In September 2020, I completed the Climate Reality Leadership training. This program was led by Al Gore, the former Vice President of the United States and guided by the Climate Reality Mentors.
Background
The Climate Reality Project aims to “catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every sector of society“.
To make this happen, they need climate activists on board to spread the message and take climate action. And that’s where the Climate Reality Leadership Corps Training comes in.
Prior to 2020, this training program had always been held in person and selected trainees would’ve had to fly to the US.
However, because of the pandemic, they decided to turn this into an online training program.
I applied for it, went through the week-long training, and now I’m a certified Climate Reality Leader.
This is only the beginning
What I like about this program is that it’s not a one-off thing.
We’re in it for the long run.
For the climate.
For Mother Nature.
For all the living beings on Earth.
What happened during the Climate Reality training program?
This program took place within a week. There was a series of presentations every day on topics related to the climate crisis as well as skill-building for climate advocacy.
I was also added to a ‘Table Work’ group which comprised of attendees living in the same geographical area. Most of us were living in Malaysia except for one who was in Brunei.
The Table Work discussions were held on four out of the seven days, right after a live (though I think it was pre-recorded) Broadcast featuring Al Gore himself.
The group discussions were useful and inspiring. It’s great to connect with attendees in the same area who understand the situation we’re in.
Truth be told, I was feeling mostly pessimistic and skeptical coming into this training.
But after this training, I’ve been more hopeful and motivated to spread climate awareness and literacy.
I’m ready to become Climate Reality Leader.
You can say I’ve been brainwashed by Al Gore into thinking that despite the rise in sea levels, we are investing more and more in renewables and collectively changing our consumption habits.
But this does not mean I’ve become optimistic about politicians and businesses changing their ways.
There’s still a lot of work to do and we need to keep pressuring them to act upon climate justice.
Besides the presentations and discussions, we were also given simple tasks to complete in order to receive the certification. My Climate Story was one of them.
The tougher work begins now.
What’s next?
Climate action is a continuous effort.
In our final task, we were encouraged to pick three out of twelve Acts of Leadership to start with.
Over the years, one can perform all twelve of those acts and as many times as possible.
As a writer, I shall do what I do best and write about the climate crisis and the solutions, including Op-eds to mainstream media.
One day, I shall have to do a presentation. That terrifies me. But I know I must make it a habit at some point.
Perhaps I should pick up vlogging again to get used to it.
Would I recommend this training?
I’ve had experience with a few NGOs in Malaysia. A common thread between them is a lack of unified structure and a rather slow work speed.
The Climate Reality Leadership Corps has a solid structure and is fast-paced.
The whole training took SEVEN DAYS with jam-packed climate info and I got certified a day after! That is incentive enough for me to continue on this journey.
Plus, I’ve got the support of a group of passionate people and tools to help me with my advocacy.
Once you’re certified, you’ll have access to the Reality Hub which contains various resources to help you with your climate advocacy.
If you’re sick of waiting for someone to do stuff and want to take action in your own capacity and with support from a well-established organization, I’d recommend that you apply for their next training when they open up the applications again.
But only apply if you are ready to be proactive and willing to get out of your comfort zone.
