KATHARINE WILKINSON SEES SOLUTIONS
SUBJECT Katharine Wilkinson
OCCUPATION Author and strategist
INTERVIEWER Lachy Ritchie
PHOTOGRAPHER Buck Butler
LOCATION Atlanta, US
DATE December, 2018
ANTIDOTE TO Mainstream narrative
UNEXPECTED Soil chant
A handful of books have come my way at just the right time to really get under my skin and leave a lasting imprint. Paul Hawken’s Drawdown—The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed To Reverse Global Warming is one of them. Which is a bit odd. It’s a book about climate change and statistics! Stats and climate change are usually a nasty combination, bringers of bad news, of “we are stuffed” scenarios. I love Drawdown because it reveals such a contrast to this mainstream narrative; it is a book of pragmatism, ambition and hope. But it is not a vision for a utopian wonderland. It is a plan, a list of feasible solutions and realistic actions that can be taken to reverse climate change—backed up by meticulous research, cost-benefit analysis and numbers. Lots of numbers. Best of all, the solutions are ranked from one to 100 in terms of feasibility, scalability and impact. My inner geek couldn’t get enough. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity to chat with Katharine Wilkinson, senior writer on the book and vice president of communication and engagement for the organisation that works to pursue the Drawdown vision. Dedicating most of her life to reframing the way people engage with climate change, Katharine brings a deeply considered, pragmatic and hopeful approach to the narrative, dancing the line between light-heartedness and giving the issue the weight it deserves. I hung on every word as Katharine honoured the role of regenerative agriculture, feminism and the human heart in the climate change story.
KATHARINE WILKINSON: Where are you? I mean you’re obviously in a caravan but where? [Laughs].
LACHY RITCHIE : [Laughs]. Yeah, I’m in my caravan which is in Margaret River. So south-west Australia. It is a heavenly part of the world if you ever get the chance. Anyway. I’ve been watching a lot of your talks and I thought we could start with the doom and gloom narrative around climate change and what we do with that.
Sure. So we are in a situation of urgency, severity and scope that humankind has never faced before. That is the starting point. And we
