Sadly I wasn't able to attend in person (physically) but I watched and commented on the live feed on youtube. The likes of Steve Backshall, Emma Thompson, Feargal Sharkey, Amir Khan etc was amazing and to see so many charities and NGO's marching there together in unison too, even those who are almost "arch enemies" against each other (Born Free and Chester Zoo for example) but can put aside their differences for nature, was truly phenomenal!! The only thing I wished was mentioned more was the massive "elephant in the room" that no one seems to want to talk about: Human Overpopulation (although Steve Backshall did rightly touch on this briefly in his speech) and I wish the charity "Population Matters" could have been there as well. How many wild animal species can you number whose population comes anywhere near 8 billion, besides humans?The climate crisis has been caused by far too many humans wanting far too much/many resources that the Earth simply can't provide and humans thinking that they are the one and only so called "superior" (inferior) species whilst showing complete disrespect and arrogance towards any others that they deem to be of "lesser importance"!! Complete arrogance and selfishness in other words! Climate change is here and now and is causing thousands of deaths of innocent animals and people. I just sincerely hope that the next government properly takes this seriously for once but we can all do our bit to help animals, nature and the environment. Anything from choosing to not use pesticides, letting part of your garden grow wild, planting wildflowers, always recycling where possible, reducing our product consumption (how much you buy, use and throw away/recycle) and consumption of meat, fish and/or dairy, having a smaller family (having 1 or no children or adopting instead), installing solar panels, heat pumps, water butts, etc and so much more.
well done to all who attended the rally. The next government have a lot of work to do for climate we all need to be doing more for nature before we run out of time.
Whilst working on my house yesterday I had my Calm Radio playing in the background and Barry McGuire’s classic 1965 classic song ‘Eve of destruction’ came on. I listened carefully to the lyrics and found that they hadn’t aged at all. And the overall sentiment expressed in the song - wrung from turbulent, revolutionary spirit of the time - is even more relevant today given that the climate and nature crises were scarcely known then and so not included in the litany of woes covered in the song. So it’s even worse than then!
If you add together all the threats facing us today - including the geopolitical as well as those concerning the climate, the environment, over-population and wildlife - the future really does seem bleak. But there is still a chance they can be tackled but only if the West first abandons its self-serving obsession with economic growth. The change of international mindset needed to achieve that - a monumental task in its own right - would lead to the development of a more genuinely co-operative spirit, an essential precursor to any meaningful change.
So it’s great that we all protest but until the established world order is fundamentally changed we are doomed to blunder on heedless until it’s too late.
Seeing the actual rabbit - even if it wasn’t there when they arrived - is the easy part. Seeing the ‘rabbit in ourselves’ is much more difficult. But that’s where it must start - and comprehensively too. Or we too will soon go the way of the rabbit.
Beautiful article, actually gave me shivers reading it. Health issues prevented me attending, but so proud and gladdened to see such a huge turn out. People really do care, there is hope, but we do need a completely new way of living and consuming.
Sadly I wasn't able to attend in person (physically) but I watched and commented on the live feed on youtube. The likes of Steve Backshall, Emma Thompson, Feargal Sharkey, Amir Khan etc was amazing and to see so many charities and NGO's marching there together in unison too, even those who are almost "arch enemies" against each other (Born Free and Chester Zoo for example) but can put aside their differences for nature, was truly phenomenal!! The only thing I wished was mentioned more was the massive "elephant in the room" that no one seems to want to talk about: Human Overpopulation (although Steve Backshall did rightly touch on this briefly in his speech) and I wish the charity "Population Matters" could have been there as well. How many wild animal species can you number whose population comes anywhere near 8 billion, besides humans?The climate crisis has been caused by far too many humans wanting far too much/many resources that the Earth simply can't provide and humans thinking that they are the one and only so called "superior" (inferior) species whilst showing complete disrespect and arrogance towards any others that they deem to be of "lesser importance"!! Complete arrogance and selfishness in other words! Climate change is here and now and is causing thousands of deaths of innocent animals and people. I just sincerely hope that the next government properly takes this seriously for once but we can all do our bit to help animals, nature and the environment. Anything from choosing to not use pesticides, letting part of your garden grow wild, planting wildflowers, always recycling where possible, reducing our product consumption (how much you buy, use and throw away/recycle) and consumption of meat, fish and/or dairy, having a smaller family (having 1 or no children or adopting instead), installing solar panels, heat pumps, water butts, etc and so much more.
Well said Cara, thank you
Thank you Dave M and you are most welcome!
well done to all who attended the rally. The next government have a lot of work to do for climate we all need to be doing more for nature before we run out of time.
Whilst working on my house yesterday I had my Calm Radio playing in the background and Barry McGuire’s classic 1965 classic song ‘Eve of destruction’ came on. I listened carefully to the lyrics and found that they hadn’t aged at all. And the overall sentiment expressed in the song - wrung from turbulent, revolutionary spirit of the time - is even more relevant today given that the climate and nature crises were scarcely known then and so not included in the litany of woes covered in the song. So it’s even worse than then!
If you add together all the threats facing us today - including the geopolitical as well as those concerning the climate, the environment, over-population and wildlife - the future really does seem bleak. But there is still a chance they can be tackled but only if the West first abandons its self-serving obsession with economic growth. The change of international mindset needed to achieve that - a monumental task in its own right - would lead to the development of a more genuinely co-operative spirit, an essential precursor to any meaningful change.
So it’s great that we all protest but until the established world order is fundamentally changed we are doomed to blunder on heedless until it’s too late.
Are you listening, China?
1961 poem published by Alan Brownjohn called 'To See The Rabbit'. A very visionary poet yet his early sentiments took a long time to be acknowledged!
Seeing the actual rabbit - even if it wasn’t there when they arrived - is the easy part. Seeing the ‘rabbit in ourselves’ is much more difficult. But that’s where it must start - and comprehensively too. Or we too will soon go the way of the rabbit.
Thank you. Couldn't be there but was in spirit. Keep fighting for what is right - common sense tells any person with any empathy it is.
Beautiful article, actually gave me shivers reading it. Health issues prevented me attending, but so proud and gladdened to see such a huge turn out. People really do care, there is hope, but we do need a completely new way of living and consuming.