It is clear now that COP is over that we see nobody is in charge and nobody can pick up the gravel after everyone leaves Dubai. So what are we left with? Governments and corporations are without implementable plans and there is no confrontation with big oil. We have been lied to too often.
we are having to work in the transition between a destructive corporate environment that already is in overshoot of 1.5 C. toward a regenerative very low-carbon economy that will have difficulty managing the needed innovation and production, given the likely loss of many workers and engineers
So where are we?
Three levels or cultures we need to understand if we are to manage the transition are:
*1. The current bank and money system milking consumers and land for profit
*3. a localized low skill low energy system locally focused basically rural
*2. The transition between the two
Which is already underway in thousands of efforts around the world, mostly driven by necessity as drought, temperatures, and floods have ruined another season’s set of crops, as supply chains break down and food deliveries become scarce, clean water is harder to find, and the rising temperatures pushing populations into the die zone. The structures of governance and management are found lacking skills and resources, which will limit our ability to invent or deploy scaleable innovations.
Let me repeat in a bit more detail
It used to be considered a good business model, if a farmer harvested as much corn this year as last, but if the family borrows money to buy a tractor that used to be paid out of this year’s sales, and savings they now have to pay back the loan plus interest. Summed across the whole economy, where nearly everyone is borrowing because they think it will increase their productivity (although they might notice they were merely making up for the cost increase of everything they use to produce on the farm: fertilizer, tools, energy, and more. ) This means increasing debt must be met with increasing growth.
The current situation is defined by the overlapping roles of banks, government, agencies, investors and nonprofits. They all pretty much hope for a growing economy that will support their efforts. But since this is the regime that created the problems, it might not be wise to look to it for solutions. This nudges us to look towards an economy that is kinder to the people and the land. Unfortunately, few are convinced and would rather mossy along, keeping routines going as long as possible.
The transition requires countervailing authority, but how? We need detailed analyses of structures and how nudging or confronting the structures of power, things such as laws of incorporation which used to have a contractual relationship to society. We must work hard for a good transition, and make sure that we avoid a new round of colonialist practices that merrily shift local incomes to the global north and to the local elites that manage the exploiting relationships.
i hope logic will prevail