Hello and welcome to the Commonwealth Club of california. Im Elizabeth Carney chair of the business and Leadership Forum and your host for an evening with rebecca solnit. And energizing case for hope about the climate. Also, with us, here on zoom, her coauthor thelma lutunatabua. How do i do . And her partner, fenton. And a small one that is really the whole reason why we worry about climate. So, thank you. Theyll join us for the first part of this program. From and then they will not have to stare and stay around for the whole thing, rebecca and i will have a conversation, theyll have some question and answer time together. We want to give everyone a chance to speak. So later in the program, please use the microphone, if youre coming up for a question, or if youre on youtube, use the chat box feature. Your participation in the program is really important to us. So we will try to get to everyone that we can. And now, its my pleasure, to introduce susan haymer. Shell give some background about rebecca and the conference. Hi everyone, good evening. Thank you all for coming out. Very excited about this event. Those of us a few months ago, maybe six months ago, kind of as a pre event to i dont know, you know that rebeccas cellmate is going to be the keynote speaker at the conference which is happening in berkeley, for the first time, as we said, april 6 to 8. A couple speakers are people who wrote in the book, i know jay buckley is one of them, also speaking. Its a wonderful conference, visionary speakers, speaking about Climate Change, progressive politics, the environment, everything that we care about is going to be there. Its going to be three days and they are taking over berkeley. So its going to be great, i hope you will join us. And by the way, we have a special Discount Code for the Commonwealth Club. Commonwealth 20. You can get a Discount Code to go all three days, or just one day. I think iraq is going to be there on the saturday. I first came across rebecca soulmate on facebook of all places, people were posting about her, and i started reading her column in the guardian, and i was so impressed. I kind of went, wow, this woman is everything that i care about. I recommended her a red and recommended her book or wells roses for my book club. I think one of the Political Club is here, we so enjoyed it, we so enjoyed her work. We are so thrilled shes going to be speaking tonight. And answering our questions about hope for the climate. And its not too late. Which im really glad to hear. I hope we are all glad to hear some good news about the climate. So im going to ask rebecca if she would like to oh, no. Elizabeth, would you like to introduce fenton and thelma . I was hoping rebecca would come up and join me, and then maybe you would like to Say Something about fenton and thelma, before to kick it off . Well, first of all, im so excited to see them. Velma is a dear friend, and any inspiration. Grew up in texas, but now lives with her husband in hes indigenous to fiji. And thelma has been in the climate activist community for a long time. Shes with the Solutions Project now. And not too late as a project a couple of years ago, launched as a website and social media about a year ago. And then at a dinner party, i told people i was not going to do more books, i had stopped doing books, because i was trying to be a Better Climate activist. And we had this project called not too late. And everybody at the climate writer dinner party and said that needs to be a book. And conveniently, fiji is 19 hours ahead, or five hours behind, depending on how you look at the clock. She got on board and we did a book in less than a year. So her husband is the cofounder of the pacific climate warriors. And is also the, i think, the Pacific Island regional director of 3 50 dot org. And he is one of the authors in the book, or rather, hes an interviewee. Download coedited this book about several of the and he is the author of the famous phrase, for the Pacific Islands, we arent drowning, were fighting. So welcome selma, and fenton. And the baby i dont think i need to introduce the baby, but i will say, and thelma writes about this in the very last piece in the book, that having a baby is a pretty big and helpful thing to do for two climate activists. So heres that commitment to that. Yay so fenton and thelma thank you so much for being here. Its kind of like, if i look that way, youll be able to see me. So if im looking in a funny way, youll understand why. But, the thing that im really excited about is that my understanding is that the pacific climate warriors have kind of done what it is that i think were here to talk about tonight. I think that what we want to learn to do is change the narrative. Change the story. So that we dont have that same dark and dismal story inside of us, but we start to, i dont know, be a little more regenerative ourselves. So, in that light, i hope that we will be able to talk with you guys about your process, your narrative that youve changed, but before we get to that, i was really interested, thelma, and one of the things youve written. And both rebecca and selmas writing throughout this book, its so fun. Because its almost like they are having a conversation with 20 of these people in this book. And one of the things that thelma you right, is you mentioned something that intrigues me. You say, instead of sacrificing, we have to drive less, eat less, et cetera, the question comes up instead, what is our connection and relationship to connection . Youre right, are you getting to know your neighbors . If a flood comes through tomorrow, would you be ready to assist each other . Shifting our task list toward mutuality, and also, learning to know the patterns and the plants. That can shift, that kinship wouldnt have been immediately on my list. So thanks, three are already youre changing my consciousness about this. Do you want to start, you guys, by talking about the Community Aspect a little bit . Sure. Thanks again for having us. Fenton and i met through doing climate storytelling work. So it makes sense that were doing this event together. And with our son, whos also been a part of the book, from the very beginning. Yeah, for so long, this Climate Crisis has been a storytelling crisis as well. And its been dominated so much by the western media, who talk about individuals him so much. And also, like i was saying, talking about those restrictions. If you want to solve the Climate Crisis, you have to reduce your lifestyle, you have to create a mindset of scarcity. You have to focus on individual results. But if we shift that, and we think about maybe through solving the Climate Crisis, we can actually build a better world. If we think about it in that way, and Center Community and how we solve the problem, then itll be a lot more fun along the way. Well have more joy will build again, more brighter, resilient, happier, more beautiful places. And i think this is how we shift the narrative. Its about how can we all come together, find our power, instead of thinking of the Climate Crisis as think of it as abundance. And direct and i talk about this in the book. We need to shift the story to abundance, but actually we can create a better world through this process of standing against what is destructive, taking that down, and then rebuilding something beautiful in its place. Yeah, weve got a glimmer of that with the covid shut down. The idea that we could see and feel more nature than we normally did, that was pretty astounding. So maybe youre pointing to something that weve already sensed, a little bit. Yeah, exactly. You want to chime in . I think the only thing id love to add is this idea of commitment. Both to each other, as well as to the natural world, and how you read both its going to be intentional and deliberate about how we build that connection. So much of that connectedness has helped us in the wake of a massive tropical cyclone. Its that feeling of connectedness to a neighbor that helps the rebuilt happen. And like thelma said, so much of the work has been about the breaking. How do we break away from past habits that havent served us . How do we break away from the cabalistic idea that the fossil fuel industry pushes over us, and how do we build the way forward . How do we build that connected this . How do we build relation elegy, and the sort of futures well preserve . And so much of the work that weve done as climate warriors has truly been in service to a story that is more nuanced, that is more complex, that really a very long time. A single story that was told about my people, Pacific Islanders, and the Climate Crisis. Was that we are victims, waiting to be saved. So if we took away our agency. So in a connected region, we started saying, actually, theres a fuller truth that we have the opportunity to tell. This larger story about who we are. And, you know, as you hear in our stories, connected to scales, traditional knowledge, indigenous wisdom about how we use that to really build up this future that we are all starving towards. And thats where the pacific warriors came from, we are drowning, we it tells a story about who we are. And fenton, as youve told that story, do you find that people resonate with it . And do you help us to bring us bring that into our own lives . So that we can be heroes in that narrative somehow . Can you give us any coaching about that . Yeah, [inaudible] it became more resident recently. I think more and more people are there looking at how do we build together moving forward . And a lot of that can look like many different things. For example on the front lines of the Climate Crisis, you know, its constantly just reminding people that we are here, that were not going anywhere, that we deserve to try. And i dont know, thelma, do you want to talk about what that means for you . Yeah. [inaudible] for me, being present with an exercise in hope. And bringing a child into this world is one of the most difficult realities of i am not giving it up, i am shifting the narrative of my own life, and my families lives, from one of despair and gloom into one of hope. And even if the future isnt perfect, we arent giving up. And i think thats where im holding in my heart, the future is uncertain, and thats okay, because it gives a space to build the world that we want. So one i look at the future for my son, i have no idea what the future is going to look like, but i know that its going to be what we make it. So we arent giving up. Like yes, theres clapping going on in the room. [applause] and i want to share with you, our own experiences. We are sitting here in San Francisco, and this building is on the edge of the bay here, on embarked arrow, and yesterday we had 70mileanhour winds. And when that happens. So, the experience of things changing, and now, isnt that something thats so far away. Its also right here for us. Yeah. I remember when weve hit the point with Climate Change where its not about polar bears, its impacting everything alive in the world. And sort of those things where everyone is impacted by Climate Change, but every story is completely different. Which is also why we need so many new climate storytellers out there, who can tell the stories in a way that resonates with their community. We need to drastically diversify our climate to the world. So that will end up being the usual things, lead everyone talking to their neighbors in ways that they will relate to, and if we build up some climate storytellers, then more and more people can join the fight. You agree, dont you, tom . [laughter] well we have intention tonight of having all of us feel like neighbors. And all of us feel like a local group that can Start Building up our relations with each other. So thank you for encouraging us, because we always think we are right individuals, and maybe its time for us to get better at being connected. The only way were going to make it through the Climate Crisis is if we act together. And if we act as a community, theres no way to survive as individuals. So definitely get some of the people around you, and that stronger bond will resonate down the world. Is there anything you want to share with us that might be helpful for us for doing more of that . Are there organizations or projects that you are all working on, that you want to point us in that direction . Yeah, i mean, i absolutely adore the work of the climate warriors. On facebook, on instagram, i encourage you to visit the instagram handle, they share a lot about what resilience looks like on in the villages around the pacific. They also are currently working on a project village to village and i think its innovative, and that was incredible. As im a very biased opinion. You can also check out our website, rebecca and i have a bunch of really great resources on their. You can check it out. Thelma, whats your intention with that website . We just wanted to be an ongoing, potentially gloomy kind of day. You can go on the website, read an article, and be reenergized. Same thing with the book, rebecca and i thought of it as kind of a thing you keep in your backpack, in your bag, and you can pull out a written essay anytime that your spirit needs it. Thank you. Is there anything else that you want to say to us when were all here together . I just want to say i think its such a beautiful an incredible time. I think in the world, there has to be space for us, there has to be space for art, poetry, music. And so much also comes from that. Commitment to using Creative Energy to tell a really beautiful story. And so i encourage you to think about how you want to bring to life in the different ways you move through the world. Yeah, i think rebecca is going to say a lot of amazing things. But just, lots of beautiful things in the world. Theres a lot to despair about, but a lot to be joys about, never forget that. Thank you something so much for being with us. Graduations on the book, thelma. By [applause] im going to say if we can have that baby at all our hybrid events. So brushes. And the baby is mentioned in the book. It might be before the baby even arrives. Will we finish the book before the baby is born . The process allowed some updates. So, hes in it. Thats so great. And i just think thats a miracle, to be able to have these conversations with each other, that our international. Where we can inspire each other, as needed. And also have it be super local. Here we are, in this room, what can we do with that energy, as well . So congratulations on that book, im i just think its such a joy and an imagined of collection of essays. We were so excited. We essentially assembled this dream team, we asked the people we most wanted to be in this book, and everybody said yes, we have to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, top scientist, weve got other geographers and other scientists. We have leaders in the Climate Movement, we have people from frontline communities, we have visionaries like adrian marie brown, our youngest contributor, i think, was 26 when she wrote for us. Our goal this was 80. Row she joan in halifax, the buddhist leader, its an international community. People wonderful to put together, wonderful to put out into the world. So and this is the first event for, so thank you. [applause] hi. Im struck by yesterdays Climate Action being in the midst of a 70 mile an hour wind storm and, what a reminder, that nature is a priority, and pushing the whole pipelines and destroying old growth forests is really not the way to go. Yesterdays protests was really across the nation, more than 100 protests about the banks that are financing old growth extraction. The big four. They are playing a huge role in the destruction of the planet, and the climate. And it was an action for people to withdraw their money, their credit cards. I cut up my long time united miles card. And tell the banks to stop doing that, and to stop financing climate destruction. And so San Francisco, despite the incredible rain and wind and cold, what we thought it was cold. Other parts of the country want. We had more than 100 people for a couple of hours. We shut down the straight. And some remarkable things happened. Remarkable speakers. It happened from maine, people did a rocking chair vigil in washington d. C. For 24 hours. It was led by bill mckibbens new group, senior citizens, people over 60. He felt the climate of it was burning the young, with oh young people are so amazing, why dont you do all the work . Its time for older people as a powerful constituency, as we have a lot of resources, and, you know, to take some leadership. So bill, who is 62, i think, but not too late together right around when he turned 60. And its doing amazing. Not too late, third act. Its doing amazing things. Keeping track, weve already heard of three or four or five different organizations that could be part of, as youre sitting here, and are thinking, think about what are the things that are lighting up for you . What are the things that you might like to do . And thats kind of the conversation we can be having. Its not just a pleasant top, which of course, it is. Its also more. And im aware of different phases of narratives that weve lived through, things like, im much denying. That was a whole narrative for ten, 20 years . Its been something. And now its like, oh, its too complicated . We cant possibly do anything . Even the media, the Mainstream Media, is pretty powerful at keeping us confused and in despair. And im wondering, how you i dont want to say, consume the news, but youre a writer in that world. You write essays, in beautiful places, that i think helped to change the conversation. Help us know a little bit about how do you use media like, we have to stay informed, but on the other hand, we dont really want to be burdened by it, you know what i mean . I think for everybody the business of the internet, figuring out your information diet, what ac