As parents, Steve and I talk a lot about the decisions we need to make today, from a climate emergency perspective, to ensure we can map out a secure future for our children - or as secure a future as is possible. In many ways, we’re lucky, because we have options to live in different parts of the world. The majority of humanity do not have these options, which is why it’s critical we act now to reduce the severity of the climate emergency.
We’re doing a terrible job with refugees now. How bad will it be when millions or billions of climate refugees turn up on our doorstep? We can not let that happen.
Every increase in temperature means an increase in impact on our children’s future lives, and while so much is unknown, and the outcomes uncertain, Steve and I are actively paying attention, so we can be prepared to make the right decisions for them. It’s definitely not about us. It’s all about them now.
So are you having the same conversations? Or perhaps it’s too confronting? When I first started having these conversations with Steve, it was definitely confronting for him. He wasn’t paying attention like I was, but as we’ve explored this more – especially in the last 12 months to two years - we are becoming more aligned on the need to make the right decisions now, to ensure they have the best chance in their future. This includes the skills they need to develop, how we speak to them about the climate emergency, and so much more.
We’d love to know if sharing this conversation with you is valuable, so please, drop me a line. You can find me @AndreaTEdwards or @UncommonCourage. Keen to talk and explore this topic more. I also know, that once you think about it from this point of view, you start to think about the climate emergency with a whole new lens. It gives you the impetus to act, because you do not want that for your children.
The job needs to be done now, not when they’re old enough. We’ll be out of time if we wait for the kids to grow up, and that is absolutely out of the question for me. It’s our job to do, all of us.
#UncommonCourage #ClimateEmergency
To get in touch with me, all of my contact details are here https://linktr.ee/andreatedwards
My book Uncommon Courage, an invitation, is here https://mybook.to/UncommonCourage
My book 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, is here https://mybook.to/18stepstoanallstar
As parents, Steve and I talk a lot about the decisions we need to make today, from a climate emergency perspective, to ensure we can map out a secure future for our children - or as secure a future as is possible. In many ways, we’re lucky, because we have options to live in different parts of the world. The majority of humanity do not have these options, which is why it’s critical we act now to reduce the severity of the climate emergency.
We’re doing a terrible job with refugees now. How bad will it be when millions or billions of climate refugees turn up on our doorstep? We can not let that happen.
Every increase in temperature means an increase in impact on our children’s future lives, and while so much is unknown, and the outcomes uncertain, Steve and I are actively paying attention, so we can be prepared to make the right decisions for them. It’s definitely not about us. It’s all about them now.
So are you having the same conversations? Or perhaps it’s too confronting? When I first started having these conversations with Steve, it was definitely confronting for him. He wasn’t paying attention like I was, but as we’ve explored this more – especially in the last 12 months to two years - we are becoming more aligned on the need to make the right decisions now, to ensure they have the best chance in their future. This includes the skills they need to develop, how we speak to them about the climate emergency, and so much more.
We’d love to know if sharing this conversation with you is valuable, so please, drop me a line. You can find me @AndreaTEdwards or @UncommonCourage. Keen to talk and explore this topic more. I also know, that once you think about it from this point of view, you start to think about the climate emergency with a whole new lens. It gives you the impetus to act, because you do not want that for your children.
The job needs to be done now, not when they’re old enough. We’ll be out of time if we wait for the kids to grow up, and that is absolutely out of the question for me. It’s our job to do, all of us.
#UncommonCourage #ClimateEmergency
To get in touch with me, all of my contact details are here https://linktr.ee/andreatedwards
My book Uncommon Courage, an invitation, is here https://mybook.to/UncommonCourage
My book 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, is here https://mybook.to/18stepstoanallstar
Welcome back, Steve, thanks so much for asking me. Well, we were having a very interesting conversation last night. And I think it's a conversation a lot of parents around the world are having, or if they're not having, they're probably thinking about different aspects of raising children today, you know, we're seeing a movement of young children saying they're not going to have children, because they don't believe that the future is going to be a safe environment to have children in, we've got eco anxiety on the rising young people, we've got suicides on the rise. And obviously, the pandemic hasn't helped. And as far as being parents today goes, I think, you know, it's a, it's a really challenging time to be a parent and to know what's next. And I just thought it would be valuable, just to share some of the conversations we're having. Because I think we're both in different places, as far as our understanding of what the future looks like, you know, I'm sinking really deep into a lot of the climate stuff, so you don't have to, but we're also talking about the future and making plans and thinking about what's next. And I don't know, I just thought it would be a valuable conversation to share for other parents out there who are either having similar conversations or don't even know where to start having the conversations, or maybe one of the parents thinking the same things we are, but the other parent isn't even acknowledging it. But you know, I think there is going to be a bit of a crisis on our hands as far as parents go, not just as far as the kids go. But what's the right decisions for us to make today to help ensure that our children have a Livable Future? So anyway, I know you don't really want to have this conversation. But I do think it's an important one. So I do appreciate you saying yes, it's just a little bit confronting, as we discuss. But you're right. I mean, you and I, I mean, you're much more informed than I am. So it's good to have a discussion. We're fortunate where we live in that most people are probably genuinely more aware, environmentally. However, there's lots of people that don't know how to put that into practice beyond trying not to buy plastic water bottles and stuff like that. So I think it's a good conversation to have. Yeah, and the boys are obviously exceptionally lucky with the school that they're going to at UW see Thailand. It's an amazingly beautiful school that is focusing on the whole child, but sustainability is huge part of what they're learning on a day to day basis. And that is exceptional. So I think the boys are very lucky in but they're also more aware, which means that has ramifications at home as well, right? Because they want to talk about this stuff, and it scares them. Well, yes. And no, they've been brought up in an incredibly sort of aware environment around the sustainability and climate change, you know, so they spend their time in sort of replanting mango pods and stuff like that. And if you weren't as well read, then we'd be scratching your head going, like, What the bloody hell's this? But what do you mean, we got to replant stuff? What's the problem with plastic plastics been there all along? So there's probably quite a lot of parents out there in that kind of environment, saying, What can we do? Because the kids are coming home saying, you know, I remember Jack's coming home. Oh, you shouldn't use that you should turn the tap off. You shouldn't do this. You shouldn't do that. Okay, I'm having long showers son. Yeah, that'd be that'd be a good start, Jack. But it's, it's true. You know, just because the kids are being educated on it, it doesn't mean that the parents are. So if you're a parent, that's kind of going okay, what can I do, because we get to come in home saying we got to be more environmentally aware, you know, so hopefully, there's a few things that they can do. And then that filters down into the whole family. It's funny, I agree. And I disagree with that. Because the kids are getting this incredible education and learning about sustainability. They're, they're participating in service and activities within the environment and the community, but then they want the latest iPhone, you know, and, you know, probably one of our boys more than the other is, he likes his stuff. And they like the big brands, and they're really getting sucked into the marketing message of the time for them and their age, and what's appropriate. And I find that so frustrating, because, you know, the boys are very fortunate, we get them everything that they need. The once or another is another layer. And we're, you know, we're actively trying to reduce any stuff coming into our house, it is wasteful, anything that goes out of the house, right. But look, that's not a new thing that I mean, kids being marketed to, I mean, just the differences they're being marketed instead of on the TV watch with mother in the UK, or Jackanory or Blue Peter, instead of being marketed. They're being marketed to online, and we don't get visibility on that. So you're right. It is a conundrum. That's it's concerning, right? Because they're learning so much beautiful information at school, but when they get out of school, when they're in those online and digital environments, when they're with their peers. They're not putting two and two together between, you know, the damage of mass consumerism and the planet. And for one of our boys, he's great. He, he asked for very little You know, he's just not he's not interested in following the crowd where the other one's a little bit more inclined towards following the crowd and, but it's confusing. It's confusing what the kids want because we have this conversation with with our youngest lads. He loves sort of flashy sort of bling. I mean, there was a conversation about getting diamond clip on teeth. Do you remember Christmas last year? I'm going to like not hard stop on that dude. That's not happening. He wants to be like Goldie. But then he also wanted some Balenciaga 's right which, like, a newsflash never going to happen. But then if he did get Balenciaga, as he was going to go, he was worried about being called a flexor. So kids nowadays are kind of screwed if they're doing screwed if they don't, they've been told they want the flashiest gear, but if they do get the flashiest gear, they're being accused of being a flexor, whatever that is. So it must be a confusing time for a kid to grow up, throw into the mix, the environment, climate change, but how it's going to impact them? You know, so how do we help them? Yeah. So one of the things that we have not arguments about, but we don't necessarily agree on is what's important from an educational perspective. For them, you grew up in the British system, I grew up in the Australian system. They're very, very, very different systems. The English system is, you know, from a really young age, the testing starts and the Australian system was a lot sort of free air. And, you know, it wasn't as stringent when we look around the world, the people that we've worked with the CEOs of some of the biggest global companies, Australians are up there with the English, you know, from a numbers perspective, you know, the system I grew up with works. The other thing that I really think is important is the other stuff, like, you know, music and, and we both agree on sport, obviously. But from an academic perspective, I mean, one of our fellows probably won't graduate school, probably like other kids, he might have to go on to do school for a few more years afterwards to be able to catch up based on what happened when he was little, but I don't have any concerns about his future. I think he's gonna be fine. He's super smart. He's a researcher, and he goes deep onto all the topics that he loves. And he goes so deep, and he knows everything about everything he needs to know whether it's Motley Crue or dinosaurs, or what is it the Sonoran Desert? I mean, he's dog. Yeah, he just he guitars right now, queen, yeah, who all the band members are married to their children are by their mothers were drug addicts and committed suicide. Yeah. All right. So I'm not worried about that, because he's curiosity is massive, but he won't necessarily be able to get the piece of paper at the end of it. And I know, that's something that concerns you a lot as far as his futures concerns, whereas I'm not all on one, as I keep saying to the boys with scope, is your day, you're not doing anything else, make the most of it. Okay. And regardless of what you want to do, make sure that you don't close any doors down now, from overtly dicking around, not concentrating, not turning up not trying, you know, just don't close any doors. And I speak about that from experience in making an incredibly stupid decision. When I had taken the decision to stay on at school for an extra two years and do a levels at school. And then halfway through, I wanted to opt out and get a trade I wanted to be a plaster. And I wasn't allowed to it was frowned upon, by means of revenge, you know, this will learn, I deliberately through the last six months of my A levels and didn't really try that hard and walked away with one, which is as much good as a chocolate teapot. Because it didn't get you into any college. Further Education, Polytechnic, as they were called, let alone University University needs three or four years. So I shut that door and then gave myself an incredibly hard three or four years afterwards, getting back to where I should have left school, we're having the options to go on to either a move to another country, or be get a tertiary education. So I just don't want them to close any doors. You've got another saying I like there's nothing worse than wasted talent. That's something you say to them a lot. I like that. You were talking about one of our kids. It seems like we have an absolute opposite. We've got one that really struggles but never stops fight. And we got another one that's got all the talent in the world never starts trying. Yeah. And he drives me insane. Yeah, but I think he's getting there. I think he's to me, you know, when I think back to my education, so, you know, I went through to graduated, not brilliant marks, but enough to get into university. I went did my university degree and I just did it right. So it was a different journey to you. It was, I reckon I was about 14, maybe 15 where I made the decision to start working. And so when I look at the boys, like I know that forcing them is not going to force forcing me is not going to get any results. I know it's going to be the same for them. So what I'm always trying to think is, how can I encourage them. But I'm always looking for that moment, you know, like, Lexi's just started practicing guitar every day. And I've been dreaming of one of my kids picking up music and getting stuck into it by their own choice rather than by pressure for me, because that's why I don't play piano today, because I was forced. So I don't want to force the kids I want them to choose. And I want to encourage them, because I think that's the only way to get a kid to really embrace and love what they do. I think we've always, we've always approached it as pulling rather than pushing. And then it gets to the point where you need to push. And then if you don't jump high enough, you get a pretty big push. And, and we did that this time last year. You remember this time last year, this time last year, there were some bad reports that came back. And so from now until Christmas, there was no access to certain piece of technology. And boy, oh boy was that a turnaround. It doesn't matter how we discuss it either forcefully either compassionately, either incredibly intellectually about the future and all the rest of it. At the end of the day. If schoolwork is not done, and we're now well and truly in the realms of homework, and it's full on and self organization, if it's not done, there are consequences. And for one of our boys, he just doesn't care that there's consequences, he will happily, fudge is way out. Any situation isn't very smart talking. It's positive quality in a negative quality that charm. So well. Okay, positives got a broad based word. Negative is probably a little bit too. It's a good, eloquent communication is great. But I don't understand the concept of like, there is no consequences. And so you and I will kind of butt heads every now and then on consequences. And I like rap, it's like it now. It's the only way that he listens. And we agree to disagree, invariably, in your favor, necessarily, it's only happened once in the last year. So I'd say that the odds are stacked in your favor, I don't think you can deny that. So we've got pop 26 This week, and the best possible outcome is a 1.8 degrees global warming and we're at 1.1 degrees, now we can see what's happening around the world. 1.8 is disastrous. Once we get over 1.5 much the world becomes too hot to leave. So unless you know really drastic things happen, the future for our children is looking very, very challenging. It's going to be challenging for them to define the future that they want for themselves, because there's a lot of unknown looking ahead. What other skills do you think matter for them for kids today? I think the number one skill that we can teach them in some self organization, you know, the ability to assess a situation, prioritize what needs to be done, execute on an action in certain order. And that's not taught at school, it's kind of encouraged with the whole sort of, sort of visibility, transparency, things like that. So I think that's the first one. I mean, you and I talk about on a slightly more extreme version, you know, learning Hunter gathering type basic skills, ability to not live off the land, but ability to at least recognize what's going to kill you if you eat it and what what isn't? Yeah, it's about much is that with my three, which is the need to learn how to fight, how to shoot and how to grow stuff. Something we've been talking about for a while and we were shooting ones were you interested says you want to have a gun in the house? No, but that's um, but you know, I learned how to shoot in the military. And in order for the boys to learn how to shoot, I want them to learn it in a way that shows deep, deep respect for the weapon. And I have changed my mind. I don't want a gun in the house. But I have changed my mind that I think it would be a good thing for the boys to learn how to use weapons, which I hate having to say that but you know, I'm staring the future in the face and trying to accept it fighting. They're doing some great work with Chris McDonald here. And they're getting strong. Their muscles are growing, the confidence is growing, which is a really important thing. I think fighting is a little bit of a generalization just being fitness away. Then being able to take care of themselves. And self defense. Yeah, and it's I don't want them fighting. If they're getting into a situation whether it's a bar fight in the UK with someone with a broken glass bottle, or a Mad Max future. They need to be able to take care of themselves and then the planting I think is really important. Knowing how to plant food. When we first went into the pandemic, we didn't practically had nothing growing that we could eat in our home. Now we're surrounded by papaya trees, lemon and lime trees. A herb garden. What else have we got growing? We've got an avocado plant Ain't growing, we got loads of stuff growing and most of that's obviously big. I mean, it helps living in the tropics for stuff grows in like five minutes. Yeah, it's amazing what's growing. But yeah, and then we're also fortunate what that school want to teach us that I've been so touched. Jack's his life his crew need, you know, he's a keen horticulturalist. And, yeah, I think that's a good thing, going back to the fighting thing. They can look after themselves at 13 and 14. And I can speak from experience I got between them on Friday night, and I'll tell you why I'm never doing that and nearly got chewed up Sunday. Night after that, I'm stepping back and selling tickets next Sunday start going at each other. Okay, so just drilling down on that having the self awareness and the maturity to learn when you unleash those skills, you know, and when you can get yourself out of it by talking. So but I think a lot of it stems back to the self organization side of things, and have encouraged to make decisions. Yeah, and the courage to lead, I think is another important quality I'd like, you know, to, if I can help them, you know, step into that, you know, Lexi's doing is Duke of Edinburgh. And I think a big part of that is leadership. And leadership is a confidence thing, right? So helping him have the confidence to step into leadership, because it's not an easy thing to do at that age. But I think if you can help your kids sort of move into that, I think it's a very powerful gift to give them. No, I agree. I think people might be surprised to hear me talking about things like teaching them how to shoot. But that is something that I really want to do, I want to I want them to know how to dismantle a gun, how to clean a gun, how to put it together, you know, that real sort of the way I was taught in the military, I would like them to, and that's why I want the gun in the house to practice that sort of stuff. And you know what we're talking about that anyway, I think, I think if you're a professional educator, schools have changed a lot since you and I went to school, I think you must be in a real quandary. Because there are, there's the traditional math science languages route, which a lot of people are holding on for dear life, there's a very, very strong argument to say, You know what Maxis matches? And understand the basics is great. But with any kind of device, you'd have to question if you need to work out a three layer algebraic equation from first principles nowadays, when there is something out there that will probably run it for you. So I think professional education is in a little bit of a quandary as to what skills to empower young kids with I think, United World College, kind of out there amongst the the front runners, or the front rows of tree tops down in Melbourne, stuff like that, where the importance of self education on the outdoors, the awareness of your community. cultural intelligence. Yeah, absolutely. I think I think spare a thought for the current sort of professional education sector right now they must be going to where it's probably supposed to be doing, we teach them how to shoot, do we teach them how to plant stuff? Or should we carry on with nuclear physics? And point 4% of everyone who's got a degree in nuclear physics will actually ever used. The others, we'll all probably work in hedge funds, or work as strategic buyers for carbon companies. So I think that's a tough to lay, the scores must be facing right now. Yeah, I think I think we're in a good position as anyone. Absolutely, absolutely. And of course, you know, we're investigators at home as well, right. And, you know, this last couple of years has given us an amazing amount of time to be able to focus on those sorts of things. Right. So the next thing is, we're not living in our home country. What about where next? You know, the boys? Absolutely. They want to finish here at UW, say, Thailand. And one of the great things about the program is their last two years of high school, they'll be with scholars from all over the world. So they get it's from a cultural intelligence perspective. It's just mind blowing. And I love I love the school. I love the kids. I think the boys are so lucky that they have no idea how lucky they are. Have no idea don't go with the school that they get to go to they have none. But you know, after this, I mean, they have to do military service in the Singapore military, we have to do that, which is fine. But then after that, they're gonna have to make a decision about where they go. So where do they go to university but more more longer term? Where do they go to set up their lives, right? Because as the temperatures increase the parts of the planet that will become unlivable increase. So if you've looked at a future prediction for say, Australia, there's Tasmania, and a little bit about Perth as well as New Zealand that will remain livable and basically Australia will be a solar panel country and the energy will be produced will be coming In Australia and shared around the world, in technology that doesn't exist yet, right. And I started saying, you know, when I think of the future and where we get the boys set up to me, Australia doesn't actually make any sense from a long term perspective for them, it could for us, but not for them. Also the bushfires, the bushfire season keeps coming, who wants to live in constant smoke, it's horrible. You see it in California, and across the US at the moment you see it in Russia and Siberia, right. So the other thing is sort of encouraging them in the right direction of a part of the world to go and live in. And thankfully, look, look at the options they've got, they've got a they've got the right to live in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore. But now right now in Thailand, and also in the UK, they haven't got the EU anymore because of Brexit. Before that they had all of the EU. But they've still got multiple choices based on the passports they were born with, which already makes them. So so so lucky. But guiding them towards a place to live is going to be a big part of our job, have you put much thought into that? Look, we talk about it a fair bit, you know, and you follow the research. And, you know, there are limited places which look like they have a future based on the way the world's going, unfortunately, unless we all wake up and give ourselves a good kick in the ass. You know, there's rumors of multi billionaires buying up how mountainsides in New Zealand and tunneling them out and stuff like that, which I just can't see is the truth. So I grew up in the UK, I lived there till I was 19 and then backwards and forwards until I was 2627, something like that that's a hard place to assess. Because whilst I love the place, at the same time that when you live in the tropics for a while, you know, it does kind of make your life pretty easy. It's not always going to rain, How cold is it? How many layers do I need? Do I need two pairs of socks? It's like what t shirt I wear today. So it's a hard thing. And you know, as soon as you brought this up sort of probably about 12 months ago, we first started talking about, I wasn't particularly open to that idea. It kind of makes sense from a lot of angles, I guess. And certainly looking at the research as well in terms of height above sea level and things like that. I guess when I started my journey, when I left the UK at 19, I envisaged myself living retiring, washing up somewhere, somewhere fantastic. And so contemplating going back, is just as fantastic. And the boys love it, the whole of the two and a half weeks they've spent there it's theirs where they want to live. So we won't get any pushback on that side of things. And there's, you know, you've lived there for four or five years. And so there's no sticker shock on that side of things. Although it's probably a very different place. I don't know if I can live in London, if I'm honest, there's so many lovely places that we could live, I don't know why we would limit ourselves to London, New Zealand. I like New Zealand, the same argument Kingsley's just a little bit too far away from everything. Yeah, but by that point, that won't really matter. Because it'd be clusters of humanity. But you've got to remember, this isn't our future, it's our boys future, is about putting them in the right spot for their future. Because, you know, basically, if you're under 60, you're going to you're going to experience the severe outcomes of the climate crisis, right. So we are going to experience severe outcomes, and we're already seeing it. But for our children, you know, if they want to, you know, have a future have children themselves, all that sort of stuff. We've got to think about this. And then But then on the other side of this, you've got to think about it from their perspective, we are capable of having these conversations. And we have choices where we live right now, the vast majority of our neighbors will not have these choices, and could potentially end up as climate refugees, begging for countries to let them in. And so that's one of the reasons that I'm really fighting for, as a global society, we need to get prepared for the climate refugees, rather than just leaving them in despair, and abandoning them. How lucky are we that we've got the choice, or these multiple choices that we can make for our children, but there's going to be so many people will have no choice. If you're in a position where you are having these conversations about your children's future, and you have options, you're lucky. But what we actually have to be mindful of is all of the other people that won't have these options. And we need to work together to make sure that there's a path for everyone out of this crisis. And that's probably the thing that concerns me most. So the more we do today, to stop the worst of it happening, the less these sort of conversations have to take place. So we don't have to make a decision like that now and by the way, there's a current that goes up and up and around Europe and it moves cold water and warm water around in a circle right and so that current sit there at risk of stopping which is you know, the day after tomorrow me He basically sort of based around that thing, if that happens, the UK is going to become freezing. So that might not be a path for us anyway. But yeah, but you know, let's hope it doesn't come to that. Let's help everybody work that out. Everybody wakes up and tough. And so we're not forced into that situation. But going back to the whole sort of ethos of what we're talking about is if you're a parent, what should you be thinking about? Just because you were born in wherever doesn't mean to say it's a particularly good place to maybe think about putting down roots for yourself and your family, we need to be a little bit aware, or we need to all make some changes. And that's what's coming up, coming up and coming through very clearly a cop, there's not enough commitment to the changes that are required to make sure that parents don't have to have the conversations like we're having. Yeah, it'd be nice. He skates with the boys future. Petrified, you know, that things that keep me awake at night, or station, from a climate perspective, or for other reasons. Pilots, one of them is from a general future, worlds different place. Since we grew up in it 13 and 14 year old trying to make their way, I'm absolutely petrified for the future, in many different ways. One of which is, you know, sort of where what's a girl that like for them in terms of their future in a in a world, which is going to have a very different climatic regime than what we grew up in. So, you know, always asking, you know, what would be you know, what's good? You know, what, how can we help them kind of goes back to one of your first questions of, you know, what do you think's most important that we should get the kids up to speed on? I'm not scared for their future yet. But I'm getting closer and closer every day, I feel that the tipping point has been hit on awareness of the crisis the world faces. I don't think that the leaders of government or business have stepped up yet. But the important thing is, we all step up and raise our voice and demand change, and people who are capable of going into leadership roles, whether in government or business, do it. I think if everybody starts to recognize that they've got a part to play, we have a chance. So I'm not scared for their future yet. We have to go through a very radical transformation as a global society, if we have any chance of not being terrified for our children's future. And I know a lot of parents that I speak to are feeling really stuck. They don't know what to do. They're terrified for their children's future as well. But I don't think we're there yet. But we were definitely on the path. But I think I have not lost my hope that we can wake up and do what's needed. It's not going to be the same. We've, we've we've messed with the stability of the planet. And that's what's causing the problem. So it's not going to be the same. If we hit some of those big tipping points, we're pretty much screwed. We're close. So we've got to move super fast. And the only way we can do what from what I'm saying, it doesn't look like business or governments, we've got the guts to do it. So from what I'm saying, it's, it's going to be on the rest of us to demand it. You surprised me? I thought, I mean, and you encouraged me at the same time, I mean, you're much more better read than I am. The fact that you're not scared yet tells me we've got a chance. Whereas I'm practical. So that's good. That's encouraging to hear that it's going to take big change. And that's what people are struggling with, because we all have to sacrifice now. And I don't think people have started to really address the personal sacrifices we all need to make. And we have, you know, from small things, celebrations, not having the traditions. Because if the plastic crap too, all the way through to we're changing the menu, less meats more vegan, not vegan, because I don't think that's ever going to happen for us. But, you know, we're making the changes, but it's on all of us. Yeah. So what do you think we can do to help the kids get ready for their future, especially dealing with eco anxiety? The really tough question to answer because, as you know, two or three years ago, one of them came back and dropped a pretty significant bomb on us and said, what were the exact words when he said he was 11 I'm going to commit suicide if it gets too hot to be outside. And I didn't even know what suicide was. And the other one that I think 11 or 12 had a dream that the Earth kind of moved and we were thrust into this mountain and we're in the cold and we all had to run for our lives and I died first. Jack's died second in you died third and Lexi was left alone and alive. So they're, they're thinking about this stuff. And so my whole thing is just to talk to them about it to talk about what I'm hearing. Not in a way that panics them. It is time to panic, but it's not time to panic them when they come home. They've obviously heard something or they Something's frightened them, I think all we can do is be informed, know what they're learning, so that we can be prepared to have conversations with them about it. Yeah, I'm going to work really hard on, it's just like I worked hard on making sure they weren't scared of needles, I'm determined to make sure they're not scared. And they become part of the fight, rather than fearing the future. Because, you know, all we have is now, this moment in time, right? And it's what we do now, that is what matters. We can't sit in fear of something that we don't even understand what it's going to look like, right? And it may never happen, or it may happen so differently, none of us have got an idea. So I'm just constantly sort of monitoring what's going to happen, where's it going to happen? And trying to, you know, I've said to you, I want you to understand the global sea level rise, I want you to understand what's going to happen to the future from a geotechnical perspective, because that's your background, right? We've got another friend who's an expert in weather patterns. So I want them to understand weather patterns, from an environment perspective. So just understanding as much as we can, and then helping the boys understand it, and helping them to make decisions today and take actions today that matter. So that's kind of where I am on it. Look, I think we've got to be cognizant, they're still kids. Yeah. So we can't crush the childhood out? No. Okay. So, you know, we were talking about one of them, who loves the bleeding and loves loves to be seen in the blink. May anyone who is polyester T shirts that he wears is pretty good. An environmental, there's pretty good carbon footprint is the size of Brazil, because it's polyester. It's polyolefin, right, it's from oil. So I think we need to be very, very careful, and not crush that and scare them. But at the same time, just make go away. And I think it's all baby steps. And I think we're pretty good at introducing that, you know, so the boys are, they know now that when we're out, if anyone's thirsty, they haven't bought their own water bottle. If you're thirsty, mate, that's tough. You have to die before you get a plus, which is apparently one, which is apparent in the tropics is pretty extreme. He tell you, he's you're dehydrated, 30 minutes out here. So, you know, it's slowly you know, it's building that awareness so they can make their own decisions. Yeah, and I think they'll get there, we just need to nurture them and kind of nudge them along the way. And, and steer clear of, yeah, and try and steer them on the right path with avoiding buying junk. And we are constantly blown away by just when you think that, you know, everyone's kind of generally on the same page, you know, you'll see a picture of someone on Facebook, and they've gone out and, you know, with the greatest intentions in the world, and by means of celebrating them going out votes or the lobby bunch of buildings. That's exactly the kind of thing that we have to stop. Hashtag single year sucks. So I was just thinking about the neck when I'm allowed to travel again, you know, Starbucks is always my go to right? To keep me going. How do I get one of those really large Starbucks cups and drink it without giving myself third degree burns and not have the plastic lid on top? Because I just couldn't do it now. You know. So I think it's a tough one. I think it's it's something that requires a little bit of moderation and a fair bit of thought of getting that balance between childhood and getting them future proof. Yeah, it's a challenge. Yeah, challenge for parents today. So I just remember, one of our friends told us when he was young, he used to have nightmares, because he was terrified that he would die from nuclear explosion because the whole cold war was going on. Yeah. And he said, It sounds like a terrible, terrible burden for a small child. I think that's what I don't want them to suffer. So when Lexi came out and had that nightmare, it was just talk to him about it. And, you know, part of part of why I'm reading what I'm reading is just to make sure that, you know, whatever they're aware of, I'm aware of, so we can have a conversation about it, and hopefully show them that they can become that it's not not as bad, but to keep hope alive, you know, we do still have hope. And I think that's the thing I want, whenever and to understand. We haven't got much more time. It's not going to be the same. But there is still hope. And we can do this, but we need everyone to come on board. That's absolutely true. I was just gonna say you bring up a really, really good point. Because I grew up in the Cold War in the UK, you know, was West Germany and East Germany and all the rest of it. But so like the Cuban Missile Crisis was before our time, human nature. Generally, if you look back in history, we have to take ourselves to the brink to go okay, this could be seriously bad. And it must have been terrible. Living in the US everywhere in the world for those 13 days around the Cuban Missile Crisis. The closest the world has ever come. It seems to be but if everyone sort of took a step back and went, Okay, this is pretty nuts. We need to make sure this never happens. Then it served its purpose. I'm hoping with all the extra publicity and with I mean, it's everywhere now. I mean, even Murdoch's print media in Australia has now acknowledged climate change with it being everywhere. Is this the tipping point where everyone goes, Okay, enough. See now? Yeah, cop 26 happening. We need American media in there not in yet. True. Yeah, true. But it is nature that we do have to kind of punish ourselves before we learn lessons. That's how we learn pretty quick. Good luck with the conversations with the kids, there is still hope. I just don't know if this is of value to other people. But I just thought it was an important conversation, to share, because we're having it on a regular basis. And we're thinking about lots and lots of different things. And I'm presuming other parents are in the same boat. So the best week thing we can do is show our kids by taking action. And it can be doing something locally, getting involved in a local charity, a beach cleanup, something something community driven, get your kids involved, or it can be big, go and speak at the UN if that's who you are. Or it could be just speaking up on social media and sharing information because you have a community that is getting information from other sources, and they may not be seeing what you're seeing. So take the role of sharing on social media as something that's it's a really critical part. Social leadership is a big part of the job that we've all got to do today. Yeah, just remember whether there's life there's hope so there's still hope. So thank you. Okay, my pleasure. I hope you enjoyed it. Here it is. We're going to finish off with your personal theme tune, composed and produced by Gary crass legend music Paquette who's done all of my original soundtracks. He's brilliant, love him. And thanks, Dylan. Very welcome. Always a pleasure.