Opportunity now, crisis later. How will we choose?

The Artdog Video of Interest

This week's Video of Interest kicks off a theme I want to explore this month: migration sparked by climate change. This is one of the most recent short videos on the subject that I could find, and I especially appreciate its approach.

Sponsored by the World Bank, it frames what many see as a problem differently. Countries can take steps now, the video argues, to turn it from a looming crisis to an opportunity.



What are the steps? The first one's kind of a given: cut greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible to mitigate the effects of climate change. All of us should be doing more toward that goal, individually and in our communities, organizations, and institutions.

The second step should also be an "of course we should" idea, but I rarely see it in my country, where too many powerful elites have too much investment in denying climate change or the need to do anything about it. This step says we should acknowledge that climate migration will naturally happen. Then use that knowledge to plan ahead for when it does. Unfortunately for the USA, some places have banned government officials from even using the words.

The third step also would be hard to do in any state that bans even so much as using the vocabulary. It calls for investing to improve data collection, so more accurate predictions are possible. This is simple common sense, but as many have noted, common sense is not so common. Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen in much the USA anytime soon, either.

VIDEO CREDIT: Many thanks to the World Bank for its hope-inspiring video on this topic.