In This Issue

· A Little Climate Hope – some positive developments

· Life with Livvy and Lotta Dog – every being brings unique gifts

A Little Climate Hope — Maybe we can get our act together

The United Nations climate talks kicked off this week. This event is called COP 27 because it is the 27th time a UN Conference of Parties has come together to talk about the climate crisis. These gatherings have resulted in a number of impressive pledges from countries. For example, at COP 26 countries agreed to:

"phase down" the use of coal
stop deforestation by 2030
cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030
submit new climate action plans to the UN

The problem is the pledges are not being kept – talk is cheap. For instance, only 22 of the 196 countries met the September deadline for submitting their updated climate plans. Moreover, the latest UN assessment shows that even if the pledged targets were met, global emissions will still increase by 10.6% by 2030 compared to 2010. In addition, the near-term phase out of fossil fuels has been seriously hindered by Putin’s war against Ukraine.

However, there are some glimmers of hope going into COP 27. The 10.6% predicted increase in emissions is a reduction from the original assessment of 13.7%, which is important since every fraction of a degree in global temperature has massive implications on the degree of extreme weather events, fire, drought, sea level rise, and extinctions.

Somewhat surprisingly, at least to me, there have been some hopeful positive developments this year. The New York Times Magazine recently ran a piece titled

Beyond Catastrophe: a New Climate Reality is Coming Into View, by David Wallace Wells. The piece notes that global temperature has already risen 1.2 degrees C. However, scientists are projecting that total temperature rise this century will likely be between two and three degrees. That will still create major chaos with weather systems, drought, etc., but it is half the truly apocalyptic increase that was being predicted just five years ago. The reasons for the lowered projections include an astonishing reduction in the cost of renewables, and growing global political engagement that has delivered some substantive policies. In addition, while the short-term effects of Putin’s war in Ukraine are horrendous, the fact that it hit the European energy system hard has moved Europe to respond by establishing aggressive investment in renewable energy and thereby reduce their dependence on Russian energy. In the U.S, the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act which includes the most substantive climate action policies in the country’s history. Finally, the voters in Brazil chose a new president and president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has been solid, clear and outspoken about his commitment to reversing his predecessor Bolsonaro’s policies of record levels of destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Lula da Silva was previously president of Brazil and under his leadership there was a massive reduction in deforestation. With aggressive climate action, the temperature increase could be reduced lower than three degrees.

I am more optimistic about COP 27 than any COP since the original Paris Climate talks because humanity is awakening to the climate crisis now and Mother Nature isn’t going to stop showing us who’s boss anytime soon. I’m also encouraged by the bold leadership of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as I’ve previously reported. And, in another important development, here in the U.S., Republican fossil fuel hawks and climate-deniers did not sweep the mid-term election as so many believed they would; as I write, there is still possibility that Democrats will retain control of the Senate. Now, to be clear, neither political party is doing nearly enough to avert catastrophic climate change, but at least democrats know it is a real crisis that needs real action and they are speaking to it.

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COP 27 really gets rolling next week, when world heads-of-state come together for the high-level negotiations. In the meantime, here are some notable developments so far:

· For the first time Loss and Damage financing is on the agenda. Numerous poorer countries who have contributed little to greenhouse gas emissions but are facing heavy damages from climate-related storms, drought, floods, and sea-level rise have pushed for the world’s major emitters to consider climate reparations but until now those requests had been ignored.

· The Pacific Island nation Tuvalo joined several other nations in signing on to the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation treaty and urged other nations to follow suit.

· Former Vice President Al Gore delivered a barn-burner powerful speech. I highly recommend you watch it.

It is going to take a lot more than UN talks for humanity to effectively address climate change, the hemorrhaging of species, and other aspects of ecological collapse. That will require deep system change, economic transformation, and societal redesign (the sorts of things that Sec. Guterres is calling for). However, these clear positive actions to address climate change do offer a glimmer of hope that humanity can act collectively to protect and restore our amazing planet and design a livable future. Let’s hold that hope, hold our leaders feet to the fire for real action, and keep speaking truth and challenging the status quo.

In hope and gratitude in these extraordinary times.

PS. In a little more positive news, Greenland’s new government has stopped oil and gas exploration and will not give new licenses saying the environmental and climate costs were just too high. Prime Minister, Mute Agede, and governing Cabinet said Greenland is taking the climate crisis seriously and the future does not lie in oil. “The future belongs to renewable energy, and in that respect, we have much more to gain," the cabinet said, stressing sustainable farming of its natural resources such as fisheries stemming from Inuit traditions. Read more at Happy Eco News.

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Life with Livvy and LottaDog - every being is a unique gift

Being a dog owner, especially living closely and really forming a partnership with a dog, is a lifestyle choice. I have lived closely with every dog that has graced my life. As I look back on it, each dog has marked and supported a distinct phase in my life. Feisty, tough little black poodle Charlie had an attitude way bigger than his body – he raised me into adulthood and helped me learn how to stand my ground. Long-haired Rottweiler Elkie, was a canine Buddha, a gentle, easy soul who protected and loved me and didn’t ask too much as I was finding my footing in recovering, relocating, and reinventing my life.

Beloved Tessa, the Ridgeback princess, showed me what it really was to fully bond and respect a dog. Tessa was with me through the highs of career successes and serving as First Lady of Oregon and in fact, I used to joke (though it may have been true) that more people knew the name of the First Dog than the First Lady. She was also unfailingly there for me when a political take-down led to a prolonged public shaming and federal investigation ordeal that transformed my life. It was a very difficult and dark time and gentle, impish Tessa was friend and therapist through it all. Her death brought the deepest grief of my life though I was grateful to be able to help her pass before the cancer became painful.

Freya is the soul who entered next. As I’ve previously reported she is a rescued Rhodesian Ridgeback who immediately earned the nickname, LottaDog. Freya arrived as I was finally moving forward from the long ordeal that had dominated my life for several years. I was ready to be engaged in giving back to another being, ready for a challenge and she gave me one!

A very uncertain Freya day 1 of our new relationship

As the timing turned out Freya was my COVID dog and it suited her just fine that we were home together or outside hiking and running all the time. She had been abandoned a number of times and being in a stable situation with her human was exactly what she needed. It has been tremendously rewarding witnessing her transformation. Within the first year she lost ten pounds and gained a lot of muscle tone. Her coat literally changed color from the healthier diet. She has made huge strides gaining confidence and learning to enjoy simple pleasures like getting snacks at drive through windows, sleeping under the covers, and hiking with her humans. She is still a pain in the butt but I love her and appreciate the progress she continues to make

Six months into our relationship — Transformation under way

All during the COVID lockdown, when gyms were closed down, we were able to continue doing agility because it was held outdoors. Though Freya was never going to be a competitive agility dog, she was my introduction to this newest healthy addiction and I will always be grateful to her for that. Fueling the addiction, a year ago I added Olive.

It’s too soon to understand what the “Olive phase” is going to be about but agility is certainly a big part. While being a dog owner is a lifestyle, being a Border Collie partner takes it to a whole new level. The amount of drive and the need for both physical and mental exertion is extraordinary. It suits me now. I love the intraspecies’ communication and her incredible intelligence is taking my dog training skills to a whole new level. On top of that, due to all the knee surgeries and the fairly recent full knee replacement, I can no longer do sports like soccer or racquetball. However, I can do agility and it gives this aging busted up athlete a great sense of fulfilment (and motivation to keep up my workouts).

Livvy and I completed in our second trial two weeks ago. We competed in nine events, winning five and taking second in another two! In only two trials she earned her “Novice” level title in all three of the different agility events we are playing in and now we will be competing at the “Open” level. She is awesome!

Our next trial is in two weeks and I am ridiculously excited already. Dogs are a blessing and a privilege and I am deeply grateful to be doing life with Livvy and LottaDog.

As we say in agility (at least those of us who are kind of dorky) May the Course be with you!

Cylvia

TRANSCEND with Cylvia Hayes

A Little Climate Hope