Strategic sustainability advisor, engineer, activist & speaker. Founder, Fighting Dirty. NED. Ex-UNESCO Special Junior Envoy for Youth & Environment. ENDS Power List 2024.
Let's get this out of the way - I'm an environmentalist, and a hypocrite. We all are because, no matter how hard you try, it's impossible not to be in a fossil fuel-based economy. Now, let's get on with doing something meaningful to change that fact. And pointing fingers isn't it. #hypocrisy #climateaction #climatehypocrite #sustainability #personalresponsibility
Building Technology for Sustainable Food Future | Food & Climate Entrepreneur | TEDx Speaker
You can't be an environmentalist and eat meat. You can't be an environmentalist and fly. You can't be an environmentalist and use plastic. You can't be an environmentalist and use fossil-based energy. You can't be an environmentalist and drive, even an EV. You can't be an environmentalist and ... You can't be an environmentalist. If being perfect is the only way, we will not make any progress. Many well-meaning people advocate for absolutes because they believe so strongly in their cause. I admire and share much of that passion. And yet, blaming or shaming people for making incremental and imperfect change is entirely unproductive. Climate activists, environmentalists, and advocates live and work in modern society; therefore, they are not perfect. Let's not waste our time looking for perfection, but instead celebrate and elevate progress and those working their hearts out to make it happen. #climate #climatechange #activism #environment
When Greenpeace NZ block a wind to green hydrogen and ammonia project that is trying to make a difference, through two years of High Court appeals because of their anti-fertiliser and dairy stance, activism has seriously lost persepective. It is pretty ironic that Greenpeace internationally are campaigning for using green hydrogen for fertiliser production…
At a hustings last week I was harassed and bullied by Reform campaigners for drinking from a plastic bottle of water supplied by the host. For 90 minutes they mouthed 'hypocrite' at me. Then cheered their policy on stopping any action to reverse and repair nature and climate. I felt perfectly justified in exposing their ignorance and danger.
We literally breathe the stuff out! (CO2) It is impossible to not be a hypocrite.
You can get quite far with the approach of the ancient Greek saying : Everything in moderation. (Kleovoulos o Lindios) Don't let perfect get on the way of good. And then perhaps a bit less creativity of inventing all sorts of entertainments with extreme energy requirements like space tourism ...
Yes to all of this. The first thing artists often say to us is 'I love what you do and would love to get involved but I fly'. Their face when we say 'We know and that's fine and we can help you explain that' is always worth seeing. It's a tactic of the 'other' side to use imperfection to shut down debate. As a movement we have to hold firm on not allowing that to happen whilst guarding against those who would use that space to greenwash. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
We just need to get our heads down and start to transition all aspects of our lives and economy - waiting for perfection will simply delay us….
Blaming everything on consumers is particularly irksome as they don’t know the supply chain, they don’t know what they are buying. The most important thing is to do what we can individually and fight for regulations that will accurately price energy and products including emissions.
This is a version of the Nirvana Fallacy. Climate deniers use this to deligitimize genuine efforts to curb emissions. Their assertion is that, because an alternative strategy or technology has any measurable impact, it is no better than the far more damaging incumbent technology. It’s not a reasonable or fair argument, and should be dismissed outright.
innovation consultant
2moIt's not about being an hypocrite, the dichotomy you present is a distraction. It's all about how much (meat, flying etc), not if any at all. You can't consider yourself (and brag about being) an environmentalist while eating too much meat and flying too often. But still, the lower the impact (ex no meat), the better. It isn't that complicated.