We need to talk.  We need to talk and we have so much to talk about.  We need to talk quickly too.

We need to talk to politicians, community leaders, businesses and scientists who are championing the future. As the Alice community grows we need to talk to them and show them our support.  We also need to talk to members of the exact same groups who are not championing the future and damaging future generations.

For decades the usual spin on climate change has been ‘what would we say to our children and grandchildren about the state of the world’.   When Alice Dreams brings us the unique opportunity to do just that.  We need to talk to our future families and those of us yet to come so they can know who we are, what we believe and what we are trying to do for them.

We need to talk to each other.  Climate change is just one issue.  Through letting the future know who we are and what we are trying to do, we discover more about ourselves and each other today.  This will help us to understand each other better and break down barriers so we can move forward together.  We have only one planet and we need to find shared solutions without prejudice and without conflict.

Let’s just take a quick snapshot of where we are.  Don’t be dismayed about the state of our world today.  No matter how bad, and it is bad, there is no change without hope.  There are great leap forwards being made all over the world all the time.  There is much to be optimistic and hopeful about so please make a mental promise to yourself that you’ll read on after the negative and rejoice in the positive that follows.  There is much to be inspired about.

So here we go. The state of our world is really bad but that’s why we’re here.  That’s why When Alice Dreams is here but all is definitely not lost by a long way.  Remember you promised to read on to the good part and that will inspire you.  Remember there’s no change without hope and no hope without change.  This is why we need to talk…

• Climate change is already driving conflicts, inequality and migration. In 2014, 60 million people had to abandon their homes because of conflict according to the UN agency for refugees.  Climate change will make 122 million more people live in extreme poverty by 2030.
• Oxfam says the world’s richest 62 people have the same wealth as half the world’s population. Less than 2% of their combined wealth would educate every child alive in the world today.  Military chiefs agree Inequality will lead to more and more conflict and migration.
• Last year, 5 of the Solomon Islands disappeared under water. The Solomon Islands, with a population of 640,000, experiences rises in sea level of as much as 10mm per year.  As Trump is President, 5 of the Top 10 cities most at risk from rising sea levels are in the US according a report by the World Bank.
• Air-pollution in Africa now kills more people than mal-nutrition or dirty water – calculated for the first time in a major new report.
• It’s official. Any further global warming will hit the global economy. A new study on climate costs and fossil fuel industry profits for the years 2008–2012 states ‘For all companies and all years, the economic cost to society of their CO2 emissions was greater than their after‐tax profit, with the single exception of Exxon Mobil in 2008.’
• Satellite data shows a giant iceberg has broken away from the Larsen C ice shelf in the Antarctic. The iceberg is an incredible trillion-tonne, 5,800 sq km block, twice the size of Luxembourg.  You can find out more here projectmidas.org/

Take a deep breath and pause for a moment.  Yes it is bad but just in case you didn’t know we had to show you the truth and why joining the Alice community is vital.  We have to change things and change things now.  Climate Change and inequality aren’t waiting and neither can we.  Now the good news.  And there’s lots of it. Inroads are being made, solutions are being found. There is much to celebrate and support so here are just a few of the things that are bringing us hope and change for today and tomorrow.

• The storage of intermittent renewable energy has now become a reality and countries will be able to move to 100% renewable energy on the grid. Australia is the world’s testing ground for this technology.
• China is the world’s largest investor in clean energy and is putting more than $360bn into renewable energy sources by 2020.  ‘History,’ China’s President Xi Jinping said, ‘is created by the brave.’
• Tamil Nadu in India has one of the world’s largest solar power plants and the country could increase its renewable energy capacity by more than 50% in the next year alone. India has already predicted it will exceed its Paris targets by nearly 60%.
• Mission Innovation involves 50 of the world’s biggest nations and plans to invest $30bn a year by 2020 on clean technology. One example is an airship being developed by VariaLift to provide low-carbon solar-powered freight transport.
• Israel now exports water and gets 65% of its industrial and portable water through desalination plants. The technology is set to go global with the desalination process becoming much more environmentally friendly and efficient.
• Electrochaea opened the first full-scale ‘power to gas’ plant in Copenhagen in 2016. When there is plenty of electricity, Electrochaea converts it into natural gas using microbes.  The gas can be burned to generate power when electricity from renewable sources is scarce.  This has huge potential for northern European countries.
• In Canada, after the shooting of 6 Muslims, other faiths gathered to form ‘rings of peace’ around mosques. The idea inspired by a group of Muslims in Oslo in 2015 who formed a protective ring around synagogues following anti-Semitic attacks in France and Denmark.

So you see there is good news out there.  We have to make sure it’s heard loudly around the world and the pace of change increases.  We have to act fast.  We can see there is plenty going on with the production of clean energy.  But what about inequality, migration and war?  We need to address these issues too.

The simple truth is that change is happening but not fast enough.  That is why we are here.  To form a community to support those who are supporting those of us yet to come tomorrow.  To create a time capsule that will reach out to our future families and focus our attention on the urgent need for change today.

Join the Alice community right now because we need to act fast.  Just like Alice, to make tomorrow better for those of us yet to come, is a matter of time