Our Full Selves: The Value of Permission

I have spent the last few years trying to raise the importance of values and ethics in the climate change discussion. Recently, I have spent the past few months using the Brazilian COP30 Presidency’s call for a “Global Ethical Stocktake” to accelerate these efforts. Thanks to this initiative from Brazil—essentially a call for diverse populations all over the world to reflect and consult on the ethical dimensions of overcoming climate change—I am able to see the value of permission in a global discourse.

We are aware that the notion of homo economicus is a fiction. Yet the essential qualities of compassion, empathy, and love have precious few spaces to find expression in the highest halls of decision-making. Fortunately, this new conversation has given all of us such an opportunity.

I have had the privilege to observe, participate in, or host “ethical stocktakes” in a wide range of contexts. From a community gathering in rural Kenya, to a discussion on the sidelines of the General Assembly, to a convening hosted by the Laudato Si’ movement in Italy, the sentiment I felt most deeply in all these conversations was gratitude. Thank you for giving us permission to discuss a topic central to the human experience, but often peripheral in policy debates.

At the regional Global Ethical Stocktake for North America, which I was able to observe, roughly 30 people from Mexico to Greenland shared their own scientific, Indigenous, faith-based, or other ethical understanding of the climate crisis. High-level officials teared up listening to a beautiful rendition of “What a Wonderful World,” political heavyweights were moved by traditional invocations, and the interventions combined intellectual rigor with heartfelt compassion. The mind and the heart were both present - as they were when I hosted a conversation in rural Kenya. (Video messages from those participants can be found on our Instagram and X channels.)

Practical realities were certainly addressed, but they were done so in the context of our circumstances being more than just the result of policy decisions and scientific findings. From violence committed against activists, to the role of fossil fuels in climate change, the difficult realities were spoken of, and approaches offered. But participants also touched on the importance of relationship, of culture, and of duty as this work is advanced, of aligning values with approaches.

Even matters of love were welcome: love for each other, for humanity as a whole, and for all with whom we share this planet. In other words, the interventions were not collapsed down to policy proposals and tactical strategies alone. Rather, they were colored and reinforced by intangible realities that we all know and experience, but which are so often relegated to the personal sphere. While the former set of practical considerations rightfully identify challenges we face, the latter can serve as new motivations, ethically based, that can galvanize people to take action.

Plenty of data show that community bonds are fraying, our mental health is suffering, and that trust in institutions is declining. As anxiety and fear for the future deepen, we are at risk of a vicious downward cycle. Yet it was in these diverse Global Ethical Stocktake conversations that participants felt hope. When we discuss challenges from a place of our shared humanity, it seems we are able to both bond together and devise solutions reflective of our shared endeavor.

Perhaps what drives us has as much to do with metrics as love. And these conversations help us expand solidarity beyond just family and friends to encompass the whole of humanity, planet earth itself, and the generations to come. My hope is that we take advantage of the permission granted by the COP30 Presidency to continue this holistic conversation at all levels: from the kitchen table to the negotiation room. The intellect is necessary but insufficient. A more holistic conversation is needed. And it has begun.