hello this transcript is mostly by AI.
to read the full blog, go to: https://medium.com/@chrissearles-biointegrity/evolving-the-cops-into-something-more-meaningful-1c00ca346103

CHRIS SEARLES is author and narrator.

Chris Searles 0:01
Hello friends, this is Chris Searles, the director for bio integrity and I'm going to read a blog I wrote, entitled devolving the copes into something more meaningful. It's split into six sections. The first one is called credit as do. The second one is reality though. The third one is the point number four is the way out. Number five is seeing the forest and the trees. And number six is more meaningful copes or I share my recommendations. So I will try to read this straight through and anywhere there are claims. Be assured I'm posting the links in the notes here in the podcast.

Chris Searles 0:48
Okay, here is evolving the COPs into something more meaningful. biosphere, kinship, wellth, (weLLth), and Abundance as guide.

Chris Searles 1:02
The "COPs", C. O. P. S., are the United Nations Annual Conference of the Parties parties equals the world's nations on working together to avoid catastrophic planetary climate chaos. Here are some thoughts on how to make it all make more sense in the years ahead. I've got a graphic that you'll have to go look at that shows on one side everyday economics and on the other side values. And I'll just highlight the values the arrow is pointing from the right to the left from the values to the economics. And there's just four big values here biosphere, kinship, wealth, w e, Ll. T, H, and abundance. And come back to this, please study those values. That's what this blog is about.

Chris Searles 1:51
Section one, "CREDIT IS DUE."

Chris Searles 1:55
It's been about a week since they finished cope 28, this year's International Climate Conference and to all the people who worked very, very hard to make this year as meaningful as possible. Thank you. Job well done. I agree there were at least two historic outcomes that are essential to moving the goals of the Cope's forward. Now, here's some quick context. This year's conference was dominated by the fossil fuel nations as we call them, and the fossil fuel industry, which are traditionally seen as murderous to indigenous peoples and environmental activists, as well as deadly to nature protections, human rights, resource efficiency, economic justice, climate science, renewable energy, gender inclusivity and environmental and social justice reparations. With all of that in mind, here are the two historic outcomes of coop 28 In my opinion, number one the language in the document. Most significantly, they got the words and goals on biodiversity ecosystems and human beings right. For right now. That was not expected. Number two direction nearly 200 countries committing to quote transition away from fossil fuels in this context by 2050 means something. These two outcomes set a foundation for stronger outcomes at future copes. Thank you again, everybody. For more on the COPE 28 Positive achievements. They have a beautiful wrap up page with graphics. Check that link.

Chris Searles 3:34
Section 2, "REALITY, THO."

Chris Searles 3:38
"We are 25 years behind. The goal was to cut emissions in half in six years. What we got was a vague intention to transition away from fossil fuels. No timeline, no roadmap."

Chris Searles 3:55
That's a quote from Bill McGuire Professor Emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London. Bloomberg dot coms excellent wrap up article is right from the environments perspective, quote, cope 28 success marks just a tiny upgrade on cope 27. Why? This year's conference, the first global stocktake which means coming together to compare notes looked at how much progress nations have made reducing greenhouse emissions, presumably by transitioning away from fossil fuels since the Paris climate agreement at cope 28 years ago.

Chris Searles 4:34
Metaphorically, this year's agreement is kind of like saying, in order to eat, we're going to put the food in our mouths and chew at some point in the next 25 years. Eight years after agreeing to eat immediately. But even more off target than that. China and the US produce more than 40% of global greenhouse emissions and are the world's number one producer. throws up coal and oil respectively. We are the fossil fuel nations. We keep deflecting that. Worse than being this far from reality on the whole mission of stopping climate change before it gets catastrophic is our culture. developed world culture today has focused on fear and shame, rather than on being good to ourselves, others, our civilization, and the earth to solve the problems we share. In light of what so many find, quote, exciting about the future. Space is not the final frontier, self and society are on this planet.

Chris Searles 5:44
There is only one planetary life support system. Life on Earth is what it's about. How do you be the person you want to be?

Chris Searles 5:58
Getting to that world is the goal for each of us. It's also an ongoing collective effort.

Chris Searles 6:07
Section three, "THE POINT." we're already in the 1.5 Celsius scenario. Our leaders are scientists the weather industry, they do not seem to have noticed that the breakthrough goal agreed to at Paris in 2015, quote staying below 1.5 was signed to avoid catastrophic damages, which seemed to have begun occurring around 2010. These delegates kicking the can of coke 28, to transition away from polluting and heating emissions 25 years from now, when their grandkids are running things is disgusting, and lame, and totally terrifying for all 8 billion of us this decade. And unfortunately, as I have been saying, against my own hopes and dreams, clean tech is not much better at addressing its issues.

Chris Searles 7:00
So what do we do?

Chris Searles 7:03
We go forward from here with a better solution.

Chris Searles 7:07
I think I've got the outlines of the most powerful solution. It's in biospheric truth. Nature is your life support system.

Chris Searles 7:19
And this begins section four, THE WAY OUT. There's an arrow pointing up to a graphic that says nature in quotes is your life support system. The way out forests, agriculture, ecosystem integrity, these are the way out first and foremost, why? These are the most important aspects of the life support system everything is built on. Also, the science clearly shows 10 strategies focused in these areas, forests, agriculture and ecosystem integrity can get us out of the greenhouse gas crisis. By removing more than 100% of the carbon emissions needed to avoid literal 1.5 Celsius degree warming this decade, there's still time.

Chris Searles 8:07
Here are the 10 strategies in two groupings.

Chris Searles 8:11
Group number one is strategies wanting to implement the COPE 26 Glasgow forests and lands agreement of just 2021. This agreement would end deforestation in 145 key countries and restore 711 million acres of critical forests, peatlands, and wetlands in those countries. Why you may ask for us and wetland escapes first. This is our best strategy for restoring normal weather globally. And there's two links to science on that.

Chris Searles 8:50
Strategies three through 10 is to improve the food system. And here's the list. There's two groupings inside of this list. The first grouping is six strategies. Eliminate emissions related to here are the six cattle feed, rice cultivation, food waste, agricultural waste, meat consumption, and nutrient and manure management on those landscapes on agricultural lands. So this is essentially the way we feed beef, the main grain of the world, the food that the developed world throws away the waste that gets burned on these landscapes, the way that we waste and move meat around the planet and produce meat and then all of the wasted landscape resources that wash off of the lands and biodegrade into the atmosphere that are manure management and so forth. And then adding two more strategies to this is to improve that last area with soil carbon sequestration and biochar carbon sequestration. And you can read about all this the study is from ro at all 2019 That link is also provided.

Chris Searles 10:00
RESULT? With those 10 things done the result: more than 100% of projected emissions removed from the atmosphere on time, rainfall cycles restored, biosphere strengthened, people fed extreme weather reduced regenerative agriculture actualized as an economy at scale water cleaner. There's simple math on this, and they're cited science also linked there. There are also additional natural strategies for absorbing greenhouse gas emissions that strengthen the biosphere of the life support system. There's a link to a blog with a section called additional drawdown opportunities. Please check that out.

Chris Searles 10:44
Here's section five of six. SEEING THE FOREST AND THE TREES.

Chris Searles 10:51
Forests are the weather on land. Food is the most effective point for resolving issues regarding climate, biodiversity, poverty, economics, famine, destructive industry, human rights, and human identity. And ecosystems are our life support system. Ecosystems are everything. The better they are, the better we are.

Chris Searles 11:21
The conservation community has been overly apologetic on nature's potential to stop climate change. Everyone in conservation knows tree plantations are not a solution. This is not what we're pushing for the media sensationalizes the conservation is humility and apologies and headlines things like trees are bad for the environment. It's time for conservation to make clear. trees and forests are better than the electrification of the planet.

Chris Searles 11:53
Nature before technology, we need to figure this out.

Chris Searles 11:58
Technology is not better than nature. Stopping fossil fuel emissions does not restore water tables, temperate climate, weather, outdoor food production, microbial life or soils, vegetative infrastructure, transpiration, biological productivity, pollinators, biodiversity, only natural ecosystem protection, regrowth enrichment and integrity can restore those things. Those essentials electrification is a good idea. But just like fossil fuels, it's running the hottest furnaces on earth, to fight warming. It's draining rivers, it's destroying ecosystems. It's ruining indigenous people's lives. It's mining, it's creating ungodly waste. It's forecasting supply chain needs greater than what's actually possible to provide from this planet. It's taking our future on profitability, and an economics that profits according to its crafty packaging and delivery of exploitable resources, such as perception, and people, and fossils and minerals and gases and other species and property and our data. Forests are multitaskers done right, protecting, regrowing enriching forests is our most effective primary solution for climate stability. It's not the only solution. But it's the first one because it matters most. Forest establishment is essentially how landlines came into being hundreds of millions of years ago. Healthy forests move the majority of rain across the continents still today that biotech already exists, and we're cutting it down. It must come first. Improving the food system is profitable today. And it's eight strategies that I listed above are 100% of the carbon solution this decade.

Chris Searles 14:06
Groups like plant with purpose.org Show us how agroforestry regenerative agricultural practices and saving coops are already lifting around a million people out of poverty and growing every year. All ecosystems are essential but only trees bring rain and trees. Remove and store carbon and trees keep landscape life alive and all the ways listed above. And trees make oxygen and cleanse our water and they're beautiful and so much more. I think we all want to keep living. And I think the fossil fuel lobby the hardcore anti environmentalists, the miners, the rich, the war makers, everyone except perhaps the rapturous can get On board with living.

Chris Searles 15:01
And here's the final section: MORE MEANINGFUL COPs. So what does living well take for future copes and for global society in general? I think we need this kind of value set. And this is a simplification of the first graphic. Number one, biosphere is life support system. Number two, kinship is identity. Kinship means everyone is an important individual in a nurturing community. Biosphere means all of the life on the planet comprising the life support system. Number three wealth w e LLTH. This is potential This is pursuing and supporting everyone's potential individually and together. And number four, abundance. Abundance is success. When you have abundance, you can be generous. And you should...

Chris Searles 16:06
Where are we? Inside of a life support system. Who are we? We are important individuals needing to build nurturing community, members of this life support system, and what do we each want? We want wellth. We want recognition and support for our potential. We want to live in abundance. We want that to be what success is about.

Chris Searles 16:32
So here are my recommendations. Number one to five.

Chris Searles 16:36
#1. Reform, redefine wealth to wellth, w e LLTH. What are the right values for humans individually and together this century and for the next 1000 years? How well are you doing is way more significant than how much you're worth. The world Miss let wealth w e LLTH. Guide. That's where we all want to go.

Chris Searles 17:09
#2. Overhaul, I put life support system first in the copes. Start by moving clauses 5556 61 and 63 D of the new accord to the front of the next document. Those are great for now. For example, from 60 3d, quote, reduce climate impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity and accelerate the use of ecosystem based adaptation and nature based solutions. That's where we need to start.

Chris Searles 17:41
#3. Refocus. Refocus the whole commitment thing from the world. Onto the four big polluters, China, the United States, India, and the European Union, as well as the OPEC nations. These big four polluters are responsible for more than half of global carbon emissions every year. They are the fossil fuel markets, they represent the most developed and most developing economies in the world, change them and you change the world change us, we need to show our plans for transitioning jobs and daily life to net negative greenhouse emissions. Big picture, grow back the climate, and decarbonize the economically dominant immediately. That's the way to refocus.

Chris Searles 18:38
#4. Integration. Integrate leadership and learnings from the mamas, the indigenous, the poor, the local knowledge systems and knowledge keepers and care providers as well as business, industry policy and science. Our life support system is just like us. It needs relationships, enrichment and opportunities. It wants to thrive. It has many facets needs and colors. It seeks connection and unity. It is both fragile and strong, self managing and capable of creating abundance. It is defined by its physicality and well being our institutions must refound on those understandings.

Chris Searles 19:31
And #5. Direction, Protect regrow, enrich the biointegrity we built money and civilization on we are each indigenous to the earth. We are each geniuses. Diversity is reality. Success is w e LLTH. Which there is more detail on in the graphic. Please check that out. To make the coops more meaningful, we need a global culture seeking WELLTH rooted in kinship and biospheric reality with a vision for realizing an economics of inclusion, opportunity, generosity and abundance. Then we can move forward on energy, transportation, development, technology and all the rest in the right ways, guided by biospheric truth.

Chris Searles 20:30
Together, our potential is unlimited