I am not here to talk about hope. I am here to talk about fear.
Fear changes everything. Fear is the solution. Please listen to the end of my speech. And you will understand.
Precisely 3 years ago I was standing on this stage in front of the cameras. Giving the closing speech on the world's first online global climate conference that we don't have time hosted.
I remember the feeling. I was nervous. Actually, I was a bit scared.
I had never given a speech in English in front of the cameras before.
For me it took some courage to overcome that fear, to get out of my comfort zone and do something new. Something needed to be done because the climate crisis is a global problem, and Swedish is a small language.
Oh boy …………..... If I only had known back then how much fear I had to meet when trying to change things in the world.
Later the very same year. I helped a lonely 15-year old girl to share her message of fear for the future — fear for her own and other children's lives.
And yes. So many people got afraid! Not because of fear of climate change. No. They were more afraid of the changes we need in order to confront the crisis. The changes all of us need to make.
People were getting very angry.
It only took a couple of weeks before the first death threats arrived. And it was not just crazy people on the internet. It was also powerful interests that did not like the message.
Suddenly. There was this propaganda machine working against the message that we are in a climate crisis. The message that we don't have time to wait.
It was more than propaganda.
Someone started to control my phone remotely, they hacked my mail. We even found surveillance hardware installed in our own office.
I still remember with anxiety that mail I recieved with a message of mass destruction written in blood with guns and tons of ammunition in the background. The message was about breaking the Norwegien terrorist Anders Breviek record on Swedish soil. It wanted to create a lot of fear. To stop people from demonstrating for the climate.
Someone was really afraid of change. And honestly, I felt it too. It was not what I had expected.
Fear of change is probably what scares people the most. And the #1 reason why we don't see enough change in the world.
One example. ….. Last week. When I posted about this conference and that we need to half the emission before 2030, before that count-down turns to zero …… someone very skeptical replied to me.
The skepticism was not about climate denialism or anything. No. It was about the fear of what it takes to live within our carbon budget.
Do you really know what it means if we succeed in living with less than 2.5 ton co2 per person per year? No cars, no meat, no travel, no fun. Nothing!
My answer!
Do you really know what it means if we fail?
Unfortunately, I don't think my answer helped to make that person become less scared of change.
I have come to realize something important since I started to communicate daily about the climate crisis 3 years ago.
The message of fear for how our world will come to a catastrophic end only works on some people.
According to my experience. It only works on people that have a lot of imagination.
What scares me the most is that our children are the ones with the best imagination. And according to a new study in Sweden. More than 6 out of 10 children have a problem sleeping because they fear climate change already today. They have pictures in their minds about a dark future when they go to sleep. It's not fear for monsters under their bed. It is the fear that their own parents and all grown-ups fail to keep them safe!
It is true.
And that is for Swedish children. I can only imagine how many children have this fear in those countries that are much worse affected by the climate crisis. Not to talk about the ones living in the nations we already know will cease to exist because of the sea level rise.
Children should not have those bad dreams!
They are so scared, and yet most grown-ups pretend this is just child fantasies and go on with their business as usual activities. The very same activities creating those nightmares! — Making them real!
So. Fear for the destruction of our planet works on children. But they are not the ones that have the power to fix it.
We have that power!
And what works for us? What kind of fear works on most people that don't have the same imagination as our children?
What is the most efficient fear that will make enough people change?
I think we have got the answer here today!
It is the fear of missing out!
The fear of losing money on fossil investments.
The fear of not making that extra revenue from the right investment in the new economy.
The fear of not eating that delicious healthy green new food.
The fear of not driving that modern electric car or bicycle.
The fear of being the last one to change and have a better life.
The fear of missing out!
Believe me. This works! This is how we conquer the fear of change. This is how we reach the critical mass.
And how do we do it?
We only need a few people with courage enough to start the change.
And that is exactly the kind of people we have been listening to here today.
But they need your help to succeed with this on an exponential scale.
Therefore I hope we have given you the same courage I had 3 years ago when I was standing on this stage, on Earth Day, doing something that was way out of my comfort zone.
We all need to lead change.
Together we are the solution to the climate crisis.
But we don't have time to wait……….. let's start today!
Watch my speech below:
https://youtu.be/uONrQmWxAN0?t=18482
