Dispatch #2: How to talk like a human about climate change
Campus news, climate communications, and more
Welcome to the second edition of The Dispatch! Enjoy the curation of links and please add any great media you’ve come across recently to the comments section below!
We know that the climate movement often struggles with effectively communicating their messages to a broad audience. This week, we discovered this guide from Potential Energy called “How to talk like a human about climate change” and it has incredibly useful information about which narratives, words, and framings actually resonate with people — we highly recommend checking it out.
Another piece of hopeful climate news: Canada finally unveiled their emissions cap for the oil and gas sector. A huge step in the right direction for climate action, but it needs to be strengthened. The law enters into force in 2030, which is far too late to help Canada meet its 2030 commitment.
Some great news coming out of campuses this week: The University of Toronto announced that they will be divesting financially from fossil fuel companies, a huge win for climate activists who have been putting on the pressure for years. This is especially important as new reporting shows that universities across the US are “raking in millions of dollars from fossil fuel interests,” demonstrating a clear conflict of interest that we must continue to resist. Drilled also published an article diving into this phenomenon, also focusing on the ways in which fossil fuel companies use these donations to shape the research agenda in ways that reflect their interests.
We’ve been thinking a lot about hope and the future of our societies, especially as such an influential election looms later this week. This article from the Institute of New Economic Thinking titled “Is the Doom of Humanity Really Inevitable? Maybe Not” dives into one of our biggest intellectual inspirations: the late David Graeber and his fantastic book The Dawn of Everything. It’s a great overview of some of his core arguments and something worth coming back to during pivotal societal moments like the one we’re in.
Lastly, this podcast from The Big Story dives into the topic we covered last week: consulting companies, pipelines, and conflicts of interest. It’s a great resource to dive deeper into this story and understand how these companies are shaping Canadian politics and society.
Each instalment, we’re going to share a series of open job postings in systems change jobs across the country. Check out our job board on our website for more!
Special note: re•generation is currently hiring a Digital Marketing & Documentary Distribution Manager! Find all the details here.
Fundraising Development Director - HollyHock (Remote within BC, full-time, $80-$100k)
Operations Manager - The Atmospheric Fund (Hybrid in GTA - must be able to commute to Downtown Toronto. $83,000 - $89,000 per year + benefits)
Climate Action Specialist – Bilingual (English/French) - Carbonhound (Toronto, ON, in-person, $60,000-70,000/year + stock options)
UBC Farm Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture (tuition required, Vancouver, BC)
Co-Executive Director, Operations & Administration - The Starfish (Remote anywhere in Canada, full-time, three-year contract)
Some exciting events coming up in the next few weeks — on November 8th in Toronto, Harbinger Media is hosting an event at the Centre for Social Innovation called Progressive Publics: A Symposium Connecting Scholarship & Independent Media. There will be panels exploring “imperialism, pop culture, neoliberalism, democratic decline, climate justice and more.” It’s free — find all the details and reserve your spot here.
In the last dispatch, we shared the links of upcoming events at New York Climate week that the re•generation team would be attending. Now we’ve got the recording links for you if you’re interested in checking them out:
Our National Network hosted their first Networking dinner on October 17th in Toronto! Check out a picture from the event here, and stay tuned on our newsletter and Instagram to hear about upcoming events.
Our co-executive director Gareth Gransaull testified at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development a couple of weeks ago — check out the recording here.
As Down to Earth grows, we want to point back to earlier pieces that some newer readers might have missed. This week, we’re bringing back the topic of regeneration - what does it actually mean, and how can we reclaim its true power?
