The Vow 2 Act

Versions of the Vow 2 Act and this introduction were published with a poem in Unpsychology Magazine’s Climate Minds Anthology ‘What can be done?’ section (2018). In 2023, beginning with participation in Quaker Institute for the Future’s Summer Seminar, the introduction and Vow were updated to include others’ reflections on integrity and to clarify that this is a vow to practice careful discernment and precaution rather than an oath or pledge to specific actions. The Vow itself is a series of questions to ask ourselves before further activity (word and deed).

The Vow 2 Act

on the Interrelated Global Warming and Biodiversity Crises

In 2014, glaciologist Eric Rignot suggested that there may yet be a chance to slow down the West Antarctic ice sheet’s rapid irreversible decline and “a different level of communication” is required to translate the gravity of what he and his colleagues see. Written in 2016 as a practice response to Eric Rignot’s call, the Vow 2 Act is a commitment to discernment toward integrity with emphasis that role modeling helpful behavior is the different level of communication most needed—role modeling is essential for leadership, all role models are leaders, and we role model with every motion.

On Inconsistency, Integrity, and Understanding

George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers), spoke to the depravity of inconsistency in word and deed. This depravity not only affects one’s personal sense of integrity creating internal conflict but also leaves one open to justifiable criticism, which risks defeating the cause whatever the cause may be. In a Democracy NOW! interview during COP28, professor of energy and climate change Kevin Anderson articulates this point on the importance of personal integrity for empathy and credibility toward system change:

“The only merit of individuals making changes is that when we speak to others, we can talk from a position of some understanding of how difficult that is or how easy that is. ... And that’s important—they’re two sides of the same coin: System change also requires personal change. They are the same thing.” (Anderson, Democracy NOW!, 2023, December 7)

Only when we attempt personal integrity do we understand how challenging this is within a system that is out of integrity. This understanding through experience includes how essential community support and comradery is to our personal efforts. The No Fly Climate Science community sets an example of this as members face challenges together with real hope to turn the tide.

The Vow 2 Act is offered for this reason: “a sense of community of persons” (Cooper, Pendle Hill, page 24) helps us maintain personal integrity especially when doing so is extremely challenging as we navigate unjust systems to survive. The intention is to support an open sense of community absent a sense of superiority among those in agreement with this commitment to steady discernment toward personal and socioecological integrity.

The Vow 2 Act influences all daily exchanges (ex. communications, sales, and purchases) and applies to our personal and professional lives. What does it mean to act on climate and biodiversity crises? is a question that each person must answer for themselves given their lot—location, age, financial status, sex, gender, education, profession, primary relationships, and primary responsibilities. The Vow 2 Act is thus non-blaming/shaming and non-specific. We remain agents of our own conscience and freewill as we observe and endure more or less the direct and indirect consequences of our actions.

Focusing on personal and corporate power in the marketplace, the Vow specifically answers to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) Target 16 of the 23 Targets to be achieved by 2030:

“Ensure that people are encouraged and enabled to make sustainable consumption choices including by establishing supportive policy, legislative or regulatory frameworks, improving education and access to relevant and accurate information and alternatives, and by 2030, reduce the global footprint of consumption in an equitable manner, halve global food waste, significantly reduce overconsumption and substantially reduce waste generation, in order for all people to live well in harmony...” - CBD Press Release 12.19.22

The Hour of Emergency

It seems fair to say we are in a state of planetary emergency that requires an emergency response in all sectors. The West Antarctic ice sheet may already be past a climate tipping point—“when change in part of the climate system becomes (i) self-perpetuating beyond (ii) a warming threshold as a result of asymmetry in the relevant feedbacks, leading to (iii) substantial and widespread Earth system impacts” (Armstrong et al, Science)—and “more than 42,100 species [are] threatened with extinction, including 41% of amphibians, 37% of sharks and rays, 36% of reef building corals, 34% of conifers, 27% of mammals and 13% of birds” (IUCN Red List). Threatened species need our help and we can be their bridges particularly when it comes to climate action.

But while we are at it, humans need foremost to be bridges for one another. How greenhouse gas drawdown and the 30x30 and Half Earth goals are accomplished will determine whether success means a continuation of inequalities and abuses or a return to compassionate socioeconomic policies and practices. Like world peace, one could reasonably assess that these ecological goals are not attainable without socioeconomic equality. And, success is possible with right sharing, an emphasis on energy efficiency, public and pedestrian transit, waste reduction, and sincere investment in the revival of biological and cultural diversity toward thriving local and regional economies of the “global village.” We can do this.

Vow 2 Act

(Reads We as I/Me as Us)

Solutions aren’t solutions unless implemented. With intent to first do no harm, we vow to act in helpful ways, causing as little harm as possible in accordance with our capacity and ability. Choosing collectively healthy options, we vow to practice compassion with kindness, including the basics of self-care, ask others for help as needed, and assist others to the best of our ability. As life-long learners, we appreciate that there is always more to know. We also recognize the limitations of mechanistic science and, thus, practice precaution.

Before activity (word and deed), we vow to practice steady discernment and ask, 

• Is this honest, loving/kind, compassionate, and generous within our means?

• Is this activity healthy for me and others?

• Does this activity reflect what we already know?

• What more do we need to know before we act?

• Is there a collectively healthier option available?

• If a collectively healthier option doesn’t exist, how may we help bring such an option into existence?

Reading and online resources:

Rignot Research Group - University of California Irvine

Kevin Anderson - Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research

Right Relationship: Building a Whole Earth Economy by Peter G. Brown and Geoffrey Garver with Keith Helmuth, Robert Howell and Steve Szeghi (Berrett-Koehler, 2009)

Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh (HarperOne, 2021)

Climate Toolkit: A Resource Manual for Science and Action - Version 2.0 by Frank Granshaw (Portland State University, 2020)

7 Essential Ingredients for Transition - Transition Network

More books through Quaker Institute for the Future - Advancing a global future of inclusion, social justice and ecological integrity through participatory research and discernment.

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