The radiance of the climate crisis for brands : : :
Digital Art

Electricity is invisible, electricity production is green. Concrete is gray, concrete production is green. Oil is black, oil production is green. Fast food chains, server farms, sneaker manufacturers, – nature has rubbed off across countless industries. Marketing departments choose the color green for their communications. Green is the hope for more sales. The future is green.

The visual worlds of the major campaigns are overflowing with chlorophyll. Standing under light-flooded foliage, dynamic makers look optimistically toward a near horizon. Competent engineers, recognizable by their shiny helmets, murmur to us, “We could manage to make our environment whole again if you just believe in us.” The implicit reward for brand adepts: no droughts, no species extinctions, no floods, no climate refugees, no heat deaths. Instead, clean technology, clear drinking water, clean air. Breathe deeply. That went well just in time.

For all their commitment to the environment, the heated atmosphere cannot always be blamed on the big players alone. We only have to read their ‘About us’ web pages: “We care about our planet. We are contributing to the rapid reduction of global emissions. We are committed to adapting to a warmer environment. With us you fly sustainably. We manage our footprint. We have a clear desire to reduce our global CO₂ emissions. We are committed to collaborative efforts across business, society and government. Our focus is on, our choice for sustainability, in partnership with nature, complying with environmental regulations, we even go one step further, our clean energy solutions, essential for a decarbonized world, discover today, talk to us. For the generations to come. Us, us, just us.” Platitudes. Green-labeled ‘bullshit’. On the one hand.

On the other hand, you have to start somewhere. Perhaps with yourself?

In natural mountains, empty words count for nothing. You stand in front of real rock. You have to walk the steep slopes yourself. You can follow your thoughts while walking. But you can’t let yourself go in false images of nature. When you reach the summit, you see your new horizon.

Our image of nature also stems from ourselves. We allow false images to be superimposed on nature because they meet our expectations. We do not contradict. We allow false images to be transplanted into us, then we continue to fantasize: it should appear even more beautiful, more lovely, more fairytale-like, more homely, wilder, more daring. That's why so many souvenir photos ‘disappoint’. We project and stage gullible longings, wishful thinking and romantic ideals. Our desire for adventure is awakened in stories, belongs in comfort zones with central heating. The reality in nature, of course, looks quite different.

The radiance of nature nevertheless overwhelms everyone who intensively exposes himself to fresh air. The city dweller who sits in the office on weekdays and travels in comfort draws the most energy. The mountain farmer working with nature would perhaps prefer to regenerate on a sofa at the weekend. The mountain does not call him. Nature does not need us. She is not lovely, she is not peaceful, she is not brutal. She is.

We could reflect, but we do not do it partout. We could translate the knowledge about our role in and for nature into omissions. Instead, our being driven continues to exchange knowledge for wishful thinking. Instead of building even more perfect event courses in ‘still intact nature’, instead of shooting a single ‘wild’ bear because it does not fit into our image of a beautiful ‘wilderness’, we could act more farsighted, according to the state of science. We should not deceive ourselves: the majority, who can afford it, will continue as consumers, in the literal sense of the word, to draw from the full. The own edge of the plate will remain the limit for the consumable menus as well as for the excuses.

The evaluation, the development, the use, the contamination, the exploitation of nature does not begin in overseas copper mines and by operators of smoking chimneys. It begins with the land use plans of our communities and in the shopping carts at the discount store next door. It begins at home. It begins behind our foreheads.