It’s our time on earth, so what are we doing to it?

September 21, 2022 Written by Sadie Fox

After this summer’s meltdown, the climate crisis is once again at the forefront of conversations.

The future of our planet is at stake. But, while most radio and news stations referenced the impact of climate change, many others merely reported on record ice cream sales, melting runways, and train station closures.

Despite the government’s supposed ‘landmark’ Net Zero Strategy, which sets out policies and proposals for decarbonising UK economies to meet our net zero target by 2050, the high court has only now ordered the government to outline exactly how its net zero policies will achieve emissions targets.

Again, it’s up to environmental charities, activists and experts, to challenge the government. Unfortunately, it’s no surprise that a policy of this magnitude is yet to be made actionable given the lack of diversity and progressive thought within government.

Of course, like most people I feel powerless in the face of a crisis of this scale. It’s baffling that the future of our world is in the hands of an older, primarily upper-class group of all talk and no action. But a recent exhibition gave me hope for the future.

As part of my nine-day fortnight off-day, I visited The Barbican’s latest exhibition, Our Time on Earth, an immersive exploration of radical ideas for the way we live, interspersed with responses to the climate emergency.

I found it fascinating and eye-opening that some of the most innovative yet, at the same time, simple resolutions to the climate emergency were so literally on display for all to see. While some ideas showcased radical developments in technology, others were plainly reminding us that there are communities, like the indigenous, still thriving and surviving off sustainable solutions from thousands of years ago.

Some solutions were, of course more complex and resource-dependent than others, but that shouldn’t be a barrier to those with the power driving the change that needs to happen. We spend enough money on entertainment, unusable PPE and a fake Marble Arch Mound, so where are the handouts for funding that is so obviously indispensable to the current situation?

Now is the time to champion those whose expertise lies in answers, ideas, and resolutions. Those whose life’s work is to be the brains and strategists behind sustainable solutions that will save the planet from natural disaster.

The crisis is getting hotter, and it’s our time on earth, so what will we do with it?