Jonathon Porritt is an eminent writer and leading campaigner for sustainable development. For over five decades, he’s provided strategic guidance to the ‘great and the good’, while remaining actively involved in green politics and many different campaigns.  In this blog, he shares an excerpt from his upcoming book.

Love, Anger & Betrayal

This July, Jonathon will publish his latest book, ‘Love, Anger & Betrayal’, co-authored with 26 passionate young activists. Fiercely committed to empowering the next generation, Jonathon champions the voices and actions of young people as they confront a future shaped by the twin emergencies of climate change and biodiversity loss. ‘Love, Anger & Betrayal’ is both a clarion call for intergenerational climate justice, and a bold challenge to mainstream environmentalism, as well as a personal exploration into the stories and motivations of what some might call ‘radical’ activists. 

We are thrilled to announce that Jonathon, together with one of his inspiring young co-authors, will be joining us as keynote speakers at this year’s annual CAT Conference in August. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear from two generations of climate leaders at the forefront of the movement for a sustainable future. We are honoured to offer an exciting short preview of the book here. 

Extract

“A word about the title of this book. Before opting for ‘Love, Anger & Betrayal’, my favourite working title was ‘For the Love of God, Pay Attention!’ – as a rather blunt way of capturing the incomprehension felt by these young campaigners as we hurtle towards a world ravaged by climate breakdown.  Yet so few people really seem to care. Because of that, there’s an undeniable element of desperation in the choices they make about campaigning tactics, in a world where the old model of political engagement has gone and ‘spectacle beats argument every time’. As Chris Hayes puts it in his excellent book, The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource:

Working with young activists has forced me to confront the full extent of today’s ongoing intergenerational injustice – in effect, the whole notion of Intergenerational Justice has been turned on its head. Instead of older generations doing everything they can to ensure a better, more secure future for all those who come after them, today’s younger generation finds itself doing a lot of the heavy lifting to secure a still liveable future not just for themselves, but for their parents and grandparents.  

Which is why I hope, almost against all hope, at this very late stage, that all those parents, grandparents and citizens deeply concerned about the future, will find their own way of stepping up – moving from concern to action. When Martin Luther King said that ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice’, he sure as hell didn’t mean that justice will simply arrive, so sit back and wait for the happy outcome! As he said: ‘Social progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of dedicated individuals.’ 

 “At its simplest, I’m involved because I love life: people and everything on the planet that makes the world worth fighting for. History tells us that we just have to accept as activists that some people are going to hate us, trying to raise awareness in this way makes some people very angry. But even when they disagree, there’s still a conversation going on. Perhaps they might begin to feel some of that dread?”’- Jacob 

 “A lot of people are pretending the climate crisis isn’t happening, that it’s all going to be okay. I know my own involvement can make a lot of friends and family feel uncomfortable – almost as if I am the physical embodiment of all those anxieties! Some friends really don’t want to know. ‘It’s a privilege to be part of this, but it can also be incredibly onerous – doing the work every single day, whether it’s front of mind or not, I’m doing it because hundreds of millions of people will suffer in the future. It can be hard being around people who don’t understand that – and who don’t want to have to think about it.”’– Olive 

Join Jonathon at the annual CAT Conference this summer, from 15 to 17 August, to dive into the subject in more detail and bring your own ideas and thoughts as a CAT member.