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We spoke with Marc Delalonde, who is a cultural manager and a current fellow at START - Create Cultural Change:

"I was studying ancient history when my "awakening" happened. Hearing about the ecological crisis, I started to watch documentaries, to read reports and articles, and to change many things in my life, beginning with cutting meat out of my diet. When offered with a PhD to continue my research, something I had been dreaming of for years, I suddenly felt it wasn't right. I could not hide anymore and live my life like I didn't know what was happening to nature.

I chose to start over, to work for change through culture and art. Why? Because these are tools we can use to deconstruct the social and cultural representations upon which our (capitalist) society is based, which sees nature and culture as opposite concepts. If we are to put a stop to the ongoing ecological disaster, we have to understand that we, as humans, are part of nature. It is essential to (re)connect to the Earth. We need a natureculture!

It's time to change the narrative wrongly coined as the "Anthropocene", which tells a story of failure and irreversible collapse. We cannot protect something we don't care for, and we cannot care for something we don't love and respect. This is where art can be a powerful agent of change, because it generates emotions.

Art should be a tool used to tell a different story, a story of hope and symbiosis (“living together”) between humans and the rest of the natural world. This is what I am working on at the moment for my next project in Greece, which will hopefully come to life soon!"

Project link: https://www.startgreece.net/fellows/marc-delalonde

Photo credits: Emmanouela Kyriakopoulou and Johanna Ochner

Photo descriptions: 2.Project Symbio(s)Art in Hamburg, Germany (21-31 October 2019) in the frame of @START – Create Cultural Change. Autumn is when hedgehogs prepare for hibernation. Children learned about the needs of hedgehogs and built a small house for them to be safe/warm during winter.
©Johanna Ochner

3. They also learned about the animal's life and ecosystem through painting. ©Johanna Ochner

4. Meanwhile, a group of adults of all ages wandered through the park and wrote down what they could see, hear, smell, touch, as well as emotions they experienced. ©Johanna Ochner

5. Feeling inspired, they wrote an excerpt of their "Sumbiography": the story of their life from the perspective of nature! ©Johanna Ochner

Sunday night thoughts from Andrea TruHi of the band, Me and The Monster:

"I live in Berlin, and the 21st of September I was one of the thousands of people who took part of the global climate strike.

The strike was called at 12pm in Brandenburger Tor. I arranged to meet with two friends at 11am to have some time to get there with enough space to walk... how naive of us!
When the train I was supposed to jump on arrived, I was shocked. It was physically impossible to get in, so I waited for the next one.
When this one arrived, there were the same views: a train filled with kids of all ages and sizes, most of them with a self-made banner about the climate crisis.
My eyes watered as I flashed back to COP21 in Paris, where my family and I got so worried about the lack of youth fighting for their own future.
Yes, things are changing. We are waking up.

Once in Potsdamer Platz (one station away from Brandenburger Tor; only a ten minute walk from one another) you could see the crowds forming. You could feel the excitement of the moment in the people's faces.
As the speakers blasting music approached, the people gathered around them to sing along and raise their banners.
The weather was perfect to take the streets.

At twelve o'clock, everything that the eye could cover around Brandenburger Tor was packed with people.
Youth. Youth everywhere.

After speeches of several activists and different musical acts, the mobilization started. A river of humans began to move through the center of Berlin.

It was sometimes hard to see further in front because of the huge amount of banners. I had the feeling almost everyone there had one; of so many different shapes and colours, with different messages but all of them saying the same: IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE.

Powerful poem by published swedish-somalian activist-poet Mona Monasar

Check out her recently published book: https://www.nok.se/titlar/allmanlitteratur-barn-och-ungdom/modersmal/?fbclid=IwAR2k5rVWA_6cQdpV7AnPFxOV4PV36XkDunjkPOto7im7vcgRDqw1ytwbFmM
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WWF klimatmanifestation

Translated:

I press down my fingers into the soil
Praying that they will take hold
that they will take root
blossom
But my fingers only go numb
and the earth strikes back
asking us to strike back
start over, redo
maybe do a little more right this time
and we try
we try stubbornly
which makes me think of the metaphor of dandelions and how they can grow through asphalt
and that is telling us that the fight is not over
and how we can all do a little more
and a little better

I'm thinking of Förbifart Stockholm
and about how the importance of the local environment can be forgotten
when it comes to some
the forgotten parts of the city
and how the environment is a part of us all
but still, nature and the environment are such a remote thing for some
How things like walking in the woods are free can be said
without a broader perspective
I think about how I am struggling to write a poem about the environment and nature
when it has been present throughout my life
but still feel that it is not personal enough
a little too distant

When I think of the environment, I often think of everything we have done wrong
or rather everything that has been done wrong and which we now must clean up
apologize for
I imagine
what mother earth would say if she could speak with her words
she takes my mother's form in front of me
and I see my mother's disappointed face
how she shakes her head slowly and turns her back on
I think of the poet Warsan Shire
and her poem

“later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?

it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere”

Original:

Jag trycker ner mina fingrar i jorden
Ber att de ska ta fäste
Slå rot
Blomma ut
Göra sig hemma
Men mina fingrar domnar bara bort
jorden slår tillbaka
ber oss att slå tillbaka
göra om
kanske göra lite mera rätt denna gång
och vi försöker
vi försöker envist
vilket får mig att tänka på den uttjatade metaforen om maskroser och hur de kan växa genom asfalt
och att det liknas med att kampen inte är över
och hur vi alla kan göra lite mer
och lite bättre
vilket får mig bara att tänka på hur vi alla är som en fröställning på maskrosen
instabilt och endast lyckats hålla oss kvar av ren tur

jag tänker på förbifart Stockholm
och om hur vikten av närmiljön kan glömmas bort
när det kommer till vissa
det förbisedda stockholm
och på hur miljön är en del av oss alla
men ändå så är naturen och miljön en så avlägsen grej för vissa
hur saker som att gå i skogen är gratis kan sägas
utan ett bredare perspektiv
sen tänker jag på hur jag kan kämpa med att skriva en dikt om miljön och naturen
när den varit närvarande i hela mitt liv
men ändå känna att det inte är så personligt
lite för distanserat

när jag tänker på miljön tänker jag ofta på allt vi gjort fel
eller snarare allt som gjorts fel och som vi nu måste städa upp
be om ursäkt för
och att veta att detta är en fråga som alltid får komma i efterhand
lite som en baktanke
och jag föreställer mig bara
vad moder jord skulle säga om hon med sina ord kunde tala
hon tar min mors form framför mig
och jag ser min mammas besvikna min
hur hon skakar på huvudet långsamt och vänder mig ryggen
jag tänker på Warsan Shire
och hennes dikt
som går såhär
”sent den kvällen höll jag en världskarta i min hand
drog fingret längs med hela
och viskade
vart gör det ont
den svarade
överallt
överallt
överallt”

What's your story?

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclimatecollective/?hl=en

We are happy to feature the director of Greenpeace Greece, Nikos Charalambides weighing in on the latest wave of peaceful environmental civil disobedience sweeping across the world:

"This is time unusual. Clock is ticking and global temperature is rising. No way can we continue negotiating and arguing if this is 99.5% sure or 100% certain. If there is something more certain that is we cannot achieve the change needed by following the patterns that lead us here by listening to the same players, following the same processes, serving the same system. That is why people are taking the streets. It started with Greta then Fridays for future then Extinction Rebellion and hopefully, there will be more. The necessary changes we need to go through to protect life on earth from the climate crisis are simply huge. There is no time to waste. We have less than 0,5 degrees Celsius and 12 years. The time for change is now."

Some Wednesday wisdom from Emma McKeagney:

‘Right now I am definitely not where I want to be in terms of my engagement with the amazing wave of climate activists and movements. I can’t really consider myself an activist. I look on at the current movement in awe! So happy that the conversation is finally this loud and making change. But I have to pay rent, I moved to a city far away from home in the hopes of succeeding I guess but realised since being here that any notion of personal success is so tied up and implicated by capitalism that I’m not really thriving for the same notion of success I was a year ago.

So right now I am making plans, plans to change my life and to try and become less trapped by my daily actions and the larger harmful system of working too much and engaging less in the earth and what it means to be human here. I want to grow food, to have time to do so, to need to travel less and to live somewhere I can engage in. But I still need the money to do all these things right now and I would be full of shit to say that it’s easy for everyone to make drastic changes in their lives to disconnect from capitalism as much as we need to. I still have all the desires I was raised to have. I want to ‘be successful’, to travel and see the world, to have kids, to own a home and a car- but now I’m seeing these things as more problematic than ever. Now for me it’s about finding the right time and way to create a more sustainable life. It takes time and a lot of planning.

This movement has completely changed my idea of what I want for my life, and has made me realise that the only way to be truly sustainable and to disengage from capitalism is to accept a smaller life, possibly away from any city you have ever thought was cool or where you want to be. We have to accept as young people that if we really want to change things we can’t want what the generations before us wanted, we need to thrive for humbler and quieter lives, making collectives and networks successful rather than personal success be your goal.’

Γιώργος Περρ reflects on his experience from the global climate strike in Athens, Greece:

"I don't know how we'll explain to the kids of tomorrow that Greek people care more about a name change for North Macedonia than they do for climate change and the environment. I don't know how will we look them in the eyes and tell them that the problems they're facing today are a result of our inaction. It's shameful and unjust. There was only a few of us in the climate march in Athens. Only a few compared to how many we should have been. But the energy was electrifying.

I hope that day by day, those who protest also:
- reduce plastic
- recycle (yes, there are people who still stubbornly refuse to do so)
- will vote governments with a strong environmental agenda
- will use their money to support env. NGOs, instead of fuelling mindless consumption (be it cool clothes, or meat)
- will join grassroots movements to demand systemic change
And I hope that those numbers will go up day by day.

We can all change. I was ignorant a year ago on environmental issues. We can all contribute, even with small actions. Additively, everything counts!"

The #climatestrikes continue, but Fox of Wilderlost Media reminds us of the importance of Extinction Rebellion running in parallel:

"I'm proud to stand with the Youth Strikers for the 4th time. The climate movement is growing crazy fast. Millions were mobilised across the world. The energy of the young people leading this incredible movement has inspired me. I'm so relieved to see more adults joining them this time. I hope that those who turned out in force will continue their commitment to strike until the 27th.

But the Strikers are not alone. From October 7th, the Rebels take the baton. We're fewer in number than the Strikers, but we're prepared and determined to go to great lengths to leverage government action.

Using non-violent direct action and civil disobedience as our crowbar to crack open the door to a better future, we'll be shutting down big cities around the world, causing economic disruption with artistic and creative actions for over two weeks.

We need #EverybodyNow to join us for Worldwide Rebellion: Continues October 7th 2019 from October 7th. This is the most important month of your life. Book two weeks or more off work, get involved with your local or national XR group, and hit the streets.

The youth have started this autumn's uprising with a lightning Strike to wake us. Now it's time to rise up and Rebel. These are the moments you'll tell your children about. I'll see you on the streets."

Happy Monday! The climate week is still on. Many young people weren't able to join the #climatestrikes, but still show their support through messages of solidarity. Like Sicily Fiennes, our co-founder and avid sea-turtle conservationist 🐢🌞:

"So, we're out here volunteering at a sea turtle conservation project in Greece - though this is just one population of a species that's recovering and doing well. Over 200 species are going extinct PER DAY and today we're fighting for them especially. Your actions contribute to the collaborative effort which we're seeing across the planet. BUT We can and need to do more"

Next big strike: 27th of September
https://globalclimatestrike.net/#map

We continue our #climatestrike feature with Anastasia Spanou, a university student from Athens:

"Humanity's going through an environmental crisis. A crisis which people are trying to come out from by searching for (and finding) alternative sources of energy, like only this is enough to save our planet. Nobody says: "Consume less". They all say" Consume differently". But the truth is, environmentally friendly methods of producing aren't alone the solution. We need to realise the huge impact of capitalism to our planet and change our thinking."

Next big strike: 27th of September
https://globalclimatestrike.net/#map

As the global climate strikes are under way, Christina Christoforou Livani shares her thoughts on why she's striking:

"Today, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, or as we say in Greece the glass is beyond full. today, the people ARE STRIKING, youth all over the world have been striking for so long, the "much promising" UN climate talks are under way.

My friends and I have changed our daily habits, turning Vegan, stop using plastic, eliminating the use of cars or airplanes. We do our best. But is that enough?
Obviously, not. Like in the case of the economy, the 1% of us own as much wealth as the 99% rest. Allow me to accuse that 1% of being proportionally responsible for all the challenges and the damages of our world.
Globalized capitalism. Liberal globalized capitalism. Remember this and start repeating it.

Oh god (if you exist, however you want to be called), the Amazon is burning. People are drowning in Mediterranean sea. The land is getting dry. People are fighting against bombs. Countries produce nuclear weapons (for security reasons they say to us-really?really?). They build walls between us. They make wars and put us fight on the field. They make the laws and what is moral and what’s not, but THEY are the first ones to violate the laws. They call a human being a refuge. They normalize the fact that someone lives in a camp or on the street. They insist on polluting our environment and the sea I swim. They even claim that my sea belongs to them and they want to mine oil from it. They put fire in my land and then sell it to rich ones, then after, they build hotels, casinos, banks…

Oh my god, they see me as a soulless source of money. As a dead part of their machine. They want me work, they want my mind sick and my body broken. The want to sell and buy me, my life, my home. I say no. I am not yet as useless and destroyed as they want. I am alive. I have feelings. I feel anger. But I also feel the love. I still see the sun. I taste the water as I taste the kiss of other lips. I smile at the colours of the sounds of other cultures. I sing like a bird. I dream staring at the sky. I am gentle with all the beings, and the mother Earth the most.

I‘ve been an atheist for so long, but today I feel weak, I feel frustrated, and so I recall GOD, as if this is a power and a light that exists in each and every one of us. I recall god as if this is the SOLIDARITY and the RESPECT among people and mother Earth, that are the values to lead us all together to build another better world!

Music for the environment! Greek producer NickP. made a video with footage of climate-related disasters from all over the world:

"Watching what is happening all these years on earth, as a composer I tried to take some videos from news around the world and match them with my music. It's maybe sad, but it makes you feel, it makes you think and I hope it will inspire you to change and act about mother earth. I did this video because I felt an energy while I was making the music and I wanted to share that with other people, I wanted to awake them so all together we can act and make some efficient changes. We need to stop what is happening by changing people's minds. By showing them what is really happening. It's in our hands to do it. Let's act, let's share this message and this music that touches our souls."

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm4hoSG85q8

Ali Simmonds is going hiking to fundraise for Cool Earth!

"The indigenous people of the global rainforest deserve to live without having to burn their homes and transform them into production lines for Western meat demands, similarly, the immense biodiversity of the rainforest needs to be protected.

In the past 40 years, half of global forests have disappeared. Nation States pledge this and that but ultimately we’re heading on a clear trajectory. NGOs, charities and grassroots initiatives such as Cool Earth, have been considered the most effective means of protecting these communities and mitigating the catastrophic effects of deforestation on the global ecology by the Effective Altruism community and David Attenborough.

Cool Earth work with 118 villages around the world to protect some 230 million tonnes of CO2 by giving the locals access to long term economic alternatives to destroying the forest - education, sustainable fishing, cash crops like coffee etc. This solves the problem of western patronization of the locals (i.e. you can’t do to your land what we did to ours - destroy the biodiversity and forests) while giving the most effective stewards of such lands (the locals) the tools to defend their livelihood from illegal (or legal) logging operations.

One final note on political action: it’s good practice to advocate for groups that one isn’t a part of, since it expands one’s sense of solidarity, to that end - I’m trying to direct some of the Haemophilia lobby’s influence towards climate change via my fundraiser for Cool Earth - since it isn’t everyday that those with bleeding disorders walk around volcanos.
Big Love,

Fundraising Link:

https://www.coolearth.org/campaigns/30372/haemophiliac-on-the-timberline-trail/?fbclid=IwAR39zhP0PCIBcVXQlfbC6pGoBE2fdJmXldwlP5EzSc-Hz5vca2-s7E2nhiE

Bringing you some Wednesday positivity from Samir Dallali:

‘’People suck, they are destroying the planet’’, ‘’Every day species are going extinct because of humans’, ‘’Big industry is destroying the planet. ’’

Sayings like this are quite prevalent these days, humans are seen as a disease, slowly destroying the planet until there is nothing left. But in my opinion we should reconsider how we think about the human species in this day and age.

The past few years I’ve been struggling with the fact that people have totally dissociated themselves from nature. Every time I would have a discussion with someone about what nature is I would always struggle to avoid conflict, there seems to be no reasoning with even my very reasonable classmates.

But the reality is humans are not all that bad. Yes we are the main source of climate change and we are depleting all our natural resources, but could we really blame ourselves? We've been doing what we were determined to do from the beginning.

A lot of aspects of humanity today could be traced back to how we evolved. Surviving is not at all that easy but we are really good at it. And I would say the main reason for that is that we will do anything to prosper. Like for example when we found oil we didn’t think of all the negatives thing that could happen if we would base our whole society around it, we just made awesome stuff with it, that fulfilled our evolutionary needs. Could you really blame anyone for that?

The fact is that what we've done so far as a species is incredible, the question just is can we sustain this. Honesty I think that humans are smart enough to find a way, I mean that's what we do and what we've always done. Will we preserve all our beloved species and landscapes? Probably not. But we shouldn't be sad because life as we know it will most likely end rather soon, but be happy that we could be alive during this amazing time.

A few weeks ago we met with Nickolas Drandakis in the greek island of Zakynthos:

"I am part of the fundraising team of WWF Greece. We are aboard the Blue Panda ship, visiting islands of the Ionian Sea where hydrocarbon exploration and drilling is planned. Our plan is to inform the local civil society of each island about the destructive nature of oil and gas drilling and empower them to take action.
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The whole of Europe is turning away from fossil fuels so it makes zero sense that the Greek government is choosing now to invest in an energy source that belongs to the past.
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Specifically in the island of Zakynthos we have been active for the past 27 years, working to promote the conservation of the Loggerhead (Careta-Careta) turtle. If the drillings go ahead, years of conservation work could go to waste."

Gianmarco Duranti recently visited Iceland and its beautiful glaciers. This was his experience:

"In one of the most recent reports from the Icelandic government's Committee on Climate Change, it warns that by the next century, Iceland's glaciers will no longer exist. Vatnajökull is estimated to be melting at a rate of one meter per year and many of its outlet glaciers are melting at an even higher rate. The continued climate change could quicken its fate. Iceland’s location may make it a more ideal place to adjust to a warming climate, however the people here are conscious of the dramatic effects of global warming"

Next up we feature Moa Tennberg, member of Fossilgasfällan and prominent anti-fossil fuel activist, whose inspirational words dare us to re-imagine what "hope" really is:

"The climate crisis and mass extinction are often misunderstood as technological problems, with solutions expected only from the natural sciences. But it's even more a political, cultural and social crisis. When Extinction Rebellion says “Hope dies, action begins”, they mean giving up a false hope, the illusion that business-as-usual could solve the very same crisis it has created. Giving up this false hope can be very emotionally challenging. It means questioning a lot of the things you thought were true about the world, and that your social context might think are true.

But letting this false hope go can also be a kind of relief. It changes your perspective. Once you accept that the climate crisis isn't under control, that no serious measures are implemented to change the current course, there is space for another kind of hope. This kind of hope is not about being positive, but about accepting uncertainty, as Rebecca Solnit puts it. It's something we create and make possible through our activism. It's the kind of hope that doesn't have any guarantees, but comes from the idea of making a better world possible. And most importantly, it's about doing it whether or not we think we will succeed."

On this sunny Friday morning we feature Elisabeth Dimitras, founder of Ethos & Empathy, urging us to quit meat and dairy to fight climate change:

"On 2014 a research showed that even though human consumption of meat and dairy products is a major driver of climate change, there was a major lack of public awareness and understanding of the link between eating meat and dairy and climate change.

All headlines should be talking about that but only vegan activists and scientists do so. Meatless Mondays will not save the Earth though.

Being an activist from childhood, taking care of stray animals and an active member of NGO's which protect wildlife in Greece but eating meat for 22 years is something I feel ashamed of. But no one helped me to do the connection.

Thus, I am trying to inform people about carnism, speciesism and the impact of capitalism to the planet, through the page Ethos & Empathy which I founded on 2017. I try to show people, through social media, how we can live ethically with respect to all sentient beings, by doing the least harm to the planet and to awaken people's empathy towards mother Earth and our brethren, human and non-human animals.

Integrity is very important so I hope in the future to see more climate activists to honor their values through their actions and through their everyday choices."

“More often than not it is indigenous peoples who stand at the forefront of safeguarding and fighting for the protection of threatened, but still untouched lands and oceans, often steeped in sacred cultural history.

As I am working in the indigenous territory now where the Gitga’at First Nation went through significant emotional and financial hardship to legally fight the Enbridge Northern Gateway oil pipeline some years ago, and again are faced with the threat of huge tankers passing through their territory in the next couple of years; and having spent significant amounts of time during my undergraduate degree learning about Native Hawaiian culture in relation to the establishment of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument as a marine protected area (MPA) governance study [looking at the involvement of local people in the hands-on management of this MPA];

it breaks my heart to hear of Hawaiian elders being forcefully removed from peaceful ceremonies protecting their sacred volcano, Mauna a Wākea, against the build of the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT), a $1.4 billion project — money which, in the name of science, could instead be invested in the protection of culturally and ecologically important areas.

As Captain Liz Clark put it: “Our world needs healing from colonial wounds much more than we need new photos of outer space. What Hawaiian culture can teach us all about living in harmony with our natural resources, about respect and love, is much more valuable to humanity right now than the view from the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope.”

Thank you to Ashluka for sharing her beautiful artwork with us, please see her page for more of that!

And please go to Protect Mauna Kea for more updates on the ongoing efforts to protect Mauna Kea, this Native Hawaiian sacred place”

— words by co-founder Éadin O'Mahony

#protectmaunakea

"My name is Freedah Kienpinger and for about three years now I have been working with Food & Water Europe, a Brussels based NGO. My main area of work is fracking and gas and I’m particularly looking at the build-out of gas infrastructure in Europe and the impacts that Europe’s gas addiction has on communities everywhere in the world.

Gas is a very potent greenhouse gas and a disaster for our climate. We cannot continue using it or we will end up in a world 2, 3, 4, 5… degrees warmer than today, with horrendous impacts on the living beings on this planet. Still, there are plans on the table to build new, expensive mega pipelines transporting this climate-toxic gas into Europe! One example is the EastMed pipeline which would carry gas from the Eastern Mediterranean via Crete and then all along the Greek mainland to Italy.

Not only is this project incompatible with the Paris Climate Agreement, it would also swallow several billions of Euros which we urgently need for a just transition. And leave a tail of destruction wherever it passes, on the seabed but also in Greece. Moreover, gas exploration and extraction in Cyprus, Israel and Egypt which would partially supply the EastMed pipeline has already fuelled tensions in the region and will continue doing so. This pipeline, and other EU gas projects are a terribly bad idea on several levels!

We must stop this fossil fuel infrastructure build out now!"

Next up we feature Elias Adam, a theatre director from Greece:

“I work in theatre and I like exploring the intersections between arts and social issues, like class and gender. Recently I thought “why not also include environmental issues?”. Greek theatre is often apolitical. And in such turbulent times, being apolitical is being complacent.
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6 months ago I stopped eating meat. This was my starting point to explore other ways to reduce my personal carbon footprint, while also challenging other forms of systemic injustice.
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These systems are often invincible, but it is through art, like theatre, that we can make fun of them or deconstruct them.”

Starting the week with some #environmentaloptimism, Keishu Asada shares with us his experience of the resilience of coral reefs around Okinawa, Japan:

"In May of 2016, in the middle of a sandy channel in a shallow reef in Okinawa, Japan, I found this soft coral standing alone like a purple tree. I thought it was a striking and beautiful thing. When I came by this same coral in 2017, it looked discoloured and half of it was covered in a sickly mucous. I was worried that it was dying, and indeed a lot of corals especially in the shallower reefs were lost that year due to a hot summer and a lack of typhoons that would normally stir up and cool down the water. But now in 2019, two years since then, it seems to have not only recovered but have continued to grow, as you can see in the photos. This thing is tougher than I thought, and that's nice to know. I hope it stays strong for a long time."

[Photos taken by Keishu in 1) 2016; 2) 2017 and 3) 2019.]

For our final post we feature Takis Grigoriou the Climate and Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace Greece. Takis debunks the most common myths surrounding the use of oil as an energy resource:
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1) Oil boosts national income and contributes to development: No. It antagonises other economic sectors, like tourism, agriculture and fisheries. Companies keep most of the revenue with little, if any, money going towards local communities.
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2) Oil brings stability and energy independence to a region: No. It’s the exact opposite, it promotes conflict between neighbouring countries and international energy interests.
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3) We “need” oil (and gas): No. Many countries are phasing out diesel/petrol cars (including huge players, like India and China), while others are banning onshore and offshore oil drilling. The grand majority of EU countries now support a 2050 carbon neutrality target.
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4) Even if none of the above were true, we have to consider climate change, towards which oil is a huge contributor. We have 11 years to radically shift our energy systems away from oil and gas to renewable and decentralised energy.