Mobilising hope to overcome climate despair
BMJ 2022; 379 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.o2411 (Published 12 October 2022) Cite this as: BMJ 2022;379:o2411Read our special issue on the climate emergency
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Dear Editor,
The authors highlight the importance of hope to tackle the climate crisis, foster activism, and protect people's wellbeing (1).
The remaining carbon budget must be used wisely to tackle this crisis and limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (2). Time is running out and hope must also be nurtured by immediate and visible changes in society. Why is the topic of coherence so little emphasized when it comes to talking about what needs to be done?
Coherence must be implemented at the highest level. It has already been stressed that policies need to be more coherent and based on reliable data in order to effectively tackle climate change and meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (3).
There is also a lack of coherence in many of the messages delivered in the media and in everyday life, which is very discouraging. For example, shouldn't a television journalist who stresses the seriousness of the climate issue act accordingly by turning off the air conditioning in the studio and simply dressing in weather-appropriate clothes?
The search for greater coherence in discourse and action is needed at all levels of society. Achieving this should substantially enhance the hope of climate activists and help to further protect human wellbeing and planetary health.
References
1 Frumkin H, Cook S, Dobson J, Abbasi K. Mobilising hope to overcome climate despair. BMJ 2022;379:o2411.
2 Haines A. Use the remaining carbon budget wisely for health equity and climate justice. Lancet. 2022;400(10351):477-479.
3 Coscieme L, Mortensen LF, Donohue I. Enhance environmental policy coherence to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. J Clean Prod 2021 ; 296 :126502.
Competing interests: NF is a member of the Alliance Santé Planétaire.
Dear Editor,
Many junior doctors are climate change activists. However, ward and surgical environments are not geared to combat the climate crisis.
Waste is rampant. Staff shortages, bed pressures and stress fuel the abuse and misuse of single-use supplies. We must only glance around a doctors’ office to see this: mounds of Costa cups, sprawls of unused paper, half touched masks and overflowing bins. Our focus is on the clinical tasks at hand. We aren’t thinking about the cost of materials or the costs to our planet.
In the words of management guru Peter Drucker, ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it’ (1). Data is needed to drive both top-down and bottom-up change. The non-profit organisation Practise Greenhealth has a free Cost of Ownership Calculator, designed to support looking at costs beyond the price tag, evaluate hidden expenses (such as energy and waste costs) as well as other operational costs of a product, in order to make more informed choices based on the full costs to an organisation (2). Such financial incentives are needed to drive top-down change from governments and medical directors.
Data is also needed to quantify the scale of the problem at the frontline. Only then can we, as junior doctors, conduct audits or quality improvement to assess the greenness of our practise, driving change from the ground up.
Hope is paramount in sustaining a vision of a happier, healthier planet. But without simple, cost-effective ways of measuring the problem, we cannot act.
1. Brooks M. “If You Can’t Measure It, You Can’t Improve It.” [Internet]. Advisorpedia. [cited 2022 Oct 18]. Available from: https://www.advisorpedia.com/growth/if-you-cant-measure-it-you-cant-impr...
2. Greenhealth Cost of Ownership toolkit | Practice Greenhealth [Internet]. [cited 2022 Oct 18]. Available from: https://practicegreenhealth.org/cost-ownership-toolkit
Competing interests: No competing interests
Dear Editor
Hope can be motivating. "Hope, and more specifically, particularized hope, has been shown to be an important part of the recovery process from illness; it has strong psychological benefits for patients, helping them to cope more effectively with their disease " (Wiles, R.; Cott, C.; Gibson, B.E. (2008). "Hope, expectations, and recovery from illness: A narrative synthesis of qualitative research". Journal of Advanced Nursing. 64 (6): 564–573). Yes, hope can be beneficial. But hope, both as a noun and a verb, is just a feeling. It may predispose to action, but it is not action. It is easy for people to hope for something. Often, when they do that, they think they have done something useful. They are "hopeful" there will be a good outcome. If they were not hopeful before, then they have changed. However, they have had no effect except on their emotional state. They have not done anything to make that outcome become a reality.
Was hope imprisoned in Pandora's box because it, too, is one the evils that besets mankind?
Hoping does not in itself make anything happen except in the hopeful person. In my experience it is often a covert form of procrastination, or denial, used as a reason to escape accountability.
George Link Spaeth, BA, MD, FACS, FARVO, FCPP,
Louis Esposito Research Professor, Wills Eye Hospital/Sidney Kimmel Medical College/Thomas Jefferson University
gspaeth@willseye.org
+215 285 8147
Competing interests: No competing interests
Dear Editor,
Energy should be supplied predominantly by nuclear power plants (NPPs). Well-managed NPPs pose less of a risk than those running on fossil fuels. The nuclear facilities practically do not emit greenhouse gases. Obviously, a lasting peace is needed, since NPPs are potential targets. By analogy with the Chernobyl accident, the war damage and shutdown of the Zaporozhie NPP (the largest NPP in Europe) will enhance demands for fossil fuels. More details: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361227022_Low-dose_ionizing_rad...
Competing interests: No competing interests
Hope means doing what you can.
Dear Editor,
It was a British poet who coined the phrase "Hope springs eternal." With this in mind like Diogenes I searched the pages of the BMJ searching for elusive Hope. I found some snippets: the joy in general practice, the silver lining of geriatric care in the community and getting the band back together again - go to work and support the team and ditch remote working. Diogenes famous "search for an honest man" was his way of exposing the hypocrisy and sham of polite societal conventions. By holding a literal light up to people's faces in broad daylight, he forced them to recognize their participation in practices that prevented them from living truthfully. Diogenes is still highly regarded in the present day for his commitment to truth and living according to his beliefs.
We all need a candle in our faces! But what does that mean for me? Crowd sourcing is effective and there is strength in numbers and if we all reduce waste - turn off unnecessary appliances and lights, reduce travel, recycle coffee cups, pick up litter, and call out government to do the same we will win.
Many attribute New York's crime reduction to specific "get-tough" policies carried out by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's administration. The most prominent of his policy changes was the aggressive policing of lower-level crimes, a policy which has been dubbed the "broken windows" approach to law enforcement. Sweating the small stuff will force the levers of power into action to follow suit. This is our hope and The BMJ and media should promote these initiatives instead of crying into their cornflakes.
Competing interests: No competing interests