Not much COP
This week you will see a lot of news about the COP26 meetings happening in Glasgow. For those not in the know, these are the UN Climate meetings (Conference of the Parties) and are designed to bring all the world together to create agreements and policies that will prevent runaway Climate Change.
The meetings have run from 1995 until the present day with the intention of creating binding commitments to ending global warming. In truth, they are often plagued with grandstanding and inadequate agreements which tend to be disappointing to hardened environmentalists and too stringent for those industrial interests intent on forging ahead with business as usual.
Right now, with the real effects of climate change being felt universally, interest is rightly heightened and this meeting is arguably the most important yet and possibly the last chance saloon in setting out a hope of a stable climate in the future. The week ahead will be full of excitement, protests, and pointed debate with the hope that we can create accord from the very top of our government and corporate leaders . . . To be honest though, I don’t hold out too much hope for COP26, having watched 25 other meetings fail. There is a difficult path ahead no doubt and we are no longer discussing IF we can avert climate change but rather HOW MUCH we should aim for.
However, does that mean all is lost?
NO.
Where I really believe real change will happen is in groups of us, impassioned and skilled, who can give our best game to bring back a life-rich world. Why life-rich and not focused purely on carbon? Because it is the rich and biodiverse ecosystems which offer us the best chance of sorting out this mess. They do the work for us if we allow them to. Over the next few blog posts I’ll layout people and projects I have seen that offer a slice of how we go about doing just that. About finding unique ways to restore the natural world and at the same time bring us truly enriched lives.
Despite how its sounds I remain a climate optimist. Careys Secret Garden was created out of a personal need for positive change.
For those who have visited over the last few months, many have commented on how much has been achieved in the 2 short years since we struck ground (October 2019). I take this as a good sign that positive change can happen fast. I’m lucky enough to have seen this elsewhere too.
Our focus at Careys is to connect you to the natural world in very practical optimistic ways. Over the last few weeks we have dabbled in creating courses and events that do just this, from our delicious Mushroom Foraging or gorgeous Birdwatching Workshops through to the wonderful Planet Purbeck events- now we are going to be constantly busy designing ways to build a brighter future for us all and we hope that Careys is a demonstration of just that for everyone who visits.
See you soon,
Simon Constantine
