2040 is a new film from Damon Gameau, the guy who bought us his personally lived documentary, That Sugar Film, 5 years ago. In his new film, 2040, Gameau has once again taken a part of his own life and this time imagined the kind of future that might be for his 4 year old daughter. The difference in 2040 is that he looks to the broader world more than changes in his own personal behaviour for the future he imagines - and that point in itself is one key message in this film, even as it might not have been intended. The importance of this film to society is not so much how well it's made, as the messages it represents and shares.
Gameau takes a leaf out of the classic 'scenario planning' playbook (ironically used widely by Shell Oil), and wonders what would happen if we imagined a positive outcome from all the actions we might take to mitigate climate change by 2040.His premise is that in taking a positive approach to climate change, more people, particularly children and adolescents, will be inspired to act. While he set out to present a kind of Utopian future in the film, his approach has actually seen him present the Climate Solutions argument - something that to my knowledge, has not been done before. Climate Solutions advocates argue that the science of climate change is a given and it's the implementation of solutions that we should really be focused on. (Of course the popular proven conspiracy is that those with self interest, like big oil, continue to stoke the argument in order to distract from real action, that is generally not in their best capital interests.)For 2040, Gameau has managed to gather some of the global leading lights in climate solutions and interviewed them in key areas - energy, economics, agriculture, carbon sequestration, oceans and women. The point of the interviews is spot on, the ideals and actions well proven and worth paying attention to, not just as Utopian ideals, but realities.
Throughout the different segments, you get a good idea of the breadth of opportunity we have at our disposal to effectively deal with climate change. The very positive thing about this film is that it drives the point that we need to move past accepting climate science and onto solutions - action, and that action isn't really that hard. Across the globe, there are literally thousands of climate solutions activities & businesses well underway, even as most of us don't know of them.And that is one of the missed opportunities in this film. The solutions presented come across as ideals without recognising the breadth of current action, and how accessible it is. (Shared energy solutions, being a case in point. The advances in this area in both first and third world countries is extraordinary.) Admittedly, in tackling some of the big global game changers - girls, energy, politics, poverty and transport, you would have to be a nifty filmmaker to pull off a credible doco with limited time and a small budget. Whether it's experience, budget or time, the film is lacking in details that unfortunately undermine the wealth of his messages and make excellent arguments sound flimsy. And they simply aren't flimsy. And neither are the people he interviews in the film - each one of them sustainability royalty in their own fields, just not big Instagram influencers or garden variety celebrities: Professor Genevieve Bell, Dr Amanda Cahill, Paul Hawken, Dr Brian von Herzen, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Sharon Pearson, Professor John E. Peterson, Fraser Pogue, Leanne Pogue, Dr Kate Raworth, Tony Seba, Colin Seis, Neel Tamhane, Eric Toensmeier.
There is a 'slight' leap of faith required to get your head around the likelihood of Gameau's Utopian future where the very base of capitalism and economics shift to a shared community foundation, extracted from the clutches of the 10 people who currently control global wealth; where racism is replaced with love; vegetation encrusted buildings replace concrete bland and we all show wide eyed appreciation of the seaweed we are eating for lunch.
It's also easy to be put off (so don't be) by the obvious hypocrisy in the film. Here is a man who wants a sustainable future for his daughter, but is filming himself doing a pile of things that are very unsustainable - flying around the world with a crew to make a film that maybe could have been shot in one country, with supported tech; his own freezer full of plastic bags; his actors dressed in all kinds of synthetics; his own fireplace burning logs etc etc. Having said this, of course, this hypocrisy is something we all share and like all of us, he was learning as he went along. So best to look at it that way, rather than being critical of Gameau, even if he could have done a better job of explaining himself beyond offsetting the film with carbon credits. Everyone should see this film and know that the interviews & stories represent some of the best minds and change-makers on earth and the constructs are in play already, even if not fully explained - and anyway, a longer explanation isn't going to change the facts. We need to act and this film will bring that opportunity to more people. There are many ways to bring attention to climate change, action and solutions and children around the world are beginning to take matters into their own hands. Whatever your position on climate, each of us needs to look into the eyes of a 4 year old and know that whatever we do next is going to decide what kind of world they get to live in. 2040 is in cinemas from 23 May, 2019.