Article : I Met Former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson: What did I learn?
Climate Change needs compromise
I enjoy being a kind of activist and advocate of Climate Change, I do.
I live in Newton Centre which is close to Boston College, the prestigious college is in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
My dear friend and neighbor, Susan, knows that I have two podcasts and one of them is about creating awareness of Climate Change, called Circular Podcast, where I share different topics about our planet such as climate change, sustainability, resilience, nature, and circular economy.
Susan texted me early last week saying that there was an event about climate change at Boston College on September 11th and the speaker was the former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson; my answer was:, “Let’s go!.”
Since I launched Activist Planet, I have learned many things about what kind of issues are involved in Climate Change. The climate change crisis is beyond what you think. Believe me. This was a great opportunity to improve my knowledge about this topic
When I arrived was lucky enough to find a good spot to see and hear President Robinson.
I brought two things with me: my microphone to try to record an episode with President Robinson ( I couldn’t, she was so busy and the event was full of people, I will try another time 🙂 ) and of course my pen and my notepad to take some notes.
These notes open my mind about the urgency of the situation we are facing on our planet with climate change.
“We don’t have a climate crisis, we have a climate emergency” ~ Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland.
Who is Mary Robinson?
According to Wikipedia, Mary Robinson, born 21 May 1944, is an Irish independent politician who served as the seventh President of Ireland.
She was the first female President of Ireland and then a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; a passionate, forceful advocate for gender equality, women’s participation in peace-building and human dignity.
Robinson was inaugurated as the seventh President of Ireland on 3 December 1990.
The most remarkable suggestions that she made during her speech were:
- Reduce the consumption of energy
- Change your eating habits
- Take actions instead be angry
- Promote the goals of the Agenda 2030
- The goal for 2050: Reduce Carbon Emissions
- We have a Climate Emergency
- Women are in charge of Climate Change
- Feminist solutions include men
- Invest in tech
- We need to change the business as usual for our children.
Climate Justice, Her Book
I started to read Mary Robinson’s book Climate Justice and the way that she explains climate change is very easy to understand. The book hooked me immediately because of the narrative and stories of many people who are suffering the effects of climate change around the world.
I would like to share these interesting excerpts from the book that were very important to me, so far:
“I began to understand that climate change was more than just the sudden violence of a hurricane or flood, gradually changing weather patterns and rising sea levels were slowly and steadily causing greater food shortages, pollution, and poverty, putting decades development advances at risk”
“Now, in my community (a village in Uganda) I see malnourished children. Children with an old person’s face. A child now may have only half of what it use to eat and will need to spread this portion over two or three days”
Fun Fact
President Robinson and I, have something in common — we host a podcast about climate change. Her podcast is called Mother of Invention and my podcast is Activist Planet.
Conclusion
All of us, regardless of our career, work, what we do, ethnicity, where we live, language, incomes, gender, etc., we have to support, protect and commit to stopping and reversing climate change.