We Can All Be Teachers on Ecology

When it comes to the future of our planet, we are all teachers, CLAIRE MATHIESON argues.

Our children’s education is not exclusively received from our schools. Similarly, our religious education is not exclusively derived from the Church, cooking not entirely learned from recipes, and how to make a good first impression not completely taught through self-help books.

In fact, much of what we do is learnt through example.

For children, the most sponge-like of our kind, some of the most fundamental life lessons are taught through the actions and examples set by those surrounding children — adults and leaders.

This is not news. But what strikes me as odd is that despite knowing the potential impact our actions have, many leaders and adults continue with business as usual.

This will result in two things: firstly, our children will learn that it’s okay not to care — and this has its own ramifications — and secondly, our children will have to deal with the impact of our actions, or lack thereof.

In the case of climate change it seems profoundly bizarre that we are not leading by example at every level and are failing taking action now.

We are already seeing those two consequences at play: our older children are a mixed bag of doers and nay-sayers, and our children are already feeling the effects. With eight provinces in South Africa now declared disaster areas due to drought, we’re all seeing what climate change will do in the future. South Africa is water-stressed. We do not have enough water in places where it’s needed, and when it comes, it’s too much too quickly. Our infrastructure, made to last 20 years, is degraded at a much faster rate, and our finances are split between repairing infrastructure and having to keep up with the development needs of a growing population.

Pope Francis’ thoughtful and timely encyclical on ecology, Laudato Si’, says that climate change is real and mainly “a result of human activity”. And while every South African can attest to some changes in our climate, not everyone seems interested in acting — even if acting would apply pressure on our policy-makers to make climate-smart decisions.

A recent study in Kampala, Uganda, put a number to this apathy. The study found that the price of inaction on climate change would cost the country 20 times more than building in ways that anticipate climate changes. Yes, climate-smart planning in infrastructure is expensive, but at 20 times higher after just ten years of inaction, can Uganda afford to ignore this?

The effects of the climate on South Africans are different to those Ugandans are feeling, but they are no less severe. And in most disastrous things in life, it is the poor who are most affected.

The pope was clear: solving climate change means protecting the planet and vulnerable people, and we must hear, as the Holy Father said, “both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor”.

What if green buildings no longer made the news because they were so commonplace? What if clean technology was the norm? Perhaps our lights would stay on longer because we used renewables. Perhaps infrastructure would last longer because we made it climate-proof. Perhaps our poor wouldn’t be as badly affected.

We would be better people; we would be better Christians.

We must applaud the efforts of the local Church in setting the right example. We’ve also seen great examples in schools: teachers conducting solar projects, recycling challenges and explaining climate science, weather patterns and clean technologies to their learners.

But there seems to be a disconnect. Between the pope and our children, there is a huge population of adults simply not acting. We need to act ourselves. Shouldn’t it be an obvious choice that Catholic buildings — schools, chanceries and institutions — all adopt green technologies? We save and fundraise for years to build new structures. Shouldn’t we save just a few more months to afford better climate-smart technology that will last longer, produce lower emissions, and set an example? Shouldn’t the Church lead the way in all activities?

It won’t be easy, but it’s what we’ve been called to do by the pope. “Reducing greenhouse gases requires honesty, courage and responsibility. Young people demand change. They wonder how anyone can claim to be building a better future without thinking of the environmental crisis and the sufferings of the excluded.”

Let us all be like Pope Francis. Let us all be the leaders our children want us to be. Let us teach by example.

Claire Mathieson, former news editor of The Southern Cross, now spends her time trying to convince African policy-makers to lead their countries along a development path that is compatible with climate-smart activities.