Guest Post – by Janis Bookout, 2020 or Bust organizer
Some of you know that in March of 2015, I promised my children I would cause an end to global warming before it’s too late. Life as I knew it ended in that moment. Everything after that reorganized for that purpose. All of my priorities were upended so as to give as much time as possible to finding and joining with others who were asking the question, “What will it take, REALLY, to end the climate crisis in time?”
I chose this promise and this question because I knew that without that promise, I would at some point be too overwhelmed, too scared, or too resigned to continue. Only by giving myself no other alternative would I do the work necessary to have a shot it. And I knew that “doing my part” and trusting our leaders to handle the rest was simply not enough. We have all been “doing our part,” but there has been no endgame in sight. No global moonshot on which to deliver.
Since that time, I have met (and converted) others sharing in on this promise. A year and a half later, this incredible team of experts in education, transformation, politics, carbon life cycles, and the intricacies of the UN agreement, have created a global initiative in which all people can participate in ending the crisis by playing the game of the century — 2020 or Bust. In October, at Comic-Con, we will launch our app and the global marketing will soon follow. The plan is to have 35 million people participating by July of 2017. By 2020, if we have 500 million, we can close the 8 billion ton emissions gap between where we are headed and where we need to be headed to put society on a path to keep warming below 2°C warming, the international climate goal set in Paris.
2020 or Bust Board Member and Former Assistant Secretary General and Director of Development Policy of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Olav Kjørven, said the following about 2020 or Bust:
“I have been in this business of what we call sustainable development at the UN for many years and working on climate change from many angles for many years… and I haven’t come across anyone who is doing what you’re doing. This is exactly what is needed, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to see this take shape the way you are doing it. It’s the missing piece in the global fight against climate change.”
Problem
Climate change is arguably the single largest threat to humanity. This presents two key problems we intend to address:
- People are disempowered in the face of this issue. Whether alarmed, concerned or frustrated with continual bad news about climate change, people want an actionable access to making a difference. They are a growing market that, for the most part, is not yet mobilized.
- Nothing the world has come up with to deal with climate change has been sufficient to meet the scope and urgency of the challenge. Right now, without intervention, where we are headed is close to a 5°C (9°F) temperature increase. And, after 21 years of negotiations, the first and only global agreement (COP 21) on the issue puts us on track for an increase of 3°C (5.4°F). And it doesn’t go into effect until 2020. Meanwhile, according to the UNEP Emissions Gap Report, putting ourselves on track for limiting global warming to 2°C (which is recommended) requires reducing global annual emissions by 8 gigatons (billion metric tons) by 2020. This is a gap no entity has sufficiently accounted for. It can be very challenging to confront these facts, but every year we delay the necessary actions, it becomes harder and harder to shift the trajectory.
Solution
2020 or Bust is based on the premise that since the sum of national policy action is failing to rise to the climate challenge, actions by individual global citizens are needed to put us on a path to stay below 2°C warming, both as a complement to national action by governments and industries and as a mobilizing force to ramp up ambition. 2020 or Bust offers each person the opportunity to be a part of resolving the climate crisis by making the issue simple, actionable and fun.
We are out to empower individuals and households, in community with others locally and globally, to embrace the reality of what it will actually take to end the crisis, to take responsibility for this challenge and to rise to the occasion as those who will make it happen.
Our customer is the 1 in 14 world citizens that want to be part of solving the biggest challenge that humankind has ever faced. We also serve the organizations and cities that desperately want to motivate the global community in resolving the climate crisis.
Next week there will be two 2020 or Bust events in Austin that you are invited to attend.
Thursday, September 1 at 6 pm, is a fundraiser for 2020 or Bust. This is a ticketed, invitation-only event, so if you would like more details please email Janis at janisbookout@workableworld.com.
Friday, September 2, at 6:30 pm, the Austin Green Room is hosting an informational session for anyone who wants to know more about 2020 or Bust. Tickets are $10. For more information and to buy tickets go to The 2020 or Bust Austin September Event Page.
