Sustainable Merton would like to say a warm welcome to one of our newest Community Champions, Alison, who is a Climate Reality Leader. Read her story here:
My name is Alison Symons and I am a Climate Reality Leader, trained by former Vice President Al Gore and The Climate Reality Project to give presentations on the science, impacts, and solutions to our climate crisis. Though I just recently joined the ranks of more than 31,000 Climate Reality Leaders around the world, I have been involved in the environmental field since the mid 1990s. I have a BSc in Environmental Economics and have worked in environmental consulting and international development. In recent years I became a grassroots climate activist and community organizer in Northern Virginia (suburb of Washington, D.C.) working in a coalition that included many climate advocacy groups, local climate leaders, and elected officials advocating for clean energy and climate policies at the local and state levels.
I was so excited to learn about Sustainable Merton from another Climate Reality Leader I
trained with and signed up to be a Community Champion right away. Taking local climate action, and being involved in the community where I live, is something I have been looking for ever since my family and I moved to the Wimbledon area last year. It is something I have come to deeply appreciate as a grassroots activist. As Margaret Mead so eloquently said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
These days the climate is often in the news, and many of us can appreciate the negative impacts our economic activities and consumption habits are having on the environment and human health, but such information tends to reach us in disjointed snapshots of the broader and multifaceted issue that is climate change. That is why the Climate Reality presentation, grounded in the science of climate, can be invaluable in laying the foundation for interpreting and understanding how the various facets of the climate issue connect up. As many governments and non-government institutions are currently issuing bold new climate targets and mandates, a Climate Reality presentation can help establish a baseline for employees to understand their new directives and how their work fits into the bigger picture. But no matter who you are, what age, gender, race, or where you live, climate change is impacting all of us as we all live and depend on this living planet together.
It is our aspiration, as Climate Reality Leaders, to educate and inform as many people as possible about the facts and science of the climate issue so that they can be empowered in their capacity to confidently take individual and collective actions to avert the worst impacts of climate change. The first step to taking effective action is to properly inform and educate ourselves of the facts. I hope that I will be able to contribute my passion for communicating the climate issue and for community service in my capacity as a Community Champion with Sustainable Merton.
If your group or organization is interested in a Climate Reality presentation, please contact info@sustainablemerton.org.