Notre-Dame Fire: A Lesson on Dealing With Climate Catastrophe

To deal with the climate crisis effectively, it must be seen as a crisis

The fire that besieged the cathedral of Notre-Dame on 15 April caused untold damage. Restoring the Cathedral to its former glories will require a complex restoration project; this won’t come cheap. Lucky then that in the 10 days after the fire at least €750m (£650m) has been pledged to finance the restoration of Notre-Dame.

This staggering amount has got people talking. Many people have asked when there are so many critical problems in the world, wouldn’t this money be better spent elsewhere? This is after all just a building.

When we get to the crux of what has happened? A building has been damaged, resulting in extreme generosity by people to help restore the building.

Personally, the reaction to the fire isn’t surprising — it reflects human nature with respect to how our response mechanisms work. We are brilliant at reacting to simple problems. Where there is a direct relationship between cause and effect, we are able to respond quickly to solve the problem. Analysing the crux of this problem is simple, and that’s the point. That’s why the fire has had such an overwhelming response.