In the throes of some of the most heated NBA playoffs, with the scoreboard against us, I've found myself, more than once, caught in a moment that demanded every ounce of determination, every shred of belief in the possibility of victory.
Today, I maintain that same unwavering belief, against the odds, but this time the opponent isn’t the Philadelphia 76ers, but an unprecedented, global climate crisis.
"We are moving from a situation of global warming to global boiling," UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently warned. A statement as unsettling as the fact that 2023’s Earth Overshoot Day, the date we exhaust the natural resources our planet can provide for the entire year, falls on Aug. 2–the third earliest in history.
I like to think of this as blowing through all of one’s energy reserves by halftime in a Championship game. The second half becomes an arduous struggle, an uphill battle, leading to potential burnout and long-lasting physical damage. Except, in this case, the “second half” of the year brings with it the irrevocable acceleration toward climate disaster. We've entered the danger zone, and will now be rapidly draining our ecological resources and sending carbon emissions through the roof.
At this rate, the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius appears more elusive than ever. Countries that sit in the “climate disaster alley,” like my home nation of The Bahamas, will continue to be hit the hardest as the frequency and ferocity of extreme weather events increase.
So, how can we, collectively, make a comeback and rise to meet this daunting opponent? We can again look to sports for the answer: Through resilience, adaptability, discipline, and teamwork.
In basketball, resilience means more than recovering from a failed shot. It's about getting back on defense and readying for an opportunity to execute our next offensive play. Humanity will require resilience as we navigate a hotter, more uncertain world. What we do today will determine how strong we are tomorrow.
Adaptability is about adjusting our game plan when things aren't working out. On the court, you change your tactics to outwit your opponent. In the face of climate change, we must choose to do things differently.
Teamwork provides the foundation for any successful comeback. In the climate battle, it's about unity of purpose among nations, corporations, communities, and individuals. This means that the success we celebrated at COP27, where we brokered deals and forged partnerships, must not only be repeated at COP28 but should also be amplified. Together, we can decarbonize hard-to-abate industries and make strides toward a sustainable future.
As we pause to acknowledge the damage we’ve inflicted on the natural world, it’s important not to let our heads drop. We may be down, but we’re not out.
I know all too well what it feels like to be down 20 in the fourth quarter. I know what it feels like to look at the scoreboard and think a win is impossible. This might be how most of us feel when we think about the deficit of action surrounding climate change. But coming from behind is possible–when you focus on one possession, one small decision, one smart adaptation, one collaborative effort at a time.
This is my hope for us as teammates on this Earth Overshoot Day–that we gather ourselves at half time, wipe ourselves down from the sweat of the 120-degree summers we’re now facing, and return to the second half of this year determined to show our mettle.
Let’s not chuck in the towel just yet. We still have time, but we must act now.
Rick Fox is a three-time NBA champion & CEO and co-founder of Partanna Global, a climate tech company that develops carbon-negative concrete.
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