Bringing the “Swim Drink Fish prism” to the Climate Summit of the Americas
Windsurfer looking for speed outside of the Eastern Channel. (Photo by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper)
This week, I’ll be in Mexico as a panelist at the Climate Summit of the Americas.
As the event approaches, I’m considering why we’re gathering and what we’re aiming to achieve. Climate change is a very large issue. As an environmental lawyer who has fought for clean water for over 25 years, taking on climate change as a whole can seem overwhelming.
This is why I believe we – community members, industry, politicians – need a different perspective. You can't move the enormous challenge of climate change without starting small.
Look at water.
We all know water sustains us. We need it to survive. And we need clean water for communities to prosper. Really understanding this idea, at its core, is what I believe will help drive the fight against climate change.
We all need to tie everything to the idea of swim drink fish.
If you can’t swim or touch the water, if you can’t drink the water, and if you can’t eat the fish from the water, how is your community supposed to move forward? In the bigger picture, if we can’t help our communities progress, how are states, provinces, and countries supposed to prosper?
Start questioning how your actions, industry’s actions, and political decisions affect the swimmability, drinkability, and fishability of your water.
If we can all look at everything through what I call a “Swim Drink Fish prism,” the bigger problem of climate change starts to break down.
The swim drink fish circles are the small gears needed to propel the fight on climate change. Those 3 circles can create the conditions precedent to building momentum and empowering communities.
Without that, our actions are ultimately ineffective. There will be a lot of effort and a lot of push, but little movement forward. And we need to move forward.
