Ribbon-Cutting the Flood Wall
The cartoon mocks climate leadership that treats adaptation as a branding opportunity while leaving the causes of the crisis untouched. It skewers the self-congratulatory absurdity of celebrating protection from a catastrophe that the very sponsors and officials at the podium are still actively acce
At a glossy waterfront ribbon-cutting, the mayor, developers, and energy executives pose in pristine white 'NET-ZERO' hard hats, oversized ceremonial scissors poised over a bright green ribbon stretched across a brand-new flood wall plastered with sustainability badges and sponsor logos. Cameras and microphones are trained on the triumphant photo-op. But the composition widens to reveal the joke: directly behind the wall sit the sponsors’ smokestacks, cranes, and container ships belching thick black exhaust, while seawater has already seeped around the ends of the wall and is puddling over the VIPs’ expensive shoes. One official beams and gestures at the wall as if unveiling progress, even as guests subtly lift hems, cuffs, and briefcases out of the rising water.