Climate Activist: Professional Surfer Belinda Baggs
All Images in this feature by: Jarrah Lynch @jarrahlynch
Belinda Baggs is a professional surfer, Patagonia surf ambassador, and avid waterwoman with both surfing and bodsurfing. She shares with us her passion of climate activism, and her community’s recent win with a campaign against Equinor in Australia.
Do you have a memory or a specific moment in your life that was really impactful when you realized Climate activism was what you wanted to focus on?
I've always been quite environmentally conscious and wanted to help wherever I could. But it wasn't until I had my son eight years ago and I started learning these statistics about the current trajectory we're on and how all these impacts and threats are going to start becoming evident in his lifetime. I thought: I really need to do all I can to help stop this from happening. A lot of it for me was raising awareness within my generation—other parents with young children and lots of surfers that need to know about it. I felt an urgency, "I really need to get this out there and be personable to the community. Why is this not the headline for every newsreel? And why is there even a debate as to whether this is real or not?" Because in my mind, I thought, "Although highly unlikely, what if 97% of the world’s scientists just happen to be wrong? What if that was the case and we make all these changes? Well then at the end of the day we're left with a cleaner, greener planet and a more stable economy. And if 97% of the world's scientists are right, and we don't listen to them, we're all going to die.” Is that really something to waste time debating over? My journey with climate change wasn't necessarily a situation where I was put in the line of fire, but it was more just a realisation through education. Putting two and two together, in the years when we're going to be under predicted intense climate breakdown, Rayson's going to be alive. I want him to have a life beyond that. I then also had empathy for all other living things, just thinking how we have this power as humans to affect the climate putting all other living things under immense suffering. But we also have the power to change it and to put it back on a good path. So, that's kind of the underlying thoughts and feelings that are empowering me to continue.
So, being a mother kind of shifted your perspective?
Yeah, being a mother totally shifted my perspective. I think before parenthood a lot of my thoughts put me at the centre of the universe. Before you have kids you kind of make all your decisions based on what's best for you, and of course you consider your family and friends and how your decisions might impact them, but it's still kind of based around what's best for you. Then after I had a child I realised, "Wow. I'm just the tiniest speck of a fish in the sea, and nothing is just about me anymore. This planet and these issues are way bigger than just one person.”
Yeah, that's really cool because I don't think I've ever talked to any surfers before that have talked about motherhood and its relationship to the environment and how they see things. Did it change how you see animals too? Or other aspects?
I think it's changed how I see everything, to be honest. I think I was probably quite selfish before. My daily routine was about surfing, and me getting the best waves that I could. And my idea of giving back was picking up some trash on the beach along the way or maybe going to an environmental protest if it was onshore! I didn't put a lot of thought behind what I ate or where my food came from or the suffering that my choices might incur on other living things or people, especially those in developing countries. I'd travelled all over the world and seen these things firsthand and of course I had empathy, but I was never empowered to do anything about it. Parenthood totally transformed my way of thinking. I was no longer the centre of the universe. The responsibility of another living thing made me realise, "Why value a human life, more than an animal's, or a dolphin's, or a bird's, or somebody else's child?" We're all just equal, here on this planet, part of a big system that works so closely together to create a healthy ecosystem. So it's been a huge shift, even in the way I interact with people on a daily basis. I remember before Rayson, when I was in the surf and wanted all the waves to myself and didn't really have any thought behind other people’s situation. Maybe someone’s had a bad day and they've had a lot of crap going on in their life and I've paddled inside of them, and they’ve taken off because they wanted a wave that they needed for their sanity—that might be the difference between making or breaking their month, or year, or more!
Yeah, that's really cool, I can definitely relate to that. You never know what someone's going through out there in the water.
I think that's totally part of it too! I came back into surfing after having Rayson, obviously not as fit. And although it wasn't like I was healing from an illness, my body still went into a recovery from childbirth, pregnancy, weight gain, and all those things. I wasn't the surfer I once was. I felt like I just needed a wave! I realised how special those moments were because I didn't have as much time as I had before. I couldn’t help but feel guilty for my actions before. I spent all those years in the sea thinking that if surfing is the most important thing, “you should just stop everything else and do it!” I realised life doesn't work like that! We all love it, but if we want to take care of our children and families and other responsibilities, life doesn't revolve around surfing. You can’t just stop looking after your child or stop working or what you're doing and surf all day! There's definitely certain choices we all make for more time in the sea but that’s different to sacrificing.
Can you tell us how you started the non-profit @surfersforclimate with your friends?
I was learning more and getting more passionate about the climate movement, attending a lot of climate rallies, and I was invited on a trip with an environmental group here in Australia called the Climate Council. They host this trip every year where they identify people who are passionate about the climate and are in positions where they may be able to make a difference. Whether it be through art, career, relationships, sport, or in my case, surfing. We all got together for a week-long workshop of education, as well as diving into the more emotional side of climate change and how it can affect us. While there, I reconnected with a really good old friend Johnny Abegg, and when we got back he rang me and we had basically come away with the same idea of starting Surfers for Climate. We see a need for climate action within surfing, we aim to make the science of climate change understandable and personable for surfers through storytelling and then help provide actionable solution-based steps that we can take in tackling the climate crisis together. My dream goal is to transform surfers into climate leaders. Whether that be in their own lifestyle, changing things like diet or transport, or divesting money out of institutions that invest in fossil fuels and putting it into the ones that don't. And also have them lead movements that protect our land and seas.
My whole motivation is that I think, as surfers, we are so vulnerable to any changes in our ecosystem and environment. We're actually already seeing climate impacts in a lot of the places we surf. Whether that be coastal erosion, rising sea levels, changes in ocean temperature, ocean acidification—all impacting our local area in some way depending on where we live. Here in Australia, the bushfires have affected a lot of zones and burnt out a lot of beaches on the NSW South Coast. As a result, water runoff is taking ash and debris into the ocean because there's no vegetation to hold in that top layer of topsoil.
I would honestly love to see every surfer here in Australia and on the planet noticing these changes and caring! Standing up to demand climate action and leading the charge where we can. Because climate change is going to mean that eventually, we're not going to be able to surf in a lot of places. If we do not start being the change now, we're going to lose beaches, we're going to have terrible water quality that's going to affect our marine life, and we're going to see dead reefs. All that's going to have huge impacts to a point where we're not going to be able to surf anymore.
Yeah, and I like how you use your Instagram to raise awareness for important topics as a professional surfer. I think it's important for professional surfers to consider how they are using their Instagrams.
I think it is too. A long time ago when I first started working on any kind of enviro-campaigns, a good friend of mine, Rick Ridgeway, who works for Patagonia, told me, "Everybody's got a talent, and your best focus is on using that special talent.” I asked, "What's my talent?" He said, "You're a surfer! Speak to your community!” It was like a light bulb turned on in my head. “This is a way I can use my surfing for good!" It seemed to now give my surfing a purpose. Instagram is just an avenue for me to be able to connect with other surfers, longboarders, bodysurfers, and all people that I've come in contact with. I hope that my posts might inspire people to investigate, research, and make positive change.
Do you have any tips for people in regards to mental health and carrying the weight of environmental difficulties?
I would say, share it. Reach out to your friends that you know, work in that same space, talk about it, and share it. I think the burden becomes lighter when you know that all of your friends are experiencing these same issues. Being able to go through those moments with friends and talk about it with them makes everything a little bit lighter. Let yourself feel those things. It's okay to be sad, to cry, and you sometimes have to feel that in order to regain your strength and positivity. Let those emotions empower you. Look towards a long term solution rather than getting fatigued and burnt out.
Yeah, and that's a really good point—to use the things that bring you down and turn that into a positive thing.
Yeah definitely, and I would also say that if you're in the vicinity of a really big protest or paddle out or something, join in. The energy that's created there is so powerful and it really is invigorating. It makes you feel like you're a part of something huge. It's a really good reminder that even though it feels like you’re alone on a daily basis working on or digesting all this stuff, when you're surrounded by 2,000 people out in the water, all splashing and cheering, or 100,000 people marching down the main street of a capital city with signs and banners. That's empowering. It lifts your spirit and fills your soul.
I was wondering if you had any thoughts on that or how we can reach other types of people or make environmentalism more accessible to people of different socioeconomic situations?
This is such a great question! I often think we are making major advancements, then I step outside my beachside “bubble” and have a realisation of where mass society is actually at. I’ve been confronted in some conversations, "Why would I worry about plastic in the sea or future climate disasters when I'm struggling to put food on the table for my children tonight? This isn’t my priority?" Or the opposite, where I’ve met people that think their money will somehow make them immune to natural disasters. On the current trajectory of emissions and warming of the climate we will reach 4-6 degrees of warming by 2080. 4-6 degrees of warming is said to be enough to end human civilisation. Ultimately, this is why we need the government to swiftly improve policies that will safeguard their citizens and big businesses to make better environmental decisions. We need to make all choices sustainable and affordable to all people. How we get them on board initially is somewhat of a battle ground, especially when it comes to the government which places profits of the fossil fuel industry above all else. With the current situation of inaction from our supposed leaders and most big businesses, we need to provide education and awareness to all people especially those living in lower socioeconomic situations. Especially with the facts of how climate impacts will affect our society, even with basic living essentials—particularly food and water security.
Another, more solutions-based, idea is to bypass the larger institutions and help initiate community-based resolutions that would prosper all community members. This would create a stimulated economy that allows all members of the community to prosper rather than just big businesses. Things like community renewable energy projects and sustainable food growing practices.
Yeah, it's a tough question.
No! Tough questions are great. I think that's the same with people that are struggling with other issues as well. Whether it be of race, gender, or sexuality. Everyone has their top-line issues to solve that are impacting them on a daily basis—that they focus on changing. It's the same as socioeconomic issues and the fight for our planet and a healthy, safe future for our children. It's going to take everybody. It doesn't matter whether your female or male, rich or poor, or whatever race or religion you're from, we're all humans coexisting on this planet. We all breathe the same air, we all need to drink the same water, we all need food to survive, and it's going to take all of us to unite to make and demand those changes required on all scales.
How is any of this legal?
I know! That's what I don't understand either. I don't understand how it's okay to spray poison on our food but have to pay an extra huge certification to prove that your food is organic! I don’t understand how the fossil fuel industry is provided subsidies to continue polluting when we have renewable solutions that exist now. In Australia the Adani coal mine received approvals to take an unlimited amount of groundwater away from drought-stricken communities and farmers. How is that legal? How is that okay? They just gave approval for a nuclear waste dump in a small farming town in south Australia—what's with that? Not only is their community going to be affected by it, but it's also going to go into all the food that they farm and sell to the rest of the country! I simply don't understand this short term thinking. The Oil Drilling project in the Great Australian Bight has just received approval from their environmental plan despite the spill modelling seeing oil on beaches throughout the entire southern coastline of Australia through Tasmania and reaching parts of New Zealand. Thousands of surfers are protesting, but the approvals keep rolling in! How is it still legal to dig fossil fuels out of the ground when we know it's essentially destroying the planet and will lead to our demise if we don't stop it? It’s a backward, broken, and corrupt system that has to change if we want to survive on this unique and only planet we all call home.
