I’m not sure how to feel

Dear Stubborn Optimist,

Last week when the Guardian reported on climate scientists’ ‘despair and hopelessness’ and think tank Ember released a report showing we’d reached a tipping point in renewable energy, a text message came up on our team chat: “Today is one of those days I am not sure how to feel!” 

Our colleague wasn’t the only one. Readers of this newsletter live in a world that knows the damages that fossil fuels wreak on people and the planet - the recent devastating floods in Brazil and Kenya are just two horrific examples - and that we’re still banking on them. An unimaginable $6.9 trillion has gone into coal, oil and gas from the world’s biggest banks since the Paris Agreement was gavelled - over $700 billion of that in 2023 alone. 

These vast sums of money, currently flowing into danger and destruction, come close to what it will cost to pay for the alternatives that will safeguard our future. But it’s not just about money, it’s about what we seem to value. The global obsession with financial capital, which ignores all externalities, and is fuelled by perverse incentives and sophisticated marketing, misleads and distracts us until we forget about what really matters. 

Luckily not everyone is under this spell. Those in the corporate world who are looking beyond financial capital, who are accounting for climate impacts and nature dependencies, and setting associated targets, are doing pretty well. Companies that have invested in the hard work and spending necessary to cut emissions, outperform their peers. 

And people want low emissions, even if they don’t express it in those terms. Just look at Sadiq Khan’s historic recent win in London in the UK mayoral elections, where the fight with his opponent was borne out mostly on the Ultra Low Emissions Zone, which keeps cars - and asthma - under control.

If you’re not sure how to feel these days, with stories of outrage and optimism flowing so fast through our inboxes and newsfeeds, you’re not alone. More than one thing can be true at the same time. 

Our podcast is designed to help make sense of it all, and we’re extremely grateful to all the listeners who keep writing in to tell us that it really helps. Here’s what’s coming up over the next couple of weeks. 

OUTRAGE + OPTIMISM ON THE CALENDAR: 

Calling all listeners: Be part of our new podcast series! 📣📣We’ll be asking, ‘What does it mean to live a good life in a climate crisis?’ and we'd love to include questions and stories from you. While we are working to change systems, how do we also adapt our everyday lives - eating, travelling, parenting, working - to best fit with the demands of the times? Email us at podcast@globaloptimism.com, send us a voice note, or tag your question on our socials. 

This week: Our hosts chat to Sweta Chakraborty, PhD , CEO of the provocatively named news organisation We Don't Have Time about Trump’s promise to oil and gas executives to roll back climate regulations in exchange for one billion dollars and other outrageous stories in the news. What else is fueling their outrage - or feeding their optimism? Don’t miss it. Out now wherever you get your podcasts.

Next Week: Our hosts bring what they’re outraged and optimistic about based on the fast moving news cycle. A week is a long time in climate change, so who knows what the world will be like by then. Join us on Thursday May 23rd as we unpack what matters. 

In case you missed it: Our hosts brought the topic they felt  particularly outraged or optimistic about in this episode on Deceit, Small Thinking and Fiduciary Duty. What do the 1960s and cognac and President Xi Jinping have to do with it? Listen back to find out. 

If you like this ‘dose of Outrage + Optimism’ and haven’t already, do sign up to our full bi-weekly email newsletter to make sure you’re not just informed about the climate crisis, but also inspired to be part of the changes we all need to make.

In this week's email newsletter you’ll find:

📌 Christiana's recent opinion piece in The Guardian

📌 Ocean heating

📌 Tips from the team: what to watch, listen and learn from this week

Thank you for reading our newsletter.

With stubborn optimism,

The Outrage + Optimism team.

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