“My homeland, Iran, is facing an environmental crisis. The Islamic Republic’s incompetence and mismanagement of natural resources have exacerbated climate change. Iran is now a water bankrupt country. Rivers are dying, aquifers are depleting, the soil is eroded, grasslands are deserted and forests are burning. Additionally, the judiciary and Revolutionary Guards have essentially made peaceful wildlife conservation a crime. Eight conservationists are currently serving lengthy prison terms simply for doing their jobs. Environmental injustice anywhere is a threat to us all. Which makes it more crucial than ever to establish coordinated efforts to combat the global climate crisis.”

“Clean water/clean air/ electric cars/solar power - a healthy planet. It can be done.”

“The environmental crisis is the existential threat of our time. If not addressed with bold, and admittedly difficult action now, we may pass a threshold from which, once crossed, we may never return.”

“We ought to trust science and science tells us that we need to act now.”

Photo - Stefania Rosini

Here is a quote attributed to a member of the Cree Nation, which I learned from Joseph Campbell. It always stuck with me - we seem to be daily turning it into a scarily accurate prediction: “When the last tree is cut down, the last river poisoned, the last fish caught, then only will the white man discover that he cannot eat money”.

“It’s gob smacking how many soulful, generous, and decent human beings are ignorant enough to have no idea what their investment dollars are doing to destroy the environment. Wake up!”