Care, Share and Inspire – Climate Wisdom from COP28 on December 9 2023
In today’s Climate Wisdom series, the moderator Golo Pilz – Adviser Renewable Energy, Brahma Kumaris, shared that the talks at COP28 are entering into their final phase. He shared that Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s climate minister said: “We cannot negotiate with nature. The climate cannot compromise. No well-meaning words will change a single thing unless we act. This week may be our last opportunity to bring us on course to keeping 1.5C alive.”
The panel of experts for this episode were Dr. Florence Colleoni, Antarctic researcher, Trieste, Italy; Priyanka Patil – Founder & Director, Golden Era Eco Services and Sister Maureen Goodman – Programme Director for the Brahma Kumaris, UK
Priyanka said that they work to regenerate marginalised farmers, where education and wellbeing (of people, planet and every creature) play an important role. “We have been designing and diversifying their plate so it is more nutritious. We have been designing nutritious gardens for every family as well as community gardens which gives them food sovereignty”, she noted. Every small thing gives her happiness like flowers and things from nature. “In the agricultural sector,” she said, “there are a lot of uncertainties while dealing with farmers; you don’t have a work schedule and you have to resonate with nature’s timescale; through inner power I am able to radiate my energy to nature and others.”
Sister Maureen said that building spiritual capacity is about understanding the resources I have to rely on internally when all the resources and props that I am used to externally seems to be moving away from me. “We all have a lot of capacity inside. If we go deep within we find that we have peace, love, wisdom and when we can access these qualities, we are able to face and adapt to situations that come to us.” Sister Maureen sees that everybody is moving in the same direction when it comes to climate but the voice needs to get louder; the push needs to come from the grass roots and from the leaders. “The solutions are there, but where greed has taken over, it’s impossible to apply the solutions,” she stated.
Florence said that the cryosphere is really vast and includes the north and south hemisphere, all glaciers, permafrost and snow covered areas. It has a cooling capacity, maintains the temperature of planet earth and is a massive water resource. It is important for us to preserve the cryosphere by mitigating our emissions. At COP28, we want to stay within 1.5 degrees which is critical to preserve most of the cryosphere. “I wish we could listen to each other more so we can understand each other better,” was her heart’s desire for the COP28.
A peaceful guided commentary by Sister Maureen summarized the session beautifully.