♪ (applause) I want to thank the organizers of this event for inviting me to give this keynote.

It is truly an honor to be with you all.

And many thanks to Zë Kay and everyone else working behind the scenes to make this program a success.

The task that has been given to me today is especially important, in part because when we think about climate change, democratic freedom, racial justice, even economic stability and our collective health, all of these are under enormous attack.

But first, I want to give a disclaimer: I am speaking today as an individual, and as a scholar, as a mother, as someone who deeply cares about the environment.

So, I'm speaking based on my own lived experience.

I'm not representing any organization or institution.

I don't want anyone to lose their funding.

And so, that's true.

But I also want to let you in on a little bit of a personal truth about myself.

I am an introvert or maybe, more accurately, an extroverted introvert.

And so, any time I receive an invitation to give a talk like this, my first instinct is to ask these questions: Am I the right person to be giving this talk?

Do I have the qualifications?

Do I have the prolific way to explain things?

Am I accomplished enough?

There are indeed other voices out there.

But my answer is always honest.

It’s yes.

There are many brilliant voices out there, but I've come to understand that the duty of making a difference, whether it's small or big, has never been about just qualifications, expertise, or even eloquence.

It's always been about the will.

Are we willing to show up?

Are we willing to speak out?

Are we willing to fight for the planet, the people, and the communities that we care about, even when it is uncomfortable even when we know we'll make some mistakes?

This willingness to act in the face of uncertainty and the face of fear is truly where change begins.

And so, that's why I've centered my talk around this idea of moving from crisis to courage, looking at the intersections of human health more broadly that's how I define health in this case: at this crossroads.

So, the challenges we face both to preserve the environment that supports all life on the planet, including our own, as well as to guarantee a dignified and healthy life for everyone, is very complex.

The multiple and sometimes violent tension between the different development visions and pathways require that we ask ourselves this question: How did we get here in the first place and why is it so hard for us to change direction?

This includes reflecting on the legacies of colonialism, racial capitalism, dispossession, and our current political economy that is constantly producing and reproducing environmental, social, and climate injustices.

In my opinion, these problems are very much interconnected, and they’re interconnected in ways that creates this architecture of power; one that determines whose lives are valued, who is criminalized or displaced, who controls laws and land and resources, and who is left to suffer or deemed disposable in a warming world.

It also splits people into two groups: the climate privileged and the climate precarious.

And so, the challenge we face is not just a political or economic crisis; it is a moral and ethical one.

And it asks us to think about the future that we want to build, but also the world we must leave behind.

And as I think about this, I just have three ways through which I want to just conceptualize my immediate response to some of the issues that I'm sharing with you guys.

And the way I’m thinking about it is in three things I think we must do.

One: We must debunk a number of myths that are permeating.

And many of you know this myth, but I’ll get into them shortly.

And there are things that we must not do.

We've been doing those things, but we really need to challenge them.

And there are things that we can do and should do.

So, I'll get into them.

There might be a lot of myths out there, but I've only focused on five of them.

First is this idea that the climate crisis is a carbon crisis.

So, I'll get into that.

It's a myth.

We need to debunk it.

It’s also a myth that we need more scientific data or that climate change is a fad, that America is invulnerable or exceptional, or that technology will save us.

All of these things are myths, in my opinion.

I'll get to it.

So, when you think about the carbon crisis, there is no denying that greenhouse gases drive climate change.

Whether we're thinking about a report from the IPCC, there is evidence that, yes, greenhouse gases matter.

But the deeper crisis is really in the capitalist system and the colonial extraction that is still ongoing, but also the excessive consumption that we have.

Moreover, the fact that we have 10% of the wealthiest people in the world consuming a lot of resources while a majority of the households in the world really live on next to nothing, that is really the crisis.

And the structure that we've created the political economy and the system that continues to perpetuate this these are the underlying problems.

And they also perpetuate the vulnerabilities and the harm that we see in society.

So, we need to debunk this myth of just focusing on carbon.

We also need to debunk this myth of Oh, we don't have enough evidence, you know?

Can you show us more evidence?

There is enough.

Whether you start from the 2001 report from the IPCC onto the 2022 report, which I was part of, the production of the 2022 one shows the same result: the climate is warming.

It’s unequivocal.

But also, it's the same story in terms of the projection of the temperature.

We see it going higher and higher.

And we're also seeing the impacts of these changes very much play out in our sights.

And one of the biggest challenges, obviously, is that we’re heading toward that 1.5 Celsius, if not higher.

And, whether you're looking at the Berkeley report that I have just shown you or the NASA report or WMO Synthesis that’s the World Meteorological Organization or NOAA, relatively speaking, we're heading toward a world that we need to be careful about.

The 1.5C is right here, essentially.

And also in the 2022 analysis that was done to see how this changes or what the variation is across different regions, it is the same story: it's really getting hotter.

But in terms of climate change, it’s not just the heat, it’s also the disruption we see to farmlands, to water, to food systems, to agriculture.

All of these have an impact in terms of disease spread too.

So, they are issues that we need to take seriously and act urgently upon, and it cannot wait.

And when we think about advances in attribution science as well, we are seeing a lot in terms of those who have been the biggest emitters and their contributions to climate change.

With advances in science right now, we’re seeing that we can actually link these two.

And so we have enough information of what's going on, how we got here, and what we need to do.

And in terms of what we need to do, there is also a lot of information about what the future may look like for the future generation.

Younger people now will be living in 2060 or 2100.

Some of us may not be here by then, but we’re lucky that we’re here now, is where I’m going.

Because, for those who will be around in 2060 or 2100, it's not going to be a fun time for anyone.

The average temperature will definitely be higher, if not more than 4C higher.

And, also for flora and fauna, it's not going to be an easy world for any of those plants and animals and people as well.

And so, we need to change course.

So, those are things that I think are important.

So, debunking the myth that we need more science; we have enough evidence.

We also need to debunk this myth that people talk about, Well, if it gets warmer, I’m just going to go to the beach!

You know, It's going to be fun!

It's not just about the beach.

There’s going to be a lot of disruptions.

And so, this idea that, just like any other fad, whether it’s a fashion fad or rainbow bagels or Pokémon Go , we're just going to forget on about climate change; we're going to move on, really, I hate to break it to people that this is a fad that is not going away.

It is reality.

And we're also seeing that, whether people believe in the science or whether or not they believe in climate change as a concept, it doesn't matter.

The reality is that we're all going to experience this disruption together.

And so, we need to debunk this idea that climate change is a fad.

It is a reality we have to deal with.

We also need to debunk this narrative about American exceptionalism.

Certainly, in the context of democracy, we’re already seeing that America is not exceptional from many countries.

But in the context of climate change, it's important to debunk that myth in part because it construes not just that America, but that a lot of the First World has been safe and strong and self- sufficient and, therefore, immune from harm.

And then the contrast is that the Third World is inherently vulnerable and backward and in need of saving and in need of managing.

This narrative is one of the most insidious ways in which it operates in that it is weaponized both against people who are vulnerable within the country, but also against those who are vulnerable in the Global South .

Another problem with this narrative are the ways in which it functions to allow for the continuous colonial violence and global domination while concealing its role in fueling the climate breakdown.

So, we must debunk that myth about America's invulnerability.

It is vulnerable like any other country.

And, when the vulnerability is so glaring that it can't even be ignored, you hear stories about flooding in Black neighborhoods and heat waves devastating the poor that are treated as a separate narrative, a narrative based on this idea of disposability and writing off people’s futures as though those people do not matter.

And so, this idea, moreover, is predicated on the suffering of people and the response, It can be normalized and we can expect these kinds of types of disasters to happen and accept them.

We shouldn't accept it.

We shouldn't continue to allow these vulnerabilities to continue when we have institutions that can do better.

The last one here in terms of the myths we should debunk is the myth about technology.

And I apologize.

There's a cutoff there.

But it's Technology will save us.

Technology will not save us.

This belief also assumes, for some reason, that, because we have these different technologies, we can continue to control nature, continue to extract it, and also dominate it.

And the reality is that, whether it's AI or carbon capture technology, none of these things will save us.

It is, therefore, nïve for us to believe that technology is in any way the savior in this context.

And, quite frankly, what technology does is sometimes allow for business as usual, allowing us to continue to extract water and land and people, and exploit them as well, without finding ways to ensure sustainability.

So, we need to debunk this myth that technology will save us.

It won't.

And I also want to take time to acknowledge a lot of the work that many of you in this room scholars, models, community members have been doing in the past few years, maybe in the last two or three decades.

A lot of people have been working on getting relevant data on how we deal with climate change.

There has been a lot of work done in identifying our spots of vulnerabilities.

People have been doing a lot in terms of finding funding opportunities and capacity building locally.

Also, working on climate action.

From California to Georgia to Boston, here in New Hampshire, there's a lot that people have done on climate action and planning.

There's also a lot that people have been doing in trying to reduce carbon emissions.

So, we need to acknowledge the work that has been done to date.

And there has also been a lot done to center justice environmental justice, social, and racial justice in some of this work on how we can build resilience moving forward.

So, it's important for us to remember that while these issues are not new, people are really working hard to build a better future.

But as we think about what has been done, we're also seeing a new shift happening, which is what I call the politics of destruction , essentially undermining all of the work that people have been doing in the last three decades.

And there is evidence of this.

Just as Jim mentioned, Just as Jim mentioned, one is obviously the attack on media.

But the other attack that speaks directly to some of these issues is the pulling of funds from FEMA, the National Science Foundation.

A lot of grants for some of my colleagues have been pulled, including my grants as well; one from NOAA was withdrawn.

And then, also, the EPA.

A lot of people working on environmental justice, they've lost their job.

And people working in the Forest Service as well, a lot of them have been fired.

So these politics of destruction would undermine our collective capability to respond to climate change and any impacts.

And they are not limited to the different examples that I've showed earlier.

It's a nationwide issue, including those working in the energy sector, housing, water; at the CDC and NIH... To so many is this happening, and it should worry all of us.

Apart from people losing their source of livelihood and the knowledge that we have you know, that's another thing: people lose institutional knowledge when people get fired there's also the disappearance of data.

So, you go into some of the websites like the EPA I used EJSCREEN tool for my classes and it’s no longer there.

Though there are companies or organizations trying to archive some of this data, the reality is that they are not readily accessible as they used to be.

So, that's another form of politics of destruction .

And, people working on the National Climate Assessment, the sixth one that is supposed to be coming out in 2027/2028, they've been disbanded.

There’s about 400 scholars working on this.

They've been dismissed.

And as this is happening the other side we must also remember and this is not this year insurance companies have been gradually moving away from areas that are flood prone, areas that are wildfire prone.

And so, we're losing knowledge, we're losing capacity.

But we're also not having institutions like insurance that could step up to help communities.

So, all of this should be worrisome.

It is a politics of destruction And, I've been speaking to people in part because all that I've shown is very worrisome not just on the level of my work but personally and beyond that.

And in my conversations with people, they say, There's no sense in all of this, you know?

This doesn't make sense.

In a sense, maybe yeah, but for me, there is a little bit of coherence in that chaos.

And I'll explain what I mean by coherence in the chaos.

If you want to undermine climate action, climate justice, or racial justice, the playbook is simple: you withdraw from climate agreements, you double down on fossil fuel mining, you dismantle DEI initiatives, you weaken environmental protections, you defund public health and water, you remove social safety nets for people.

And as you continue to do this, this strategy creates a lot of chaos and hardship for people who become very overwhelmed.

And they will be seeking ways to survive, you know, by finding a job, getting clean water, all of that, and they cannot focus on the climate movement or on climate change.

And so, this is not just about neglect.

It is a deliberate action, in my opinion, because when people are exhausted and divided, then the climate movement and the work we need to do collectively to address climate change becomes harder.

And so the movement is suppressed.

So, there is that coherence in the sense that it's a very coordinated effort to undermine climate movements and the work we've all been doing.

But as that is happening, we also need to think about what our own reaction is to all of these challenges we’re collectively facing.

Courage and fear, they’re two directions but not necessarily just two.

They can also be interrelated.

And I'm drawing on what Nelson Mandela said.

He says, I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.

The brave man [AND woman] is not who does not feel afraid... because even all I'm saying, yeah, I’m saying some of these things and I’m fearful, but I'm not fearful enough not to speak out.

And so, he continues, The brave man and woman is not who does not feel afraid, but who is able to conquer fear.

So, even in the midst of our fear and worry, we need to stand up for what is right, and we need to stand up for the planet and the people.

And so, these are some suggestions of what I think we must not do.

Then, I'll talk about the things I think we can do.

Number one: We must not condone misinformation.

The social media platforms have been supercharged, and they've been very effective in spreading half truths, false- hoods, and false narratives fracturing our ability to build a consensus around shared vision for the world and for ourselves as a society.

So, these digital platform spaces do not just inform, they, in fact, polarize.

They encourage tribalism, allowing people to frame others who do not fit into a certain identity or ideology as the enemy.

We must counter these culture wars and tribal wars.

We must actively counter all of the falsehoods while also replacing fear with empathy, while replacing the division with a sense of solidarity, because our future depends on it.

Another thing we must also remember is the facts matter.

We're in an era where people assume everything is the same.

Everything is not the same.

If you jump off a ten-story building, you're going to break some bones or die.

Facts do matter.

And so, we need to keep reinforcing that the facts matter.

We also need to remember and remind others that people who do not look like us are not the enemy.

If we're serious about addressing climate change, we cannot replicate the same legacies of violence and exclusion that created the crisis in the first place.

We must begin to see others as allies.

We must reject the narrative that othered people, whether they are from Haiti, Honduras, Laos, or Sudan, are the problem.

They are not the problem.

They are members of our shared humanity; they are members of our shared human story.

And, a livable future and vision of it includes all of these people.

It includes us living in dignity, but also ensuring that dignity and a sense of belonging is for everyone.

So, we must not see others as the enemy.

We also must work effectively to suppress oppression and not reproduce it.

And we cannot be silenced in the face of what we’re seeing in the face of a politics of destruction .

So, I'll go into what I think we can do.

There's a lot that we can do.

And this includes replacing simple thinking of confronting the climate crisis with a politics of radical care .

This is a care in action caring about the communities, but also building solidarity across communities that may or may not agree with us.

And it is not nïve to say that, because this care is rooted in lived experience and in an honest reckoning with history and intergenerational trauma, but also with building new visions for the future.

It is radical because it requires us to think about ways to address unjust systems rather than diversifying it or tolerating it.

We're not trying to diversify injustices and we're not trying to repeat them.

We also must remember that to do this work requires transforming the current system.

But how do we transform the system?

We need to build power; we need to build a new coalition.

This is time to be creative and by that I mean creative tension .

We must figure out, now and fast, how we ensure that we continue to tell the truth of what we know, but also about the climate and people.

How do we defend key institutions like the media, the courts, which are the oldest, our academic institutions, our labor unions.

There's a lot that we need to do get our communities to work together.

We need to continue to build this coalition; we need to flood the system with the truths; and we also need to create new platforms that can build solidarity across different groups across different movements that are already underway.

And we also need to remember that climate justice is a freedom justice.

It is a freedom justice in part because it is intersectional so, it bridges races, genders, and classes.

It is intergenerational, drawing old, young, and middle-aged people together.

It is anti-racist and anti-imperialist.

It centers indigenous and feminist worldviews.

It also critiques capitalism, militarism, and state hegemony.

It rejects the extraction of people; of developments in specific places that are very fragile.

But it's also a movement that centers restoration and the regeneration of futures.

And so, we need to work on that.

It is a movement that calls us to live in harmony with the earth and with one another.

And as we think about climate justice and the fact that we should all be part of this movement, we can do it in multiple ways, including through our imagination, humor, and hope.

As we imagine the kind of world we want, we must not forget that the power of humor can be effective.

And arts and culture and comedy and sarcasm; all of these can be tools of resistance, as well as tools that can help to disarm power.

They can help to nourish us.

They can also help to remind us that joy is part of resistance and part of justice.

So, this image you see here was created by one of my students this semester.

I asked him to create images of how you communicate climate change or how you communicate environmental justice issues without writing a long text, but in ways that can be effective when people see it.

And one of my students, Nia, created this.

And, I'm going to leave you with this slide, but also remind us that while this is a challenge that we face, it's a challenge that allows us to think about how we can make hope possible rather than [inaudible].

How can we continue to build power in the face of fear?

And how can we build a better and a more sustainable and just future together?

I believe the way we can do it is to come together and work with all of the different skills that we've had in the past, but also the skills that are needed now, which can be drawn from various communities and various groups.

But we need that platform to continue to do the good work that we've started and that is needed for this time.

Thank you very much.

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