exist alone in separate pockets, but are all interconnected with one another. Similarly, Pearce and Cronen’s (1980) coordinated management of meaning theory deconstructs the contextual and implicative forces that interrelate around any given issue. Responses to the climate emergency can especially be understood in this way at diff erent levels of context (See fi gure 1). If we begin at the level of the individual


I want to expand on the theoretical links and generate more ideas from others about how systemic theory and the climate crisis fi t together. For this reason, I will keep my summary of the scientifi c predictions and thoughts from the conference brief, but some discussion about this is both useful and necessary. Within the context of the biggest


challenge humanity has faced to date, I am curious. How do you wish to position yourself personally? How may this be relevant for you professionally? What do you think the climate crisis means for us as systemic psychotherapists?


Why 2020? First and foremost, why did I want to


deliver the presentation at the beginning of 2020? In essence, because this year marks the beginning of a new and pivotal decade. “If we do not change course by 2020, we risk missing the point where we can avoid runaway climate change with disastrous consequences for people and all the natural systems that sustain us” (Gutteres, 2018). According to the UN Intergovernmental


Panel on Climate Change report published in October 2018, if we want to avoid the worst impacts of global warming, scientists say we have to cut global carbon emissions nearly in half (reduction of 45%) by 2030 to stay under 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. Unless rises can be kept to below this level, we are dicing with the planet’s ‘liveability’. But this is not just about climate change.


The recent World Wide Fund for Nature’s Living Planet Index shows how humanity has wiped out 60% of mammals, birds, fi sh and reptiles since 1970 (World Wide Fund,


14


2018). “Without bio-diversity, there is no future for humanity” (Macdonald, 2018, cited in Carrington, 2018). This is a fi ght for survival. How does this information compare


with the current trend? The current Paris Climate agreement pledges will still lead to a warming of three degrees by the end of the century. Under the current status quo, we will have used up the remaining carbon budget by 2025. Just fi ve years! As things stand – according to science – human extinction by the end of this century is not just possible but likely (without change). In 2018, carbon emissions were at their highest level since records began. Two million people each week are already requiring humanitarian aid due to climate-related catastrophe. Why is this knowledge and understanding


not enough to fuel the governmental and societal change necessary for us to survive? How have we gotten here and how might we navigate our way back out again?


Turning to theory to aid understanding


It seems highly appropriate to punctuate


here with a quote from Gregory Bateson, who after all was always interested in ‘larger patterns’, how living things are connected, and the system of ideas on which we all try to live together – ‘including the animals and plants, as well as me and you’. “The major problems in the world are the result of the diff erence between how nature works and the way people think” (Bateson, 2010).


Coordinated management of meaning


Bateson asserted that ideas, concepts and understandings of the world do not


person, the answers appear straightforward. The Grantham Institute of Imperial College London focuses specifi cally on climate change and the environment. They have produced a short video (see references) focused on encouraging people to see the broader benefi ts of the lifestyle changes necessary to respond to the emergency we fi nd ourselves in and outline nine actions we can all individually take: 1. make our voices heard by those in power 2. eat less meat and dairy 3. cut our consumption and waste 4. invest our money more wisely 5. cut back on fl ying 6. leave the car at home 7. reduce our energy use 8. respect and protect green spaces 9. talk about the changes we make. These all sound simple enough, but


when Neil Jennings (2019) from the Grantham Institute talked about the dimensions of feasibility for change, the scientifi c sticking point appears to be the cultural and societal dimension (that is, how willing people are to make the necessary changes). If we zoom right out now to the level of


system: global systems, we can consider capitalism and consumerism as the structures on which our modern world is set up and our global economy relies. What prospect is there of making the step changes in these whole structures that are necessary if we focus exclusively inwardly on achieving ‘eco-sainthood’? Emma Marris (2019a; 2019b) argues that ‘capital’ wants us to blame ourselves and consume our way out of the problem (buy a reusable coff ee cup, buy meat alternatives, buy eco- friendly cosmetics, buy an electric vehicle), but we should reject shame in a world where achieving the changes outlined above is made very diffi cult by our existing structures (that is, limited access to public transport, the cost of electric vehicles etc.). This is not to say people shouldn’t strive to implement the suggested changes where possible, only that exclusively focusing on


Context 170, August 2020


Exploring human and societal connection to the climate crisis through the lens of systemic theory


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