What is PAEAN?
It’s about Voices for Earth Rising Together.
At the end of 2021, COP26 made it clear those in power are not coming to the rescue. It’s up to us, the people, to rise up, organize and break the spell of distraction, overwhelm, denial, disinformation, consumption and confusion.
350.org reported, “There were more fossil fuel lobbyists at COP26 than representatives of any single country. If Big Oil was a country, their delegation would outnumber every other nation in attendance.”
All the while, as the August ’21 UN IPCC report stated, “we’re in nothing less than a code red for humanity. This must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels before they destroy our planet.”
Instead, the fossil fuel lobbyists at COP26 did the exact opposite by using their power to undermine commitments to phase out fossil fuels. Climate Action Tracker reports COP26 inaction put us on track for a cataclysmic 2.8+C global overheat.
COP26 failed the world.
Hopes for the radical shifts needed to reverse our catastrophic trajectory were severely dashed. Critical agreements made at the Paris Accord have been overturned. None of the G20 nations agreed to keep emissions within the guardrail of 1.5C. Funds promised to the Global South were not given. The building of fossil fuel infrastructure will continue as before.
No mention was made of the devastating impact of mass animal industries. This means the extreme urgency needed to resound through the world was muted. Instead, our current path of calamitous, extreme weather events, mass extinction, and civilizational collapse was normalized.
Friends, this leaves us all in a dire situation. With little clear, courageous leadership from those in power, we must, as citizens, radically engage and rise together.
In response, we are launching PAEAN.
This will be a Dharma informed initiative aimed at building a resilient, collaborative, engaged community comprised of small groups interfacing together within a global network.
Groups supported by:
Dharma practices and teachings, Meditation & Mindfulness practices, Ceremony, mantra & prayerful practices.
We will share best practices, wisdom, and input from the collective hive-mind.
Including emotional support circles as we navigate the enormity of what we are facing and its impact on our psychological and physical well-being.
We will also aim to build a shared body of resources and updates.
We will invite speakers, live or recorded, with informed input from the perspectives of:
Sacred Activism; Engaged Dharma; Climate Justice; Climate science and impacts; Social, economic impacts; Climate Justice Organizations; Non-Violent Direct Action; Deep Adaptation & Building Resilience
Each small group will be tasked with undertaking a climate justice action project. For example:
Fund-raising/advocacy for effective climate justice orgs.
Working at local council levels.
Writing, offering talks, hosting groups.
Agitating at governance and media levels.
Engaging/joining/supporting non-violent direct action.
Engaging/joining/supporting civil resistance/disobedience.
Holding practice/prayer/ceremonial/counselling spaces for activists & those on the front-lines.
Each group offers into the collective so we can build an informed, accessible ‘hive mind’ and body of resources.
PAEAN is about coming together to do what we can in this moment of great need.
