, using the
archetypal rabbits from Richard Adams' 1972 novel Watership Down to explain
the power dynamics of the climate crisis. "Watership is an ecological novel,"
I said, "for it is ultimately about the ruin humans bring when they collide
with a purely natural environment."

I wrote this in late 2021, right before COP26 (the annual UN Climate Change
Conference or Conference of Parties). I felt, and still do, that we have as
many Fivers (people crying harm! foul!) as we need.

"…at this point, diagnosing the problem is the easy part. Anybody who
doesn't recognize it now simply does not want to hear, to know, or to
understand."

Author, Waiting For Bigwig

I was hoping that (praying that!) somebody would emerge to take leadership and
direction (like Hazel), and even more, that someone strong and compelling would
force the world to take action during COP26 in Glasgow, insisting that our
leaders prioritize the Paris Agreement with goals of limiting global warming to
well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, shooting for a limit of 1.5°C.

In Watership Down, rabbits are the perfect prey animal — and their only
advantage is the speed with which they recognize danger and run away. That's to
their advantage. But we humans aren't like that at all."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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