COP26: It's a Mixed Bag
Back in 2009, as a 20-something law student, I had the exciting, and frankly, overwhelming experience of attending the United Nations climate talks in Copenhagen. I was there to spread word about a report I’d co-authored detailing the human rights implications of climate change. I’d barely been to any normal conferences before, yet there I was, jetlagged and jostled among tens of thousands of government officials, scientists, activists and more, trying to navigate a massive conference center and make my voice heard. To put it mildly, I was no Greta Thunberg.
But it wasn’t just the scale of the event that was intimidating. It was the stakes. Even 12 years ago — heck, several decades ago — we were already starkly aware that climate change posed a major threat and that time was running out to act. And we knew that if we didn’t, the outcome would be dire, particularly for lower-income countries and communities that had done little to contribute to the crisis.
Of course, you know the rest — Copenhagen was a tremendous failure. It concluded with a lackluster statement about the need to limit global warming, but no agreement about how to do so. Six years later, we got the Paris Climate Accords, which renewed hope that concrete global climate action might be possible. But we’ve made only halting progress since.
So it’s been with mixed emotions, and a hefty dose of skepticism, that I’ve watched from afar as the 26th round of climate talks unfold in Glasgow. I’ve been relieved to see the United States re-engage in negotiations after four years under Trump, but dismayed at our failure to pass strong climate legislation at home. I’ve been thrilled to see more than three dozen countries commit to phase out coal, but sour about the fact that the world’s biggest coal consumers — China, India, and the United States — have not. I’ve been heartened to see a deal to end deforestation, but reminded that a similar deal struck several years ago has failed.
I hope my skepticism will be proved wrong. I hope that Glasgow, unlike Copenhagen, will stand out as an event that dramatically changed our climate trajectory for the better. And that, even as we race to act, we are sure to do so in a way centers frontline communities and holds human rights above all else.
Zoe Loftus-Farren
Managing Editor, Earth Island Journal
Photo by: Zooey / Flickr
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