What will I do to save the one I love? Whatever I can.
Perhaps you’re like me, perhaps you’re not, but if you are, every day you consider if the actions you are taking are the best for the future of the planet. Am I eating less meat? Should I drive or walk? Did the premier or PM see my letter or latest petition and above all – am I making a difference?
Jonica Newby explores all of these ideas and many more through her latest book – Beyond Climate Grief which ties together some of the major issues which have just hit us (2019/20 bushfires and the pandemic) and those which have been slowly unrolling – bleaching of Great Barrier reef and melting permafrost.
Not only does she explore these issues she explores them through her feelings and her emotions of each of these major events and the constant underpinning of – why won’t our leaders do something about it?
As Jonica works through her own emotions she interviews those hit hardest by the 2019/20 bushfires alongside scientists who have been telling Australian leaders for too long that action needs to be taken if we are to save the natural world we live in and the humans who have made a life here too.
You will laugh alongside well known Australian comedians who try to make light of the unrolling disaster – because sometimes you have to laugh, you will cry as you revisit the devastating bushfires through interview Jonica has with families who lost everything and you will feel hope as you read that there are so many others out there willing to make a positive change whether it be through research, petitions, protests, books or small grassroot group action. Written from Jonica’s point of view the reader really feels the emotions she is feeling at every turn of the page.
I am scared for the future and at times find it hard to be joyful if the world we are in will potentially be an awful place for my children’s generation to live in. But finding someone in print like Jonica Newby along with searching further online for groups I can connect with does give me hope that there are so many people out there that do want to make a difference.
Beyond Climate Grief is really a book for everyone but especially those who do battle with the knowing that climate change is a reality yet feel helpless. It’s a book for people who love snow yet mourn its potential disapperance and for those who have swum amongst the coral of the Great Barrier Reef. It’s for those who have spoken up only to have their voices squashed and for those who are continuing to fight to make voices for climate action even louder.
It’s a shame it’s still an uphill battle but with the current flooding in NSW after bushfire and drought, we can only hope that convenience and money will be swept aside and a focus on a better and more sustainable future is sought after.
Highly recommended – read today – Beyond Climate Grief by Jonica Newby.
