After protracted negotiations, the Paris climate deal was finally agreed upon earlier today, a day after the scheduled end of the talks. And? George Monbiot put it well in The Guardian today: “By comparison to what it could have been, it’s a miracle. By comparison to what it should have been, it’s a disaster.” Exactly. Congratulations and condolences all around. Disaster management is coming up soon.

Addendum I (November 27, 2017)

For my sins, I checked The Guardian on the World Wide Web a few days ago. As luck would have it, I found another article about climate change by Monbiot on the website. To my surprise, I clicked it open right away. This I do rarely as of late. One more time, I found the article just to my liking. Out of the blue, I decided to send him a few words via electronic mail. After some fiddling, I found his own website, and I jotted down a short accolade. “We are on the same page,” I wrote with conviction. I also sent him a link to my book about climate change and environmental degradation. Although I do not expect to hear from him, for he must be receiving much electronic mail from all around the globe, I feel kind of happy about my attempt at communication. His summing up of the Paris climate deal strikes me as just perfect. Congratulations and condolences to George Monbiot!

Addendum II (February 1, 2020)

Just as I predicted, my attempt to get in touch with Monbiot was not successful. Chances are that he did not even open my book about climate change and environmental degradation. Ever since the first addendum was penned, I checked Monbiot’s articles in The Guardian three or four times. Slowly but surely, I learned that the two of us are actually not on the same page. Far from it, as a matter of fact. Most of what I have read of his ends on a happy note of sorts. Against all the evidence to the contrary, he appears to believe that the planet can be saved from shenanigans of the human species. Although the point of no return is ever closer, it is far off still. Or so he believes. In short, environmental doomsday can be averted by concerted action around the world. Whence his ardent activism, of course. As for me, I am convinced that the point of no return is far behind the species already. And the only thing that remains to be done at this juncture is to embrace disaster management as soon as possible (“Ten Principles of Disaster Management,” January 19, 2015). Every other course of action is entirely in vain. Farewell, Monbiot!

Addendum III (October 20, 2021)

“Think big on climate,” George Monbiot argues in The Guardian today, which I came across purely by chance. “The transformation of society in months has been done before.” By way of proof, he offers “the astonishing story” of how America entered the World War II. This is his argument against fatalism that has crept across environmental movements as of late. “We’re screwed,” the activists now claim when government plans are considered. “Too little, too late,” they wail. But Monbiot claims that political failure is a failure of imagination at heart. His article focuses on President Franklin Roosevelt’s preparations before the US declared war on Germany. Actually, Adolf Hitler himself. And after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the impossible happened. Roosevelt made his country ready for war in just a few months. And so on, and so forth. What Monbiot fails to understand is that his example of human readiness for action is limited to war. Nothing else in human history has led to similar results, and expecting something similar with respect to climate change is farfetched to say the least. Pace Monbiot, our best chance at present is World War III.