Claire O’Rourke - Together We Can

Claire ORourke is a campaigner, communicator, behaviour change expert, partner and parent. Totally climate freaked-out, Claire helps people and organisations take action on climate change, currently as Energy Transformation Program Co-Director at The Sunrise Project. Previously Claire was National Director of Solar Citizens, a community-led renewable energy advocacy organisation. A former journalist, Claire has extensive experience campaigning for social impact, including driving communications for the Every Australian Counts campaign for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and as a senior leader at Amnesty International Australia.

Half of the royalties from Together We Can
will go to Groundswell Giving:
www.groundswellgiving.org/

PRAISE FOR
Together We Can

If you ever thought you were alone in the battle for climate justice, this book will make you realise you are part of an extraordinary movement of people.

Craig Reucassel, ABC TVs The War on Waste

Claire ORourke shows us thoughtfully and thoroughly the impact climate change is having on our mental health as individuals and communities, and the importance of hope in facing these current and future challenges.

Daisy Turnbull, teacher, Lifeline counsellor and author

This book reminds us that with nothing more than hope and action, ordinary people do extraordinary things.

Kelly OShanassy, CEO, Australian Conservation Foundation

This book is the hope-filled, forward-thinking, realistic and practical antidote required for the days when climate anxiety threatens to derail us. A reminder that no matter how overwhelmed we may be feeling, there is always something we can do, those efforts matter, and we are never, ever alone. Its a fortifying, inspiring book to return to again and again as we navigate the messiness of creating a better way forward.

Brooke McAlary, author of Slow

Exactly what we badly need right now and I learned a lot. This incredible book shows how we can find deepened connection with others while getting out of our fossil trap.

Ketan Joshi, author of Windfall

The answers to climate catastrophe are here now, and Together We Can is a testament to the people building solutions everywhere.

Danny Kennedy, CEO of New Energy Nexus and co-host,
Climate of Change podcast

The journey from climate freak out to cultivating hope is re-imagining our future. This book can help you change your mindset and indeed your world.

Dermot OGorman, CEO WWF-Australia

The ultimate companion for the climate age. Full of inspiring stories about climate action for all of us who feel overwhelmed by global warming.

Rebecca Huntley, author of How to Talk About Climate
Change in a Way that Makes a Difference

A campaigner lies asleep inside you; Together We Can wakes it up.

Ashjayeen Sharif, student climate activist

ORourkes book is pragmatic, hopeful and richly democratic, showing there are multiple pathways for every willing Australian to get involved in driving our clean energy transformation at emergency speed and scale.

David Ritter, CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific

Only a vast array of actions, big and small, can defuse the climate crisis. This book shows you how.

Professor Will Steffen, Australian National University

First published in 2022

Copyright Claire ORourke 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

Allen & Unwin

83 Alexander Street

Crows Nest NSW 2065

Australia

Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

Email:

Web: www.allenandunwin.com

ISBN 978 1 76106 681 8

eISBN 978 1 76106 647 7

Internal design by Samantha Collins, Bookhouse
Set by Bookhouse, Sydney

Cover design: Christabella Designs

Cover illustration: Shutterstock

For Martin, Maeve and Illona, my universe.

This book was written on Dharawal Country, land that was never ceded and a place I am privileged to call my home. I respect and honour the traditional owners of this land and Elders past, present and emerging today, those who we must learn from to ensure our planet thrives. Always was, always will be.

Tell me, how are you really feeling about the state of the planet? Are moments of worry, sadness or exhaustion creeping up on you when you least expect it? Maybe your brain is burrowing down wombat holes and youre consumed by thoughts that anything you can do to help address climate change will only scratch the surface. Perhaps you cant decide what to do or where to start and feel a little overwhelmed. My friend, these are the common symptoms of climate freak-out, a term that I find best describes the mixture of all these swirling emotions: the gnawing grief about the loss of our worlds natural systems and species; the fear of the future coming at us far too quickly; the fury at the slow pace and scale of action from our representatives; the hopelessness of a problem too big to solve.

Climate change is, after all, enormous and pervasive, which is why its understandable that you or those close to you could be caught in these emotional responses from time to time. Let me reassure you that millions, yes millions, of people are feeling the same way: eco-anxiety is fast becoming a business-as-usual area of psychological study because its just so prevalent. Theres plenty of bad news around, so you may not be shocked to hear that climate freak-out is on the rise, but you might be surprised to learn of the sheer scale of the positive actions that millions of Australians like you and me are taking to transform our country and heal our planet, right under our noses. Theyre inventing new technologies, building circular economies, restoring forests, creating new community connections and reinventing our food systems. Its time to take a moment to look up from the online vortex of frighteningly bad news and see what we can do to heal ourselves and our world.

Im in an unusual line of work: supporting people to advocate for big climate-policy changes by governments and to push for the huge shifts needed from businesses to decarbonise. Im privileged to be up close every day with passionate, caring people who are on the front lines of a vast array of social, economic and environmental actions. Through this work Ive seen many cases of freak-out and burnout, and I was there for a while too before I found a way to get moving again.

It was Australias bushfire disaster of summer 201920 when I hit a wall. There are a few flashes of memory from that time: day after day of compulsively doom-scrolling the news/emergency services/weather forecast/air-quality apps; fixated thinking about how all the places I loved and had brought my children up in would be gone; my pre-teen daughter in tears as we packed the trailer with evacuation kit in 40-degree heat; eerie smoke-hazed skies full of thousands and thousands of endangered flying foxes circling at dusk, something wed never seen before. It dawned on me that my family would experience more of this: the extreme heat, longer fire seasons, more frequent drought, shortages of food and water perhaps. The fear landed with the realisation that my wooden home in the trees would likely burn, if not this summer, then one summer to come soon. Societal collapse in our stable democracy seemed all too possible, and it was actually a shock. My usual positivity faded fast and my motivation dropped overnight. I kept up a veneer of energy at my jobyes, my