On June 2nd, Soulpepper Theatre Company, Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT), and Artists for Real Climate Action (ARCA) hosted “The Green Sessions: A Day of Learning”. OC staff attended and were blown away! As we explore and contextualize the implications of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for Canadian orchestras under OC’s 2021-2024 strategic framework, this afternoon of learning offered insights into a key question: What could our artistic responses to the climate crisis accomplish?
The Green Sessions: A Day of Learning comprised plenary sessions with renowned speakers as well as anumber of breakout sessions to explore specific aspects of the climate emergency in detail. Presenters included Melina Laboucan-Massimo, the Hon. Steven Guilbeault, Jesse Wente, Seth Klein, Annamie Paul, Dale Marshall, Kendra Falconi, David Maggs, Carolynne Crawley, Alanna Mitchell, Toby Heaps, Matt Millares, Gabrielle Bastien, Batul Gulamhusein and Emma Stenning.
Below, you’ll find a few key takeaways:
Indigenous Worldviews at the Forefront
The day began with a heartfelt presentation from Melina Laboucan-Massimo (founder of Sacred Earth Solar and co-founder of Indigenous Climate Action). Melina’s home community is Lubicon Lake Cree First Nation in Little Buffalo, Alberta – situated in the heart of the Boreal Forest and the Alberta oil sands. Melina emphasized the power of Indigenous worldviews to address the climate crisis by valuing reciprocity with mother Earth as well as collective care structures and governance. Melina also reflected on the impact of intergenerational trauma on First Nations people brought on by environmental racism (such as an oil spill in Melina’s home community), residential schools, and centuries of colonialism. For Indigenous peoples in Canada, cultural and environmental genocide are connected, as continued destruction of the land or removal of Indigenous peoples from their lands also contributes to the destruction of Indigenous ways of life. In our fight for climate justice, it is imperative to acknowledge the strength of Indigenous worldviews to inform paths forward as well as pain, exhaustion and trauma Indigenous communities face amidst settler colonialism. Orchestras Canada stands in solidarity with the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people on the frontlines of the fight for environmental justice.
Watch Melina’s keynote, “Indigenous Issues and the Climate Emergency,” here
Storytelling’s Superpower: Inspiring Action and Change
In his keynote, The Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Canadian Heritage) drew from his experience working in environmental activism prior to joining the House of Commons. He mused on the limitations of climate communication focusing on dreadful statistics or doom, expressing his belief in the connection between the arts and a new wave of more effective climate communication focused on instilling hope to inspire action.
In his keynote, Jesse Wente (Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts) emphasized the power of art to “liberate our imaginations” to envision better futures than what capitalism and colonialism currently offer, socially and environmentally. Further, he argued that storytelling is “crisis resistant” — as artists, we have the power to reframe and raise the profile of the climate emergency, within and beyond our sector, starting any time. We can use art to communicate and vivify our current emergency and our futures; to mobilize communities and inspire new thinking about our present and future relationships with the Earth. For example, through partnerships with scientists and environmental organizations, The Only Animal uses theatre to foster a “love story” between audiences and the natural world.
Watch Minister Guilbeault’s keynote, “The Climate Emergency and Politics,” here
Watch Jesse’s keynote, “The Climate Emergency and Culture,” here
Rallying Around The Emergency
Author Seth Klein’s keynote presentation distilled the arguments from his recent book, A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency, connecting the lessons from large-scale mobilization around the Second World War to our present-day climate crisis. Every great mobilization needs the arts! For example, looking back to World War II, artists played a critical role in helping to sell war bonds, creating paintings of the front lines, and producing relevant music. It was an era when art and hope met to motivate people amidst an incredible challenge.
Seth argues that prior to going into “emergency mode” to address a crisis, societies usually experience a denial period (you may be familiar with this challenge in the climate sense…). According to Seth, the four markers of when a government has upgraded its efforts to emergency mode are:
- Spending whatever it takes to “win”
- Creating new institutions to get it done
- Turning voluntary/incentive-based policies into mandatory measures
- Telling the truth to communicate the sense of emergency
As of yet, no Canadian political party meets all four markers regarding the climate emergency. Take the COVID-19 pandemic for comparison; these 4 markers were hit very quickly in Canada! The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) estimates that the government spends $5 billion a year on the climate emergency, and $5 billion a week on the COVID-19 pandemic. We saw extraordinary spending to protect our population against the threat of COVID-19, which (Seth argues) demonstrates that these funds have always been available for emergencies — they just haven’t been allocated to issues like climate change. With the majority of Canadian leaders not acting as if climate change is an emergency, our greenhouse gas emission levels are not reducing at the rate needed to meet the crisis looming. Currently, all measures are voluntary and, thus, easy to ignore.
Watch Seth’s keynote, “The Climate Emergency and the Artists,” here
Artists Leading
Personal contributions matter, but if we want significant changes, we need the government to act. As multiple speakers noted, we have 11 years to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions enough to avoid catastrophic climate change. Annamie Paul (Leader of the Green Party of Canada) reminded attendees that Canada ranks among the top five countries in the world for greenhouse gas emissions per capita, with the worst reduction records among the G7. Since signing the Paris agreement in 2016, our emissions have actually increased every year – not declined. If we want to reduce emissions by 60% by 2030, Annamie argues that we need carbon budgets and big changes. By and large, the public recognizes the scale of our emergency – but why don’t our political leaders? How can we motivate them, or increase the number of people in politics willing to act on the climate crisis? Annamie encouraged artists to run for politics, to take up seats at the table with our voices advocating for climate action and the vitality of our sector.
Watch Annamie’s keynote, “Climate Action and Policy,” here
The Green Sessions: A Day of Learning was inspiring and shed light on how artists and arts organizations can engage our skills to champion change together. Stay tuned to Soulpepper Theatre for news on upcoming Green Sessions: A Day of Training and A Day of Action which are scheduled for late August/early September (exact dates TBC). You can reach Soulpepper Theatre at greensessions@soulpepper.ca and can view all recordings from The Green Sessions in this YouTube playlist: The Green Sessions: Day of Learning recordings