What climate change demands of us all

Facing the climate crisis surely requires individual sacrifice. But regenerative farmers see it differently — instead of austerity, sustainability practices seed resilient and flourishing farms.

What if the way we’re thinking about climate change is wrong? Or maybe, what if we should be thinking about it differently? When the words "climate change" come to mind, the pictures that often accompany them are political strife and environmental catastrophe. 

Of course, those are crucial elements of the climate crisis. But what is the climate crisis about, really? I might argue it's about embracing change as much as regulating it. Can we enforce our way to climate safety through international treaties? Maybe, but maybe not. Public will for dramatic steps is uncertain at best. But what are we really asking people to do? Turn off a light switch? Take a bus instead of the car? Buy a Tesla?

The real need is for a change in thought.

Nearly two centuries ago, the Industrial Revolution reshaped human lives in a way the world had never seen before. New machinery changed the trajectory of what societies could accomplish. New tools have since given humans extraordinary power over their environment. We could essentially remake our world as we saw fit. And so we did.

Now the planet is telling us that, in our exuberance, we went too far. What we need is a new sense of balance. We need a new way of living with the world that is neither preindustrial poverty nor postindustrial excess, but a demonstrable and more mature understanding of responsibility, for nature and one another. The solution to climate change is really about finding this mindset, and perhaps no one understands this more intimately than the so-called regenerators in Stephanie Hanes' cover story this week.

They are young people who have returned to the land, farming in more sustainable ways in an attempt to be pioneers of a new balance. Of course, not everyone needs to become a farmer to bend the arc of climate disruption. But we all need to think like they do within the context of our own lives. That is what climate change is demanding of each of us.

Intriguingly, this mindset, when consented to, doesn't bring poverty or endless sacrifice without reward, but rather renewal, wealth, and the sustaining bonds of closer interconnection.

One couple in Stephanie's story turned to farming thinking they would just grow food for themselves. Their success, however, came with a realization: They couldn't eat all the crops they grew. To their great surprise, people flocked to their food. They now supply produce boxes to 20 families, Stephanie writes.

Change is always disruptive. But when we see only the disruption, we miss the opportunity for the progress and growth also inherent in change – and often found in no other way. Climate change is no different. And the Climate Generation sees this.

"It used to be ecology versus economics," the co-founder of one effort to support sustainable farming in Portugal tells Stephanie. "Now people realize it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead of being exploited and exploiting nature, we can live differently."

That begins with thinking differently.