Next week the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference kicks off, but already climate is the word on everyone’s lips thanks to the Liberal Party of Australia. Professor Ross Garnaut described the issue as diabolical for policy makers, but you would have been canny indeed to predict that an Australian political party would willingly feed itself through the shredder because it couldn’t fathom the idea that human activity might be warming the planet.
For us gardeners, climate change is a vexing issue. Its unpredictability means that none of us are really sure how we ought to deal with it. Denial is tempting. It would be really nice if nothing changed, but you’d have to be living under a rock to ignore the increasing volatility of our climate here on the Downs. To work with plants and soil and seasons is getting trickier by the day.
I feel like I should state categorically my position on climate change. Some readers have asked, and I see no sense in keeping you in the dark. So here goes. It’s my view that the overwhelming majority of the world’s climate scientists have made a compelling case that human activity is warming the planet, to the detriment of human existence. I believe that we need to take collective action to reduce the emission of polluting gases into the atmosphere, and I disagree entirely with the fantastical notion that environmentalism is all part of a plot by failed communists. Should I honestly start warning my kids about the greens under their beds?
Let me add a caveat to what I’ve just said. I love the natural world, and can see that the environment is essential for life – without a healthy planet, we’re extinct. But I think it’s a great folly to become myopic about global warming, to see it as a stand alone issue. It’s not. While I support urgent action on global warming, I’d argue that whatever action we take must also encompass the suite of environmental issues including energy, water, chemical exposure, pollution, deforestation and species loss. Most, if not all of these are the result of excessive consumption, or put plainly, human greed and arrogance. A curtailing of emissions ought to be accompanied by a curtailing of these attitudes in tandem.
So that’s where I stand. I’ve got no doubt that some of you are now rejoicing and others are branding me with whatever label you think fits (socialist/greenie/lefty – if I had to choose one I’d go for “agrarian”, just quietly). That’s your prerogative. Mine is to write about gardening, and to that end, I think the main way gardeners can best deal with climate change is by adhering to a simple principle: love the natural world.
That’s going to sound completely balmy to those of you who reached for your label a bit earlier. I hope you’ll read on, because I’m not suggesting that we all start hugging trees. My aim is to treat the environment the way I seek to treat my wife, with respect, compassion, admiration, gentleness and a desire to see her thrive.
To put this in a gardening context, it means I need to behave in a particular way. The starting point is to put my ego in my back pocket, and practise humility. The parcel of land I refer to as “my garden” might reflect my personality and tastes, but ownership exists only by means of a piece of paper. The true role of the gardener is one of caretaker, or to use an old fashioned term, steward. Above all else, gardening in a changing climate means that I have a responsibility to exercise great care in how I manage the land, since I am only keeping it on behalf of future generations.
Whether you’re a climate sceptic or not you, whether you believe in emissions trading as a means of limiting global warming or not, the crux of the issue is plain and simple. Backyard by backyard, suburb by suburb, our self-centredness and greed is stuffing up the planet. But in my mind at least, the solution is just as plain and equally simple. If we can get over ourselves and learn to love the natural world within the patch of dirt we have responsibility for, there’s plenty of hope to suggest that our newfound sense of stewardship can extend to the environment beyond the backyard. It’s time to get real. Put politics aside, acknowledge the mess we’ve made of the world, and starting in your own garden, make every effort to put things back in order.
First published in The Chronicle 5th December 2009. Photo by Justin Russell.
