Facing the climate crisis is about knowing the difference between right and wrong, warns Karenna Gore
During a visit to Brasil, the daughter of former U.S. Vice President Mr. Al Gore and coordinator of the Global Ethical Stocktake (GES) for North America, said that addressing climate change transcends political ideologies. She stated that the United States lives under the fallacy of a development model that disregards the importance of the environment.
By Laura Marques | COP30
Ms. Karenna Gore, the eldest daughter of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, said this week in Brasília (DF) that tackling climate change is a matter of knowing how to distinguish between right and wrong. She is a co-organizer of the Global Ethical Stocktake for North America, at the invitation of Minister of the Environment and Climate Change (Meio Ambiente e da Mudança do Clima/MMA), Ms. Marina Silva, and the founder of the Center for Earth Ethics. This institution works to integrate the world’s faith and wisdom traditions into the discussion of the moral and spiritual dimensions of the climate crisis.
“This crisis is about who we are as human beings, how we manage to make collective decisions, and what we deeply care about. In a way, it is about knowing the difference between right and wrong and understanding what that means for our behavior,” she emphasized.
She is visiting Brasil to participate in the "Faith in Climate" interfaith event in the federal capital. It is a symbolic, spiritual, and political gathering that contributes to building Brasil's ethical participation in the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), by gathering religious leaders from different traditions, Indigenous peoples, youth, scientists, authorities, and activists to reaffirm spirituality as a mobilizing force. “[The climate crisis] calls us to seek strength in something greater than ourselves,” Ms. Gore stressed.
Brazilian Leadership
Ms. Karenna Gore stated that she sees Brasil as playing an important leadership role in addressing climate change, as it is a nation with vast preserved biocultural heritage, while also acknowledging the U.S.'s contribution to the problem.
“In my part of the world, we have an enormous responsibility for the burden we’ve placed on others [through development], but we also experience the fallacies of a development paradigm that fails to understand that nature is essential to our health and well-being. So now is the moment for us to be humble in my part of the world, and we are looking to Brasil's leadership and wisdom to help us build a better path. I have great faith that COP30 is this moment,” she declared.
Global Ethical Stocktake
The coordinator of the Global Ethical Stocktake for North America stressed that, in the face of climate change denialist discourses, it is necessary to address the issue regardless of ideological lines. “This goes deeper than politics, much more important than whoever happens to be president at a given time. It’s about the future of our species, and also about the interconnected web of life, with all the living beings with whom we share this world. It’s something we need to reflect on in terms of our deepest values and our conscience,” she underlined.
“Every difficulty is just a new challenge for us to work through deeply and overcome, and I believe we will do so. I feel that my country—like many others—is going through a moment that will pass, and from it, we will be able to grow into our best version in partnership with other nations,” she concluded.