The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, ended with the adoption of the Glasgow Climate Pact, which seeks to keep global temperature rise within 1.5 degrees, phase down coal, and mobilize developed countries to jointly commit $100 billion in climate finance per year.
There’s a certain irony to the amount of emissions created by gathering such a large international group to discuss climate change. Alarmingly, fossil fuel companies had over 500 people at COP26, more than any single country. Utah Republican John Curtis was there with the Conservative Climate Caucus, which believes that free-market innovation and continued use of fossil fuels will provide the answer to our problems. They won’t. We aren’t going to engineer our way out of this.
COP26 won’t save the world. It doesn’t truly treat this crisis as a crisis. At worst, it’s a shiny PR campaign for the political elite, billionaires and fossil fuel executives to hide behind “sustainability” and “green development.” At worst, it’s further demonstration that the countries most responsible for the climate crisis are failing to meet targets that aren’t anywhere close to enough in the first place. But at best, it’s a forum for grassroots climate activists to connect with each other and represent the accountability and honesty that is consistently lacking from these conferences.
The real climate leaders are not the big players at this summit. We are the leaders we’ve been looking for, as legendary activist Grace Lee Boggs would say. We know what we need to do, and unlike the players at COP26, we aren’t scared of the changes it requires. This is not sacrifice; this is healing. This is not negotiation; this is accountability. This is not an apocalypse; this is an opportunity. We are the leaders we’ve been looking for.
Maya Kobe-Rundio, Salt Lake City
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