Mikaela Loach: ‘The world as it is now will not continue’

Mikaela Loach is a very vibrant person. It’s in the way she talks, dresses and writes. So it’s no surprise that the climate activist’s new book, It’s Not That Radical, can be spotted a mile from my coffee table. The cover is highlighter pink, green and yellow, and the typeface is bold, with every letter capitalised. 

You might have heard about the 25-year-old from the time she said billionaires shouldn’t exist at a Gates Foundation annual event, or when she took part in the successful Stop Cambo campaign or when she was named on the BBC’s Woman Hour Power List. She’s very impressive, and it’s easy to see why. She has a laser-sharp focus on her mission: climate justice through effective communication. 

“The elite class want us to believe that the world as it is now is as good as it can be, and they want us to limit that; they want us not to be able to envision or to imagine,” she says. “Those of us who want to build something better need to be asking, how do we guide people to see the world as good as it can be, rather than how it is?” 

This is what It’s Not That Radical is about, a guide to imagining an alternative future in the face of a terrifying climate crisis and a rapidly heating planet. Applying an intersectional approach, Loach offers a sensitive understanding of climate justice and hopes to empower the reader to take transformative action. Greenwashing, the limits of representation politics, capitalism, and environmental racism – the author covers all avenues and obstacles standing in the way of climate justice one chapter at a time.

Ahead of its release on April 6, we sat down with Loach to discuss the book, the climate movement and the importance of joy in activism.

Hey Mikaela! How are you?

Mikaela Loach: I’m really hyped and excited about this. There’s this limbo period, when you’ve written the book but you’re still waiting for it to go out into the world. It’s exciting, it’s like Christmas Eve when you’re a kid going to bed, but you can't sleep because you’re really excited and you wake up during the night. That's been me for the last couple of weeks.

Why is the title It’s Not That Radical?

Mikaela Loach: The title is an invitation to folks who currently think climate action is too radical, to start to understand these things a bit more. It comes from this duality of the mainstream media’s definition of radical, which often means ridiculous, outrageous or unreasonable, and the fact that what we’re asking for is not that radical. We should all be safe and not be experiencing the climate crisis. We should have a safe home to live in and experience joy, love, and dignity. These things are not radical, outrageous or ridiculous.

What is outrageous and ridiculous is that our governments are currently giving billions to fossil fuel companies, the same companies that are causing this crisis, sacrificing us for short-term profit. Most people in the UK cannot buy their own homes or have stable housing because landlords are constantly buying up all the houses and increasing rents. We’re experiencing one of the greatest redistributions of wealth we’ve ever seen, but in the wrong direction, because wages are being frozen while inflation is sky high. That is all outrageous and ridiculous. But at the same time, to achieve a world in which everyone has dignity and is safe, we must rip up the roots of this existing world. That’s Angela Davis’ definition of radical.

Who is this book for?

Mikaela Loach: The point wasn’t to preach to the choir; that’s not what I see my role as being. I want to reach folks who maybe care but don’t know where to start.

How can we wake people up to the climate crisis without judgement?

Mikaela Loach: The big thing we can do is realise that most people in this country do care about this crisis; they just don’t know what to do about it. I think it’s important to remember that the fossil fuel industry has plugged more money than we can even imagine into the biggest social influence campaign we’ve ever seen, which was first climate denial, and now climate delay. They are trying to convince people that we are doomed, there’s nothing we can do, or that they are the only ones that should be the ones to do anything about it, or that they are essential, and they should always exist. It’s also approaching this with understanding and grace for our fellow siblings, and this world, because we have been manipulated very deliberately to have different viewpoints. What frustrates me is this blame game where people go: ‘Oh, these people don’t do anything, they suck’. That’s not a helpful way to approach any transformational change.

It’s also then realising that the reason why a lot of people maybe won’t be caring to the extent of doing something as well, is because people have more pressing issues at the moment: people are experiencing fuel poverty, we’re in a severe cost of living crisis, people are finding it very hard to live. It’s about thinking about how we can illuminate the fact that the climate crisis presents us with an opportunity to improve the material conditions of people’s lives today. And it’s not just about the future, it’s also about [explaining] that if we tackle this crisis, with an understanding of existing injustice, we can create something better for all of us and improve the conditions that people live in today.

We should strive to reach people where they’re at, look at what they already care about, and connect it to climate justice.

‘We’re either going to get ecofascism or ecosocialism from this climate crisis. The world as it is now will not continue’ – Mikaela Loach

And how do we bring these people on board with climate justice?

Mikaela Loach: We must retain this justice perspective because we’re either going to get ecofascism or ecosocialism from this climate crisis. The world as it is now will not continue, and we need to be aware of that. 

The solutions for [the climate crisis] will either be ‘green capitalist’ solutions that restrict and continue austerity measures but take away the majority of things for those who are already struggling, or we’re going to have ecosocialism in which we can redistribute things rightly, and have a better world for all of us.

It is very possible to be pursuing climate action and to be an ecofascist if you want that action to happen in a way that extracts from the majority of people and only benefits the people at the top. So how do we retain justice and all that we’re talking about, and how do we then bring people around by showing them how [climate justice] benefits them in the short term and the long term?

How do you think the climate movement has changed?

Mikaela Loach: So much has changed in such a short amount of time. I’ve been involved in the climate justice movement for five years. What is deemed to be common knowledge has been really transformed over the years due to people’s hard work. 

We’ve started to change this whole ‘it’s the old generations’ fault’ narrative. Many people have been doing this work for decades; it’s not that entire generation’s fault. People were also manipulated by big media campaigns. I think we’re starting to move the movement into one that can stand up to and challenge the status quo and the ruling class. 

By the time Martin Luther King was assassinated, it was because he was working with other workers to organise a general strike to fight for the living conditions of people. Otherwise, what’s the point of having inclusion into a system if you can’t afford to live? The climate movement is getting to the point of making more connections with different movements, and that is quite exciting.

There is so much happening concurrently; where would you recommend people place their energies in 2023?

Mikaela Loach: The question is, how do we do our role with an awareness of the reality of everything else happening around us? And how do we incorporate an understanding of these other issues into the work that we’re doing? So if someone’s work is in trade unions, doing their specific role and getting people bargaining power, and they have an awareness of climate, when they bring their demands in, they’re keeping a perspective of climate in there. Or if you’re working in campaigns against oil fields, do that work and do it very well, but do not forget that we’re in a cost-of-living crisis. And that actually, if you can work with organisations that are working on the material effects of that cost of living process, then not only can that campaign be stronger, but everyone will be feeding into each other’s work.

I don’t want people to feel disheartened by not seeing the fruit of their work immediately. I see our movements as this mycelium, underground. If you’ve gone foraging, you know that if you find an edible mushroom, you’re like, ‘this is amazing, it’s a miracle’; it feels so great. When we stopped the Cambo Oil field, that was like finding a mushroom, and it was amazing. So many people might have seen it and thought, ‘oh, that came out of nowhere’, but actually, for that to even sprout, there were whole networks underground happening that were nourishing each other for decades and building connections in very different areas in very different ways. 

You’re someone who often talks about the importance of joy within activism. What role has joy played in your work?

Mikaela Loach: It’s brought me so much joy to be part of this movement. I have made the best friends and relationships I’ve ever had in my entire life through organising. We have done serious and scary things, and we’ve also laughed until we’ve cried, played and danced together and had some of the most joyous moments in my life.

There’s a change happening, because we’re starting to move away from the glorification of struggle, which I also think doesn’t help anyone. There has been so much intense burnout in many organising spaces. People are beginning to realise that if we want longevity in our movements, then we need to be able to do this work for longer and therefore, we should be prioritising and allowing for joy.

It’s Not That Radical is published by Dorling Kindersley on April 6

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