Morgan Freeman’s Words On The Environment Are As Relevant Today As They Were When They Were Said Half A Billion People Ago
In 2014 a short film was presented to 162 heads of state at the United Nations Climate Summit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The film was entitled ‘What’s Possible’ and was narrated by Hollywood A-List actor Morgan Freeman to a background of music composed by Hans Zimmer, the Oscar winning German musician responsible for the soundtracks to blockbuster films Gladiator, Pirates Of The Caribbean, and The Lion King.
The film, received with rapturous applause, caused Ban Ki Moon to become quite sentimental, noting it took him back to his childhood, a childhood of dreams about a better future – many of which came true. His hope was that this film would inspire others to dream and make a better world. He ended his speech with the line:
“We are not here to talk. We are here to make history’
That was five years ago – or to put it another way. That was before almost half a billion extra people were added to the world.
Much has happened since 2014 – good and bad. Some countries, companies and individuals have strived to be better, but most have ignored the message that we need to live differently or the consequences will be catastrophic. Some decided five years ago they were going to make history – some chose simply to talk.
Today, as Ban Ki Moon and most of the leaders who were there back at the 2014 United Nations Climate Summit have now been replaced in their respective countries by new leaders, perhaps it is time once again to remind these new leaders of what is possible if they truly decide not to talk – but to make history.
‘The words … should be heard again before another half a billion people find themselves … dreaming of a better world’
The words, like a 21st Century wake-up call, should be heard again before another half a billion people find themselves alive on a dying planet Earth, let down by older generations, and dreaming of a better world.
The words, actually more poetry, were as follows:
One day, we will wake up to find that the energy that powers the alarm clock came from the breeze through the trees, the night before.
And we will go to work that morning riding the rays of the Sun. It will light our cities and power our businesses.
It will warm our homes and cool our workplaces. It will reduce sources of conflict and fuel our economies.
It will connect us all.
It won’t scar the land or poison the seas.
The food we eat will be good for our bodies and good for the planet.
And the weather that day won’t make us worry for tomorrow.
There will be more jobs and less disease.
The sea level will stop rising and species will stop dying.
The question is, how do we get to that day from where we are today, all 7.3 billion of us.
We start by deciding that beyond our doubts and differences such a day truly exists and that is something each of us can do today.
We can make today the day we stop thinking that the changes required to get there are impossible, and beyond us and start realising that they are not only possible but what the future requires of us.
We must stop turning from the warnings of science and fear and denial and instead turn toward the solutions and partnerships we need.
We can make today the day we stop pointing at each other in blame and instead chart a new course together.
We have never faced a crisis this big – but we have never had a better opportunity to solve it.
We have everything we need to wake up to a different kind of world.
We need our leaders to be brave and their choices to be bold.
They will either remember us as the generation that destroyed its home, or the one that finally came to respect it.
We have every reason in the world to act.
We can’t wait until tomorrow. This is our only home.
You can choose today to make a world of difference.
Beautiful words and inspirational to anyone who has a heart or cares about the future of mankind. That said, practical ‘can do’ measures are really the things that are most needed and there is one line that is worth remembering if these are to happen:
“We have never faced a crisis this big – but we have never had a better opportunity to solve it”
