“When a society treats each member with respect, then they will prosper and not decline. When a society protects and cares for the vulnerable among them, then they will prosper and not decline. When a society protects the natural environment around them, then they will prosper and not decline.”
~ Buddha

Dear Subscriber First Name,

As I find myself traveling in Japan again this Fall, I am making encounters that remind me of some of my previous writings. Here they are with a short intro for each on why I choose them today. I hope you will enjoy re-reading them or reading them for the first time if you missed them in previous edition.

But first, I am announcing an event with Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson co-editor of All We Can Save and author of Climate Wayfinding- Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home.
It’s on November 12 at 9am PT.

Warmly,

Anne-Marie
Oct 25, 2026
(from co2.earth 426.96 ppm today, last year 426.06 ppm, safe level 350 ppm)

Gather, Reflect, and Act
A joint CCA and All We Can Save event
with Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson
(Thursday 11/12 at 9am PT)

“Each of us is a node of possibility for healing the climate crisis—whoever we are and whatever we’ve got to give.”
—Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson

If you have been reading my newsletters for a while, you will probably know that my own personal journey with climate change began in 2020, when I picked up All We Can Save- Truth, Courage, and Solutions - the now-famous anthology of women on climate change edited by Drs. Wilkinson and Johnson. This is also when I initiated a number of book circles that created ripples of climate engagement for about three years.

This year, the path led me to the next book by Dr. Wilkinson: Climate Wayfinding- Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home. In her book, Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson offers a compassionate and empowering guide for navigating through ache and into action, from doubt to possibility. Whether steeped in climate or newly curious, the book helps us to look inward with care, outward with curiosity, and forward with courage to shape our unique contributions.

I already wrote about the book in my July newsletter when I announced a new climate engagement coaching program that I developed around the book.

Today I am excited to announce an event co-organized by the Climate Coaching Alliance USA (CCA) and All We Can Save featuring Dr. Wilkinson.

Join us on November 12th for our Climate Wayfinding gathering.
Bring your curiosity, and see what a book circle feels like from the inside.

As all CCA events, this event is free to attend and open to all. Donations are welcome to support our work.

Poem: Filling in the Bubble on the Ballot
by Rosemerry Wathola Trommer

I chose this poem during the US presidential elections of 2024. I am choosing it again for this round of midterm elections. The poem makes it clear why we are voting: not so much for ourselves but for the generations that will come after us. It’s an act of being a good ancestor.

PS: The photo that I had chosen at the time to illustrate the poem is the one of a door screen at Enkouji, a Zen temple in the Higashiyama mountains of Kyoto. On this trip, I am joining their meditation practice on Sundays, which gives me an opportunity to visit the temple weekly. This photo is also one I often use as wallpaper on my phone. It’s very dear to me and is part of a larger exquisite painting of the four seasons. Can you spot the owl?

How Can We Be Good Ancestors?
A past newsletter still relevant four years on

In Kyoto this week, I had the unbelievable chance to meet two amazing women involved with the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act in Japan. I was introduced to them by a friend, and we connected by coincidence on the theme of good ancestorship when one of us mentioned Jane Davidson and her book. I had recently been reminded of Davidson’s work while listening to the Climate Coaching Alliance Political Pod podcast Taking the pulse where she was interviewed in late September. One of the ladies I met in Kyoto is actually the translator of Jane Davidson’s book #FutureGen - Lessons from a small country, the story of how one small nation responded to global climate issues by radically rethinking public policy for future generations. The other lady is the force and brain behind futuregenerations.jp and is preparing a number of events in 2027 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol, the first international treaty to set legally binding greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, specifically for industrialized nations.

If you are unfamiliar with Jane Davidson, she is a Welch politician who got her country of Wales to pass the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act in 2014. Incidentally, I wrote about it in my newsletter in 2022 (reproduced below) as I learned about it from Roman Krznaric book’s The Good Ancestor- How to Think Long Term in a Short-Term Work. That book has been a great source of inspiration for me as I developed my (Good Ancestor) Wisdom Walk and a self-reflection on the theme.

It’s also in Krznaric’s book that I heard about the Future Design movement in Japan. Inspired by the principle of seventh-generation decision making, with the aim of strengthening intergenerational justice, the Future Design movement is a participatory decision making process where citizens "from the future" have a voice.

Here is my newsletter of the time. Please note that the link to the Future Design movement in Japan is broken and if you want to read about it use the following link instead: https://fdsd.org/ideas/future-design-japan/

PS: Krznaric’s book was also translated from English to Japanese! The translation was done by Shoukei Matsumoto, a Zen monk. I just finished one of his books available in English: A Monk’s Guide to a Clean House and Mind- possibly the subject of another newsletter.

Check out my Climate Engagement Coaching Programs