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COP28, the latest United Nations climate change conference, started on November 30.
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The recent UN Environment Programme (UNEP) 2023 Adaption Gap Report, released in the lead-up to COP28, shows that the nations of this planet are not doing enough to even adapt to what is already here and what is coming.
UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres said the report "shows a growing divide between need and action when it comes to protecting people from climate extremes. Action to protect people and nature is more pressing than ever" and "lives and livelihoods are being lost and destroyed, with the vulnerable suffering the most".
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Here in Bathurst, one area of adaptive work is water.
In the next couple of years much will need to be done if Bathurst is to extend its water life.
Stormwater harvesting and ground water access are being worked on.
All of this, or course, depends on rainfall.
With dry times becoming longer and more extreme, it is probable that Bathurst will have its 'day zero', when the water runs out.
COVID had runs on toilet paper. An approaching day zero may see empty water shelves in supermarkets.
Water will become liquid gold, both in scarcity and cost.
The vulnerable in our community will experience water poverty, while others will hoard as much water as they can.
This is one of the effects that climate change and fear will have on our day-to-day lives.
It is likely that, collectively, we will not heed the warnings and change our ways.
It seems the only way we are to learn is via the experience of the climate crisis itself.
And we may need quite a bit of experience before the learning sinks in.
It is becoming inevitable that 2 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels is on the way.
Geologically, it is accepted by many scientists that we have moved from the Holocene epoch to what is being called the Anthropocene.
Humanity is now the climate driver.
Where are we headed?
The full impact of this climate crisis may help enough of us, our children, and their children into a new consciousness: a way of living relationally in nature rather than separate from nature.
Perhaps the national leaders at COP28 will finally come to their senses and substantially lead the way.
We will soon know.