Four years ago, on this day, August 10th, 2021,
The IPCC planned to release their sixth report and a spate of protests had been planned around Canberra ahead of it. CoCo was among a group of eight who planned to take their message directly to parliament. Their group included ANU Associate Professor Nick Abel, a climate scientist and kicked off when CoCo set fire to a pram and glued herself to the pavement. In the background was parliament house. As her fellow activists began to spray paint the words “Duty of Care” and “No Time” on columns across parliament, CoCo live streamed a speech about how she wanted to be a mother but could not “in all conscience bring a child into the world to face hell on earth.”
“The government, beholden to the fossil fuel lobby, has burnt my dreams,” she said.
It was a hammy performance, acted-up for the camera but the underlying message was true. CoCo had always wanted to be a mother but as she learned more about climate change, it was a future she would deny herself.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 416ppm. As of 2025, when this post was published, it is 430ppm. This matters because the more carbon dioxide in the air, the more heat gets trapped. The more heat, the more extreme weather events. You can make it more complicated than that if you want, but really, it’s not. Fwiw, I have a tattoo of the Keeling Curve on my left forearm.
The broader context was – wait, you can’t remember 4 years ago? – The bushfires, the brutal heatwaves, the floods. The chickens coming home to roost.
The specific context was that Scott Morrison was still Prime Minister of Australia. Among other portfolios.
What I think we can learn from this is that we are toast. Sorry, but there it is. I’ve done ten of these posts on the trot, and have clearly got to stop (for now) before it just becomes a prolonged howl of rage.
What happened next – More emissions. More jail terms for activists. More disasters. More despair.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
Also on this day:
August 10, 1974 – Stockholm conference on climate modelling ends
August 10, 1978 – Ford Pinto deaths spark class action lawsuit – All Our Yesterdays
August 10, 1980 – “Energy, Climate and the Future” seminar in Melbourne