1. Human Intelligence &Fossil Fuel Divestment
The once greatcivilisationof Mesopotamiaistodaynothingbutabaron wasteland.Whatwent
wrong?One problemwasthe almostceaselesswarfare betweenthe citiesof Mesopotamia,which
continuallydestroyed theirachievements.Theyglorifiedmilitaryconquestand,ultimately,became
itsvictims.Anothercause of decline wasthattheirtechnical know-howover-rantheirunderstanding
of nature.The ingeniousirrigationsystemsthatwere the basisof the Mesopotamiancivilisation had
unintendedconsequences;the waterchannelledintotheirfarmlandseveryyearevaporatedandleft
saltbehind.Overgenerationsthe saltaccumulatedtothe detrimentof the crops.Andthen,at
roughly2200BC, disasterstruck:A droughtof trulyepicproportions,lastingfordecades.The rains
stopped,cropswitheredanddied,therewasfamine andanarchy,barbariansinvaded;the streets
were litteredwithdead.There couldbe onlyone explanation:theirsupreme Godwasclearlyangry
aboutsomething.These people couldnotknow thatthe same droughtwascrushingthe dawning
civilisationsof Egypt,Greece,India,PakistanandChina.All the Godsof the Earth musthave been
reallyangryaboutsomething.Forall theirbrilliance,the peopleof those civilisationshadnoidea
theywere experiencingabruptclimate change. The next300years have lefttheirhistorical mark at
Tell Leilanin north-easternSyria,thenanareapart of Mesopotamia,inthe formof a thickdepositof
wind-blownsand,withnoarchitecture andhardlyanytrace of humanhabitation. (Conniff,R.etal.,
2012) Those centuriesalsosurviveinadesolate contemporarypoemlongthoughttobe a fictional
account of the divine wraththatendedthe empire:
For thefirst time since cities were built and founded,
The greatagricultural tractsproduced no grain,
The inundated tractsproduced no fish,
The irrigated orchardsproduced neitherwinenorsyrup,
The gathered cloudsdid not rain…
In a 1993 article in Science, archaeologistof the site atTell Leilan,Harvey Weiss,proposed,ineffect,
that the poemwasnonfiction. Thus,more recently, the gods are no more to blame forthe ancient
civilisation’sdownfall thandetrimental farmingpracticescoupledwiththe inability toforesee and
adapt to suchdrastic changes.Butthe ancientagricultural collapse wasreal,andthe cause wasan
abrupt climate change.3000 yearslater,the climate wouldchange abruptlyagainforanother
gloriouscivilisation;thisone inCentral America.Atitspeak,the Mayan civilisationperished;wiped
out bya seriesof severe droughtsoverthe course of a century.We still carry withinusthe echoesof
these extinctcivilisationsinourlanguagesandourmyths.
Today we have a single global civilisation,expandinginsize anddemandat an alarmingrate.How
longwill itflourish?Itall dependsonus. Will we carry on the same wayuntil we self-destruct?This
will be the case if we remainignorant,repeatsimilarmistakestopastcivilisationsandcontinue on
blindlyuntil we are starvingandchokingonthe lastbitof oxygen the atmosphere hasleftforus.
Our economicsystemswere formedonthe assumptionthatthe planetanditsair,rivers,oceansand
landsall seemedinfinite. Theyevolvedlongbefore we firstsaw the earthasthe tinyorganismthat it
actuallyis.They’re all alike inone respect;they’re profit-driven,andtherefore,focusedonlyon
short-termgain.Inotherwords,completelycareless. The prevailingeconomicsystems,nomatter
whattheirideologies,have nobuilt-inmechanismsforprotectingourdescendantsof evena
hundredyearsfromnow,letalone ahundredthousand years.

2. In one respect,we’re aheadof the people of ancientMesopotamia.Unlike them,we understand
what’shappeningtoourworld.For example,we’repumpinggreenhousegassesintoour
atmosphere ata rate not seenon Earth for a millionyears.There isascientificconsensusthatwe’re
destabilisingourclimate.Yet,ourcivilisationseemstobe inthe gripof denial;akindof paralysis.
There isa disconnectionbetweenwhatwe know andwhatwe do. Beingable toadapt our behaviour
to challengesisasgooda definitionof ‘intelligence’asany.If our greaterintelligence isthe hallmark
of ourspecies,thenwe shoulduse itasall otherbeingsuse theirdistinctiveadvantages;tohelp
ensure thattheiroffspringprosperandtheirheredityispassedonandthatthe fabricof nature that
sustainsusisprotected!
Scientificresearch showsthatinorderto keeptointernational targetstolimitglobal warmingtoa
2C rise andthus preventcatastrophiclevelsof climatechange, betweentwo-thirdsandfour-fifthsof
fossil fuelsneedtoremaininthe ground.(Clark,D.etal.,2015) But,worryingly,fossil fuel companies
are currentlybankingonthese targetsnotbeingmetsoare extractingthese reservesandselling
themand are activelyprospectingformore.Indoingsotheyare settingthe humanrace on a route
to irreversible climate change thatwill cause risingseas,flooding,droughts,risingdisease,and
increasedconflictsandrefugee crises,suchasthose currentlyhappeninginSyriaandthe greater
Middle East.
Human intelligence isimperfect,surely,andnewlyarisen.The ease withwhichitcanbe sweet-
talked,overwhelmedorsubvertedbyotherhard-wiredtendencies,like greedandpower,
sometimesthemselvesdisguisedasthe lightof reason,isworrisome.Butif ourintelligence isthe
onlyedge,we mustlearntouse it better,tosharpenit,to understanditslimitationsandefficiencies;
to use it as cats use stealthbefore pouncing,asbatsuse echolocationfornavigationandhunting;to
make it the tool of our survival.If we can do this,we can solve almostanyproblemwe are likelyto
be confrontedwithinthe nexthundredthousandyears.The nextgoldenage of humanachievement
beginsnow.We musttake the visionof the pale blue dottoheartand learnhow to share thistiny
worldwitheachother.
The disinvestmentfromall fossil fuels isanecessarysteptowardsthe nextbigshift inhuman
understandingof- andadaptationtothisperfectpatchof heavenonthe pale blue dotwe call our
onlyhome. Itis a stepthat will ultimatelydefine ourintelligence asaspecies. The global movement
for fossil fuel divestmentisaskinginstitutionstomove theirmoneyoutof oil,coal andgas
companiesforbothmoral and financial reasons. (ThisissomethingthatStellenboschUniversity
shouldbe awake andgearingup to inthe near future.) Itisthe fastest-growingdivestmentcampaign
inhistoryand couldcause significantdamage tocoal,gasand oil companies,accordingtoa studyby
OxfordUniversity.Previousdivestmentcampaignshave targetedthe tobaccoandgambling
industriesandcompaniesfundingthe violence inDarfur.Divestmentisperhapsmostwell-knownfor
itsrole in the fightagainstapartheidinSouthAfrica.(Howard,E.etal.,2015) Althoughthe impactof
divestmentonshare pricesmaybe relativelysmall,the reputationaldamage canhave serious
financial consequences.
Justas big a step,if not bigger,isthattowards efficient,sustainableenergysources inthe place of all
the fossil fuels thatare able tomeetthe demandsof our rapidlyexpandingspecies. Butthat’sa
whole otherinvestment;one thatshouldtake place rightafterfossil fueldivestment,infact.