It’s with sadness and hope that I followed the talks in Copenhagen on climate change.

Sadness…

Sadness because at great expense, global leaders came together to discuss a really important topic, something that is pivotal to society and our future and they failed to come to a satisfactory agreement.

Sadness because I watched countries pointing the finger at each other, trying to find someone to blame for the poor deal.

Sadness that this situation is replicated all over the world in governments and businesses. We look to the executive leadership teams to decide what we need to do and agree on the road we need to follow. We expect them to have all the answers to things that are beyond anything we have seen before, the answers to complex issues. Everyone has a different point of view, a different way of doing things, different agendas. Everyone blames everyone else. It seems an impossible situation.

…and hope

Hope that Copenhagen raised an important topic to the height of not just the political and social agenda but raised awareness of it to the masses. For more than two weeks, climate change has been the major topic of conversation. That can only be a good thing. It means that we care.  That we are starting to wake up to needing to look after the planet we live on. And in raising awareness, we become more conscious of the choices we are making on a daily basis.

Hope that people are starting to realise that every one of us must play a part. Instead of sitting around waiting for the global leaders to decide what we must do, every one of us  has a responsibility to look after the planet we live on, to preserve it for future generations. To personally reduce our waste, our pollution, our energy use.

Hope that our attention will go way beyond anything that was being discussed in Copenhagen. I believe that every one of us has a responsibility to live ethically and sustainably and in harmony…. with our own selves, with each other and with the planet. This is a really important point. That we live with compassion for ourselves, for each other and for the planet.

Taking action

One of the common complaints I hear in corporations is that people are expecting  the executive leadership team to do something to make their lives better.  We sit around and blame someone else, we wait for someone “at the top” to sort things out for us. Well, it’s time to start acting. It’s up to each of us to do our bit. To say no to things that are unjust, unethical and unsustainable. When we agree to do things that are not congruent with what we believe in, we are lacking integrity, we are colluding with the system.

Where are you colluding with the system?

How can you take responsibility and start taking action?

Of course, I’m not letting governments and executive leadership teams off the hook either. This is a joint responsbility, where every one of us can be a leader in every thing we do. So like the Greenpeace advert in the photo above…. don’t be a politician. Be a leader.

Putting it into practice

1. Consider an issue that you want resolved by “someone at the top”.
2. What small thing can you do to improve the situation?
3. Take action today.

Politicians talk… leaders act. Be a leader. Act today.

With love,
Jude. x

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