Staying focussed on what’s important
Not long ago I received the following auto-response to an email I’d sent:
“Please note that in an effort to slow down and prioritize our mental health, and in recognition that an economy predicated on unfettered growth and constant productivity is in conflict with a liveable planet, our team has adopted a 4-day work week and will be unavailable on Fridays.”
Perhaps that’s a good message for today: not necessarily to take time off (because this week’s developments suggest we have a lot of work to do), but to take a bit of time to focus on what’s most important. Our economy, yes, as we struggle to come to grips with baffling, incomprehensible aggression from a neighbour we thought was our best friend; but also those other things:
- The people in our lives who are irreplaceable, and all the joy they bring
- The values that underpin us as Canadians: kindness, compassion, generosity, fairness and more
- Our health, both mental and physical, so easily taken for granted yet so vital to all we do
- Our stable and benevolent natural environment, without which there would be no economy, prosperity or health
I’m certain that as long as we stick together, hold to our values and take care of ourselves and each other, we’ll come out of this stronger than ever.
If you’re able to take Fridays off for reflection and health, great! If you can’t, why not try to go for a walk in the woods, to reflect on and reconnect with the things that are most important. Then come back more committed than ever to a sustainable, prosperous future for us all.
In the news:
Three stories underscoring the folly of the US president’s regression back to fossil fuels:
- More than 10% of China’s enormous economy in 2024 consisted of clean energy technologies
- Nigeria signs a €7.6 billion clean energy deal with… China
- Just days after saying it was on the lookout for bargains in a renewable energy market shaken by the pro-fossil fuel policies of the new administration, investment firm Brookfield Asset Management scoops up major US wind, solar and storage operation National Grid Renewables
The fossil fuel industry often describes Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) as ‘clean’; a new Cornell study concludes that when everything is factored in, LNG is actually 33% worse than coal.
Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project launched my sustainability career and changed my life; perhaps you’d like to check out the Reality Tour to see if it could do the same for you.
Quotable:
“This is like a tobacco company teaching kids about health, or a fast-food company teaching kids about good nutrition.”
– Melissa Lem, President of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, on a new report revealing how the fossil fuel industry has been influencing what students learn about climate change, February 18, 2025