But the immense "end of the world" stakes of the issue were what sent Mike and his wife Malinda and their kids down the path they went. Mike's activism shifted the whole center of gravity of their family in ways that are definitely particular to his personality. What happened in their family is not necessarily typical of climate activists. He thought it was crucial that she talked to them, which, of course, Aviva wanted to do. But he told Aviva that he thought his kids' side of the story was actually more important than his. And when Aviva reached out and asked him if he would talk about how his climate activism had damaged his relationship with his wife and children, he was totally up for it. And what unfolded was the most extreme example of things going badly in a family that Aviva heard of. And it led him to quit his job, dedicate his life to activism. And she heard about somebody who had a moment like this over a decade ago. So Aviva was interested in the toll that having a wake-up moment like this could have on a family. And within 10 minutes, I'd divested my superannuation completely away from fossil fuels.Īnd so that was one of hundreds of different things that I started to do from that point on, triggered by that moment.Īct One, 1.5 Degrees of Separation.
And I went straight to my study, and I logged into my- you would describe it as a pension fund, but we call it superannuation. And it just suddenly seemed so extraordinarily urgent, critically important.Īnd I remember finishing my coffee, getting up off the couch. And in the next decade, my youngest kids won't yet have finished high school. Suddenly, the fact that we've got a very limited period of time to turn this around- the scientists talk about 10 years. I make sure they brush their teeth, and I make sure they do their maths homework. I felt an internal, physical sensation.Īnd even now, as I talk about it- and I'm not a crier- I actually well up with tears thinking about it because it was this genuine sense of, I can think about my kids and the things that I do for them every day. And something in me shifted at that exact moment. And I realized, actually, these kids are talking directly to me, specifically to me.