“What do the Stoics have to say about climate change?” A friend recently asked me. The question would have seemed crazy to Stoics like Seneca or Epictetus, but since then, human beings have changed nature in such a way that the question is now more relevant than ever. 

Some things are within our power, while others are not. Within our power are ...whatever is of our doing. Now within our power, whatever is not of … our own doing. 

Epictetus, Enchiridion 1 

According to Epictetus, climate change would not have been in my power. For sure, I did not initiate climate change. But I know that my European way of life in a big city contributes to the overall phenomenon. So today I am responsible, in the sense that it is my duty to do something about it. 

There are greater polluters than myself. And although the question “Should only the biggest polluters make the greatest efforts?” is a fair one, this leaves the rest of us thinking there is nothing else to do than shifting responsibility onto others. 

A more useful question, once again, comes from Epictetus: 

Tell yourself first of all what kind of person you want to be and then act accordingly in all that you do. 

Epictetus, Discourses 3.23 

Do I want to be a responsible citizen who cares about contributing to a healthier world? Yes. So what is in my power? 

Doing what depends on you 

Typically, what depends on me is asking myself the right questions. I calculated that my travelling (especially flights, as I have no car) last year contributed to a little less than half of my overall greenhouse gas emissions. So, in 2018 I decided that I would consider each trip under a new light, asking myself three questions : 

• Can I not do this trip? 
• Can I travel differently, with a lighter carbon footprint? 
• What can I do about the flights that I do decide to take? 

To be honest, I could not do the trips I do. They are enjoyable but not essential. But am I ready to give them up? 

Can I travel differently? In Europe yes. Paris-Rome would take a whole day by train. I would need to reconsider the idea that speed is good. 

It isn’t things themselves that disturb people, but the judgment that they form about them. 

Epictetus, Enchiridion 5 

We live in a civilisation in which “saving time” is valued. But what if taking the time to travel was actually a good thing? To feel myself leaving, transforming boredom into contemplation, taking this travel time to read and write? I decided that I would now travel by train in Europe. 

What about the flights I do decide to take? There are no green airlinrd for the moment, but I can compensate my greenhouse gas emissions, i.e. finance an NGO that will either replant trees to absorb the quantity of carbon that was emitted by my flight or finance carbon reduction projects. 

Changing habits has a cost - whether they are financial or not. 

Living up to what you believe in 

So the final question is “Am I ready to live up to what I believe in?” It starts with small steps, something we can achieve. 

So I told my friend, “We have much more power than we think”. A Stoic could have said that. 

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FLORA BERNARD 

THE STOIC GYM is pleased to welcome Flora Bernard as a distinguished member of THE STOIC Advisory Board and contributing editor. Flora is a modern Stoic who, after 15 years of working with organizations in the field of social and environmental responsibility in England, France and India, co-founded the philosophy agency, Thae, in 2013. Flora now works to help organisations give meaning to what they do. A graduate of the London School of Economics, Flora is involved in various training programs (e.g. Ecole Centrale, HEC). She is the author of Manager avec les Philosophes, published in French in May 2016. Here is her first contribution to THE STOIC. 

Please join us in welcoming Flora to the THE STOIC. Chuck Chakrapani, Editor 

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