S2, E10: Will politics save the world, or destroy it? We need to talk about eco-anxiety
In this episode, We Need to Talk about Eco-Anxiety, Clover investigates how modern politics have generated the climate crisis and heightened global eco-anxiety; and what we must do to find a unifying vision for the future.
First up, Clover meets Colombe Cahen-Salvador, co-founder of ATLAS, to learn more about how politicians have escalated the climate crisis and whether they actually want us to politically disengage. We then hear from young people around the world on how they think politicians have shaped the climate conversation and Clover sits down with Jeremy Oppenheim, the founder of SYSTEMIQ, to learn why it's so hard to find political consensus on tackling the crisis and whether there’s opportunity in our ‘climate odyssey’.
Featuring…
Colombe Cahen-Salvador: Co-founder and co-executive director of Atlas
Colombe Cahen-Salvador is the co-founder and co-executive director of Atlas, where she is responsible for the creation of policies. She previously worked for Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, as a legal fellow in the International Strategic Litigation Unit.
Three things we talked about in the episode:
Why Brexit was Colombe's catalyst for diving into politics
How there are vested interests to keep young people out of the decisions affecting our future
What we can learn from historic grassroots movements, and how change always looks impossible until it is done.
Caroline Hickman, resident psychotherapist
Caroline is a psychotherapist from the University of Bath, who has spent years researching children and young people’s relationships with nature and feelings about the climate and ecological crisis; in the UK, Maldives, South Pacific and other communities already affected by rising sea levels.
In their conversation, Caroline and Clover discuss the idea that young people don't just feel hopeless in response to the climate and ecological crisis - but the fact that we've been raised to place our faith in institutions that have failed us.
Jeremy Oppenheim, Founder and Managing Partner of SYSTEMIQ
Jeremy Oppenheim is the Founder and Managing Partner of SYSTEMIQ - a systems change company that partners with business, finance, policy-makers, and civil society to make economic systems truly sustainable. Jeremy is a regular speaker at global resource productivity and sustainability events, and is lead author of Resource Revolution: Meeting the World's Energy, Materials, Food and Water Needs.
In their conversation, Jeremy discusses the changes that need to happen across businesses, institutions and governments to solve the climate crisis.
Quotes from the episode
"Why don't we have an age limit in politics? How come you can run when you're 80 but you can't run when you're 20? It's ridiculous. Someone who is so much older cannot properly represent the youth"
- Colombe Cahen-Salvador
"Just look at history. When you look at any society shifting event it wasn't easy. It looked impossible until it was done and it will always look impossible until it's done."
- Colombe Cahen-Salvador
With thanks this episode’s sponsor,
SYSTEMIQ
Interested in sponsoring Season 3? Email media@forceofnature.xyz
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Read the Bloom
Will politics save the world, or destroy it?
Politics started to interest me when I realized the amount of power politicians have and their ability to shape policies to influence the lives of people around them...
Have you listened to season 1 yet?
In this 9-part series, Clover sits down with the people who are leading the charge: from the woman who started a global movement out of her backyard; to the lawyer responsible for the world’s most historic climate agreement; and a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
A Force of Nature and OneFinePlay production
Director: Clover Hogan
Studio: OneFinePlay
Executive producer: James Bishop
Editor & producer: Kasra Firouzyar
Producer & researcher: Connor Foley
Additional creative support: Selena Christofides
With special thanks to everyone who makes Force of Nature possible!
Phoebe Hanson, Kathleen Hamilton, Alejandra Arias, Sacha Wright, Julia Sams, Vida Han, Zineb Jaoudat and Rohan Shah.