Between the Climate and Profit:

Review on the Documentary “The 11th Hour”

The documentary film “The 11th Hour” delves into the challenges and modern-day predicaments which
are observed as motifs in the long fight to “save the environment”, as well as the power play and
dynamics perpetually reiterated when the scientific community reasserts its role in world-building in the
21st century. Having young Leonardo Dicaprio as the narrator, this recollection of ideas have been made
possible through the help of experts – scientists, authors, community organizers, water and urban
developers, indigenous people, and more – diving in to the idea that not only is the story of climate
change severe, but is also multifaceted and has required a precise investigation from every other
operational aspects of human life and experience. Much of what this documentary is about, for me,
supplements the long arc of global warming and environmental degradation as a result of continuous
corporate activities in areas where and when we should not do so, untethered to any moral principle that
should govern humanity’s economic models between what is profitable and just. Describing the matrices
which could help us thematize the ideas present in the featured film, it is important to situationally
evaluate three persistent activities: (1) conversion of land, (2) extractive fishing, and (3) fossil fuel energy
production.

For a start, as what the documentary elaborated on, conversion of wetlands and rainforest covers into
agricultural land becomes pragmatically warranted as humanity is expected to feed its exponentially
growing population, an expected corollary to expansive urbanization where need for basic human
necessities as well as commodities sky-rockets. More so than that, the discussion also impressed on us
that this natural resource of our environment is more brought into friction due to the ever rising rate of
wood cutting or deforestation that is introduced to every other logistically viable forest area. Like how the
scientists explained the situation, corporate entities which willingfully violate established environmental
rules and protocols will always come up with reasons to justify their deleterious practice of harvesting
natural resource, which would have a consequential impact on the natural and sometimes endemic natural
fauna and flora present in the existing biodiversity, in turn depleting the value of the regenerative food
chains that are key to human survival. I believe that, because of the state it is in now, our collective
wisdom towards food shall refocus in diversifying the staple of our household nutrition; this includes
steering away gradually from excessive meat consumption as well as carbohydrates that of course require
some wide area to be cultivated and be harvested on, which we know is the drive of invasive land
conversion even in our most protected natural domains. As there have been experts from Native America
featured in the film, the way we should look at sustaining ourselves with food, in light of their example,
should all be about finding the slim area where human necessity and environmental protection can exist in
harmony. Since it has been done before using indigenous wisdom which now is also integrated in
regenerative farming that intends to not spoil the richness of the soil too much in pursuit of maximizing it,
we have less and less reason to not study its prospects, and to not use it as our guiding light or the north
star of our modern-day agriculture.

The same is touted in the utilization of the ocean. This is as though if we stop the faulty practice we have
now, the entire economy which feeds millions of communities worldwide will collapse. The documentary
film shows how much we have already gathered and extracted from the ocean since the dawn of the
Industrial Revolution. When the trend of commodifying all that is in the sea (fish, shrimp, lobsters, clams,
and all the other marine resources) ignited, the existing biodiversity underneath started to deplete. This
includes the degradation of corals which houses much of our algae which is the most important player in
oxygenizing our atmosphere. There is thus, as demonstrated in the documentary, efforts mobilized to
measure the severity climate change has tainted on the marine ecosystems, and worldwide, it has
demonstrated a staggering result. As said, there are almost no ecosystem circles observed to improve over
the past few decades and this can be attributed to persistent human activities that sell natural resources as
any other commodities known to man, our endangered marine species including. I feel like, with such a
clear indication of whatextractive corporations equipped with state-of-the-art technology have done to our
biosphere, reinforcement of the laws on the sea is most needed. Inevitably speaking, this would employ
the political affairs of most countries since overfishing, for example of Chinese ownership, has trespassed
over the territories and sovereignty of the Southeast Asian nations, which the Philippines is of course part
of. With reference to the documentary film, there is much already to unpack about how these cases of
environmental encroachment do not exist in scenes sanitized from the overall world order. Oceans posing
as an underdiscovered and untouched roster for all the economically valued products will be the target
wrestled by different multinational firms.

It would be remiss too to not mention how this includes the topic of oil. The documentary has explained
that for a very long time, humanity has been mobilized on the energy of sunlight (growing of wheat, rice,
and other crops; feeding of animals, drying of materials, making of fire, etc.). Somewhere between the
19th and 20th century is where we have discovered the presence of ancient sunlight, in the form of fossil
and natural coal, which easily powers our technology and from there humanity has thrived more than its
natural rate. Comes with it were excessive spillage of chemicals in both waterways and the atmosphere
and not much has changed since then. Now, we have the technology to make renewable energy from
wind, water, pressure, and other alternatives which although may not be as quick in energy production as
oil, can still fare at a competitive rate with it. However, since this might threaten oil drilling companies
now at the dominion of the entire economic hierarchy, many narratives are being spewed against them.
There is then a struggle between greenifying the work we do here on earth and keeping the extractive
practices for the sake of corporate gain. As there continues to be lobbyists present in the government
actively using their connection to make sly favors, a stalemate will continue and progress trickling down
to the most vulnerable communities cannot be achieved.

To compound all this, there is almost a dichotomous way of viewing these efforts: either we save the
planet or we save the economy. It is as if they’re mutually exclusive of each other, where the prioritization
of one is a demise for the other. I believe that we should evade these narratives as how we should view the
environment is not as if it is devoid of our economic models. The documentary impressed on me that at
the core of it all, we are connected. The same should be applied for our environment and our economy.
There is much to say about the idea that our environment is and should be the bottomline of our economy,
and that they cannot be separated from one another. We can design and architect our society in a way that
it values jobs which cater for the protection of our environment. We should abolish extractive institutions
which historically have made our planet sicker than ever, transpiring threats every day to the Global South
which is positioned at the losing ends of our international economy. More than all these, transformative
legislation should be provided attention; this includes practical implementation and rescaling of practices
that ground on indigenous wisdom as well as wading against the influence of money in politics.
Ecologists, in this prospect, would play a role in diagnosing what has been broken in the process, and the
engineers would help rebuild the infrastructure from which we live and thrive as a species and race. The
private sector should democratize their means of production so that wealth is not the governing
philosophy of our activities, but the welfare of many whose individual roles for the environment will be
actualized and put into action.

"The 11th Hour" is a documentary that delves into the complex challenges of environmental conservation
in the modern era. Featuring insights from experts across various fields, including scientists, authors, and
indigenous communities, it explores the pluralistic nature of climate change and its effects on human life.
The documentary highlights the importance of sustainable practices in areas such as land use, fishing, and
energy production. It emphasizes the interconnectedness between the environment and the economy,
advocating for transformative legislation, indigenous knowledge, and the role of ecologists and engineers
in creating a sustainable future. The film urges a shift towards an economy that values environmental
protection and community well-being over profit-driven approaches.