Before the Deluge
Regen Notes 25
There are plenty of posts and articles reflecting on COP26, and surely, many more will come over the weeks and months. COP has not delivered on the absolute need to phase out coal and oil by 2030 or by any date. Yet COP26 has moved climate and ecological action and justice issues up everyones agenda, with the realisation of the work we have in front of us.
Having been in Glasgow for a few days, listening, walking, sharing and discussing with colleagues, friends and strangers, reading blog posts, media reports and official outcomes, here are my takeaways.
1.5deg is the new 2deg and the target for all. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations: “Every country, every city, every company, every financial institution, must radically, credibly, and verifiably, reduce their emissions and decarbonise, starting now.”
Whilst the fossil fuel industry may have had the highest group of representatives, indigenous peoples from around the world were the second most represented. The tide is changing.
Our relationship with nature is recognised as part of the solution. All of our decarbonisation will mean nothing to future generations without a thriving nature. We have to learn and relearn the braiding of nature, science and culture.
A new criterion for Net-Zero is emerging, in a true or real zero. Decarbonisation must be through reduction with offsets only acceptable when carbon is removed from our atmosphere at the same time and place of emission.
Eco and Sustainability as labels are empty words. We need a new language of love, of justice and regenerative, coupled with transparency and honesty.
In all sectors, carbon and climate will be the defining criteria for supply chain management over the next decade.
Keeping the 1.5-degree goal within reach means reducing emissions by 45% by 2030. And, importantly individuals, households and small organisations can make a collective 30% contribution to carbon reduction targets.
Using our agency, voices and actions to lobby, share, inform, discuss, collaborate and celebrate with our representatives, communities, colleagues, clients, suppliers and social groups.
Before the Deluge
The lyrics to Jackson Browne’s 1974 environmental anthem, Before the Deluge have never been more apposite than now on the conclusion of the COP26 in Glasgow. How wonderful then that on the last day of COP, a reimagined version of Before the Deluge has been released from Renee Fleming featuring Alison Kraus and others.
Some of them were dreamers
And some of them were fools
Who were making plans and thinking of the future
With the energy of the innocent
They were gathering the tools
They would need to make their journey back to nature (full lyrics at foot of this post)
COP Through a Regenerative Lens
Our Living Future Europe Masterclass event at Many Studios on the 10th November looked at COP through a regenerative lens, with guest insights and provocations from:
A climate perspective - Roberta Boscolo - Climate & Energy, UN World Meteorological Organization.
Joining the dots between buildings and infrastructure - Catriona Brady WGBC.
Post COP26 Buildings as Climate Action - Scott McAualy - Anthroprocene Architect School
The need for transparency and honesty - Joanna Watchman - Work In Mind - sharing from the Anti Greenwash Playbook
The carbon impact of Biotech and Pharma - James Connelly - CEO My Green Lab
A future Built by Nature -James Drinkwater - Head of Built Environment at Laudes Foundation
Moving to a 50/50 earth - Sue Riddlestone, OBE, CEO & co-founder Bioregionol
Grounding with place, gender and country - Caroline Pidcock, One Million Women and Australian Architects Declare
Insights from inside and our side the COP negotiating ‘castle’ - Daniele Pernigotti - journalist, Chair of CEN/TC 467 'Climate Change',
Just and Regenerative
Welcomed news, from Forum for the Future, echoing much of the work of Zoom Regenerative, these Regen Newsletters, the RESTORE regenerative body of knowledge and FutuREstorative.
Following the COP26 Climate Summit, a new report Titled A Compass for Just and Regenerative Business is calling on businesses to urgently reset their sustainability ambition – ultimately adopting ‘just and regenerative’ approaches with the potential to transform the way they operate at scale and pace.
The report defines ‘just and regenerative’ as an approach that: embraces the power of nature to renew and regenerate; understands that humans are a fundamental part of nature; and respects everyone's universal rights and potential to thrive.
Zoom Regenerative
Making regenerative sense of COP is the topic for our next Zoom Regenerative session on the 16th of November.
December 14th rounding off 2021 we step into the world of regenerative fashion with Rachel Sheila Kan.
Regen Notes
Regen Notes is a newsletter of regenerative news, stories and more, with a sideways focus on the built environment, curated by Martin Brown. It is a companion to our Zoom Regenerative activities and podcasts where we join the regenerative dots, share the themes and work that invigorates, inspires and feeds our curiosity.
Before the Deluge - Jackson Browne 1974
Some of them were dreamers
And some of them were fools
Who were making plans and thinking of the future
With the energy of the innocent
They were gathering the tools
They would need to make their journey back to nature
While the sand slipped through the opening
And their hands reached for the golden ring
With their hearts they turned to each other's heart for refuge
In the troubled years that came before the deluge
Some of them knew pleasure
And some of them knew pain
And for some of them it was only the moment that mattered
And on the brave and crazy wings of youth
They went flying around in the rain
And their feathers, once so fine, grew torn and tattered
And in the end they traded their tired wings
For the resignation that living brings
And exchanged love's bright and fragile glow
For the glitter and the rouge
And in the moment they were swept before the deluge
Now let the music keep our spirits high
And let the buildings keep our children dry
Let creation reveal its secrets by and by
By and by...
When the light that's lost within us reaches the sky
Some of them were angry
At the way the earth was abused
By the men who learned how to forge her beauty into power
And they struggled to protect her from them
Only to be confused
By the magnitude of her fury in the final hour
And when the sand was gone and the time arrived
In the naked dawn only a few survived
And in attempts to understand a thing so simple and so huge
Believed that they were meant to live after the deluge
Now let the music keep our spirits high
And let the buildings keep our children dry
Let creation reveal its secrets by and by
By and by...
When the light that's lost within us reaches the sky
