Climate Action Teams (CATS) Will Make Us Big and Broad and Active Enough

Olympian Fields of Action Post # 16.1, the second post in our CATS Subseries

Climate Action Teams or CATS will be vital to making the Climate Movement big and broad and active enough, our first characteristic/imperative/goal.

Big and Broad Enough

Social science research tells us that 3.5% of a population can create social change. But to create the needed speed and scale of change, by 2030 we’re going to need more:

• 5% of the world’s population, or

• 400 million worldwide.

This means we need to get big fast to match the scale and speed of the challenge and make our future come faster.

We are on the kairos-climate-clock. The time is now to grow, grow, grow!

Besides your own particular Olympian Fields of Action, there are two Fields of Action on which all Climate Movement Artist-Athletes must participate for us to achieve our Major Goal: (1) growing and improving the Climate Movement itself, and; (2) public policy engagement, where we advocate for climate action, ensure implementation, and defend against attacks.

CATS and Our Top Priority

But right now and for the foreseeable future it is growing and improving the Climate Movement that should be seen as the top priority for all of us.

Why? Well, first, because it hasn’t been — at least based on my knowledge of the US context. It ain’t gotten enough love, or respect. Truth is, “grassroots organizing,” in the US, especially by most mainstream environmental organizations, isn’t taken as seriously as policy advocacy; the latter is the grown-up’s table.

For those of us in the US, and other places like us in this regard, it’s well past time to see growing the Movement for what it is: indispensably strategic.

This leads to my second point: growing and improving the Climate Movement should be seen as our top priority because doing so makes possible the big and widespread changes we are trying to achieve via public policy and through businesses.

CATS will play a major role in having The Catalytic-4 work together to overcome climate change by creating a just and prosperous sustainability that enhances wellbeing for everyone and everything. As we in The Climate Movement become bigger and broader, the more others will join us or become Climate Action Supporters ready to push government and business leaders to be bold, including making ARTC strategic. And the bigger and broader CATS help The Climate Movement and Climate Action Supporters to be together, the greater will be our ability to create the speed and scale of change necessary and our future come faster. So making both bigger and broader are top priorities, and CATS will help us to be Artist-Athletes on the Growing-the-Movement Field of Action so we can also effectively perform on the Public-Policy-Field-of-Action.

Third, because we are light years away from achieving the goal of 5% of the population becoming Climate Movement Artist-Athletes by 2030.

Let’s take the United States. According to the US Census Bureau, by 2030 the US population will be about 355 million. Children up to five years old are projected to be 24.3 million. So let’s subtract these children from our available population to be in The Climate Movement. That leaves us with 330.7 million. Let’s round down to 330 million.

Our 5% goal would have our movement made up of 16.5 million, rounded down to 16 million.

So, 16 million in the US by 2030.

Those of us in the US have a lot of work to do!

Organizations can help with starting teams and coaching and resourcing teams. But they just won’t be able to start enough.

Given that freedom, one of our 10 Movement Values, is fundamental to a growing cause, Climate Movement Artist-Athletes must be free to start CATS of their own volition and encouraged to do so.

Now remember, not all Artist-Athletes from around the world will become part of a Climate Action Team. But we need many to do so because CATS will play a vital role in growing the Movement towards our goals of 5% or 400 million by 2030 and 10% by 2040.

The numbers needed mean we simply can’t start CATS fast enough, which dovetails nicely with our Movement Value of freedom.

Climate Action Teams are one of the greatest expressions of freedom of our time. Everyone on the planet can start or join a CAT.

You don’t need anyone’s permission. You were born with permission! It is part of your birthright as a human being.

Even in situations where governments or societies or corporate culture or any other form of social or political coercion works against Climate Action Teams, freedom still reigns to start a CAT, however covert or countercultural you must be. Because of the growing threats of authoritarianism towards democracies and the rule of law and our ability to influence our governments, CATS are a bulwark of freedom.

Every Climate Movement Artist-Athlete needs to seriously consider joining or creating a Climate Action Team, ideally of 5-10 members. Such CATS can be organized based on many factors, but usually they will revolve around things CAT members have in common, including any combination thereof, such as:

§ School

§ Job/profession

§ Organizational affiliation/membership

§ Faith community

§ Where you live

§ Shared interests

§ Age

Your Team could be — and this is coming right out of my imagination —

• the Tulsa Gardners Climate Action Team #4,

• the Shanghai Swifties For Climate Action #26,

• the Pawtucket Plumbers For Climate Action,

• the University of Toronto’s Matter Lab Climate Action Team,

• the Bulawayo Youth Climate Action Team #2,

• the Glasgow Geezers for Climate Action,

• the Canberra Square Dancers for Climate Action,

• Amazon Employees in Seattle Team #16,

• the K-pop Climate Action Team #98, or

• Barrett Elementary’s Climate Action Team #3.

But, please, don’t let the lists above impede your creativity in forming your own CAT! They are offered to spark your imagination. Come up with your own CATS “Dream Team,” and then make it a reality!

Meeting in person is always best but is in no way a requirement. Meeting online is just fine, as long as everyone can interact with everyone else in real time on a regular basis. You can’t become a team otherwise. You won’t have the cohesion you need. You won’t know what roles each of you will play at particular times. You won’t know your other Teammates well enough to recognize their gifts and abilities and call them forward.

Staying connected in all the other ways we have at our disposal, such as social media or Apps is also encouraged. But it cannot replace being together in real time.¹

Just like Olympic teams, each member of a CAT has a position or role to play; each has responsibilities. The coach can’t do it all, nor can the star player. A CAT isn’t a team without each player’s active preparation and participation.

Finally, we must be broad enough so that policymakers and the populace at large perceive us to be representative of the society as a whole, a vibrant cross-section working together, another way we ensure that we can’t be suppressed, missed, or ignored.

Active Enough

Climate Action Teams are essential for making the Climate Movement not just big and broad enough, but also active enough. Why? Again we need to be all three so our story is told in a way that can’t be suppressed, missed, or ignored. Then The Climate Movement and Climate Action Supporters can push their societies to make changes at the speed and scale necessary.

So what does active enough mean?

It means we must have a constant, continual stream of visible actions taking place in every country around the world.

Why? The rest of society must be reminded constantly of the need for climate action at the speed and scale required because we are in kairos-climate time. We must achieve message saturation and values engagement within our societies.

This means that leaders and the average person are reminded regularly of the necessity of bold climate action now, and that everyone has a role to play — so much so that this is at the forefront of their hearts and minds and engages their values and connects to what they hold most dear.

So for Climate Action Teams what does being active enough look like in practice? You are free to determine this on your own. My suggestion is for the CAT to participate in an organized activity about once a month. These can be actions the CAT organizes or actions you participate in that are organized by others (e.g. a major rally in a large city).

To achieve message saturation and values engagement, all action events must have a message/values-amplification strategy. It is not enough for your event to be seen and experienced in person by those who are near the event. You must get the word out through the news media and social media.

Even if you aren’t able to generate traditional news coverage or “earned media” you can still have all of your CAT members, and as many of the other participants as possible, communicate your message and values via your social media channels with videos, pictures, audio, and text. Make it CATchy. But it doesn’t have to be purrfect.

In other words, communicate to as many people as you can utilizing as many ways as you can as creatively and effectively as you can to increase support for action, grow our Movement, and support/push action by government leaders.

The bottom line is this: without continual public actions by Climate Action Teams the Climate Movement won’t be big, broad, and active enough. And if we aren’t we won’t achieve our vision, purpose, and Major Goal. To join together in a CAT is to participate in one of the greatest expressions of freedom of our time.

Ours is a serious endeavor.

But we don’t have to take ourselves so seriously.

So, my friends, let all CATS unite! Let’s be CATchy together! Let’s meow in purrfect harmony!

If you are new here, check out our Intro Series, as well as other posts in the broader Olympian Fields of Action series. If you like this post, please “like,” comment, and share. And thanks for all you’re doing.

1. I need to issue a warning, and wish I didn’t have to say this. Meeting in person with people you already know can reduce the possibility of a toxic person joining the group whose real intent is to make you less effective, waste your time and energy, or even destroy your group. There is more of a chance of this if people find each other online or through apps.