Where is the hub?

I have already worked in climate protection in various institutions – at university, in companies, in NGOs, in administration. Everywhere, and in our society as a whole, the question always seems to arise as to where the hub is to finally get climate protection off the ground, to implement it!

Is this eye of the needle on which everything hangs not to be found (again and again) in the education of the population? If all citizens finally consume properly, are less mobile or not mobile at all, eat a climate-friendly diet and invest their money in climate-friendly instutions, then!

No, that doesn’t work. There are already so many regulations and ordinances in building law that so many stumbling blocks are put in the way of the individual for an ecologically insulated house that this becomes an impossibility. There are scandals with organic labels, especially with regard to fishing and organic articles from cheap discount stores, which discredit everyone’s credibility. Subsidies go astray, making it difficult for even enlightened and willing farmers to switch to organic farming. Accordingly, organic food is still very expensive, which is why individuals don’t want to buy it.

No, no, there are still plenty of political levers that can be tightened.

So it’s politics!

Well, it’s not that simple. If individuals insist on their family home in the countryside and the associated sealing of land, if they no longer want to pay for the expansion and conversion of local transport, at least temporarily, or even if they reject the general speed limit for cars on highways, politics is guided by these wishes. After all, they are elected by the citizens.

While we are all thinking about where the magic knot is that would have to burst in order for climate protection to finally (FINALLY!) be implemented, we would have to get into the habit of allowing this topic into our lives holistically and thinking solutions through to the end. Is it really the 3-litre car that is driven 3 times as much? Is it really the organic products from the cheap discounter that do not pay the farmers enough to survive? Is it really the energy passive house on 160m2?

Or is it rather holistic solutions such as energy-passive buildings made of natural materials that can be flexibly converted, enable communal living and are surrounded by a biodiverse self-sufficient garden?

Instead of organic food from the discounter right next door, a subscription to a green box at the nearest CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) would enable structural change in agriculture as organic farming locally is financially supported and thus made possible at all.

Why not take more one-off actions that bring about structural change in the industries we so urgently need, such as switching to an electricity provider that promotes the expansion of renewable energy?

And what else can I do as an individual? Why not let climate protection into one’s own life as consistently as possible with solutions that have been thought through to the end?

And back to the node: The node is not only the education of the population, it is not only political restrictions, it is not only entrepreneurial innovations.

The node is everywhere. It seeps into all areas of our lives. Indeed, building regulations need to be rewritten, indeed, other economic incentives need to be set, indeed, other consumer decisions need to be made. This means that the issue accompanies us into every corner of our lives and challenges us everywhere to think good solutions through to the end.

This sounds difficult, but it also makes life more delicious, more joyful, more eventful, more interesting and more colourful.

More colourful, above all, because you meet many great, lively people along the way.

And here’s my tip at the end. In my brother’s flat-sharing community, a flatmate once drew pictures of a small, friendly monster, which joined his mates in various activities. Underneath the pictures it always said: „Form gangs“. In this sense, form gangs for climate protection. Get together if you don’t know how to do something yet. It’s less scary to change your bank account to a climate-friendly banks on your onw and it’s so much nicer to cook and eat eco-seasonally together.