Responses
to August 2007 Hot Topic
Is
there a crude awakening in store for volunteerism?
Response
posted on 15th August 2007 by Liz Scarfe, Manager
Volunteering Resources, Villa Maria, Kew, Victoria,
Australia
How
very progressive to see these issues being raised
in the volunteering sector so soon (compared to many
other sectors who seem very adept at holding their
breath for extended periods while their heads are
in the sand).
My
first point is just a semantic one in that the term
Global Warming falls a little short in describing
what is happening. Climate Change seems to be the
term of choice these days as it covers all the phenomena
we are witnessing. Only some parts of the world are
getting warmer; some are getting colder, some are
experiencing dramatic weather changes (hurricanes
in the southern hemisphere for example) and of course
many more “natural disasters” all over the globe.
Another
implication for volunteering I wanted to mention is
the impact of climate refugees. I for one would be
proud to see Australia be much more welcoming of refugees
but I wonder how much longer we will really have a
choice as the number of climate refugees is likely
to rise dramatically in the near future. Note that
‘climate refugees’ is a fairly new term that has not
been formally applied to many refugees so far; despite
climate change already being the underlying cause
of much displacement. I think this will lead to many
wealthy countries being ‘stretched’ further to share
the privileges of their wealth and it is here the
impacts on volunteering would be felt. I believe we
certainly have enough to go around but it is changing
our attitudes to sharing and entitlement that will
be our biggest hurdles.
From
a different angle though, climate change is also stimulating
new ways to utilise volunteers. About four months
ago I recruited three undergraduate student volunteers
to conduct an Environmental Audit of our worksite.
This will hopefully lead to significant changes in
the resource use patterns for our organisation (read
cost-saving there) and reduce our carbon footprint.
I don’t honestly think everyone doing their little
bit is going to completely stop what is already in
motion but we might be able to minimise the impacts.
Overall
I think we are experiencing what is called ‘social
decline’; an eventual outcome of our collective denial
that we live on a planet of limited resources. There
are many great books and websites that have emerged
in the last few years about our ‘growth fetish’ that
explore this concept for those interested.
I
think the issue of the crude oil shortage is not if
but when. Commonly known as Peak Oil (the peak being
the maximum point of oil production from which production
levels then decline ongoingly), this again relates
to our collective fantasy that the earth will always
keep providing more; which prevents us from planning
ahead for times when it won’t. North America experienced
its own oil peak in the seventies with fairly dramatic
social impacts before foreign oil supplies filled
the void. It was back then that predictions were made
for when the global peak would occur; around the 2000-2010
mark. We will probably only know when it occurs after
the fact (we are always riding the horse backward
in life) but getting stuck in debates about when is
irrelevant, especially as we are already experiencing
the symptoms. Cuba had its oil supplies cut several
decades ago and is a living example of how such a
change might be experienced by societies. There are
several good films about these issues, one being End
of Suburbia.
Unemployment
may be a factor in the short-mid term, especially
in transition peaks, however I think mandatory redeployment
is more what we will see. It would make sense that
there will be an increased need for more labour-oriented/practically
skilled roles and perhaps fewer management roles.
The
website www.energybulletin.com is a great clearing
house for energy related issues and is well edited
so that you can almost be assured that what it publishes
comes from proven sources (there is a lot of mis-information
out there as there are many vested interests from
every side of the issue).
The
most alarming issue I see though is the human response
to change, especially change of such magnitude. These
issues are despair-inducing to say the very least.
I would like to think I will behave gracefully when
confronted with changes to my standard of living but…I
don’t know. Luckily for me though I already ride a
bicycle everywhere and grow a few of my own vegies
but I know it’s not quite that simple.
What
I am looking forward to though is how our communities
will inevitably relocalise and it is certainly where
I am putting my own volunteering efforts.
Let's
hear what you think!
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