Beware the Rainbow Goblins
With #COP28 coming up, the majestic myth and vivid images of The Rainbow Goblins by Ul de Rico serve as an inspiration, and a warning. The story has critical lessons for how we move forward to confront the climate crisis.
Seven Goblins scheme to steal the colours of a rainbow in a far away valley paradise. With the promise of great riches from the Rainbow, they set out on a long, treacherous journey to the valley. Arriving in the evening, just as a thunderstorm is approaching, they can hardly contain their excitement. They know that the next morning, after the storm passes, the great rainbow that they seek to plunder will appear.
Taking shelter from the storm in a cave, they plot their villainous plan: organisation, strategy and tactics. They then fall asleep to dreams of gorging themselves on their respective colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
The next morning they wake to a glorious day in the valley. The sun is shining, flowers blooming, leaves glistening, and the rainbow has appeared, a magical arch spanning the valley.
The Goblins set off to activate their plan. But as they approach and take out their lassoes, something unexpected happens. The Rainbow suddenly disappears and the lassoes snap back and ensnare them. Liquid colour begins to flow from all of the wild flowers in the valley. Soon the Goblins are drowning in a sea of colour, entangled in their own lassos. How did the flowers in the valley know?
The night before, while the Goblins were scheming in their cave, the Roots, dangling from the ceiling, were listening. They heard the Goblin plan and communicated it through their underground networks with all the plants in the valley. They were able to devise a coordinated, counter-attack on the Goblins to save the Rainbow.
From that moment, the Rainbow is more cautious when it appears. It no longer stretches all the way to the ground -- disappearing before it touches the earth and safeguarded from the Goblins of the future.
While the Rainbow, and its valley of paradise were saved in Ul de Rico’s story, our Goblins are still out there, scheming to capture and bleed paradise.
So as we continue to confront the climate crisis, what lessons might the Rainbow have for us?
Listen to the Roots. Indigenous peoples and local communities can see and understand the climate crisis in ways that many of us cannot. They are on the frontlines. For decades, centuries even, they have been warning humanity about the implications of our actions. We need to listen. We need to ensure that their voices are amplified and heard. We need IPLC leaders to be at the center of designing our collective future.
Cultivate networks of action and accountability. Real solutions will require more open flow of information, honest conversations, careful coordination and systematic accountability at a scale we’ve never before achieved. This can only happen through network-powered collective intelligence and action. The youth activists across the globe are leading the way, but they are not the only ones with powerful networks. Businesses and governments must get past the solitary pledges and do a better job of collaborating and holding each other accountable.
Confront the Goblins. Don't be fooled. They are still out there. Perhaps they were in Glasgow. Some may even be hiding within us. The time for denial, delay and conciliation is over. Wherever, and whenever the Goblins appear, we need the courage to confront and vanquish them.
Safeguard the future. Let’s be realistic, humans will never be angels. There will always be Goblins among us. BUT, we now have the knowledge and the technology to safeguard our paradise. We have the capabilities to survey, to monitor, to regenerate and to protect across borders and at scale. Let’s use them to safeguard paradise.