What have we accomplished since Al Gore’s warning?

I was 15 years old when the documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth, came out. I saw the film the same year and it made me recognize global warming for the first time. It’s been 11 years since Al Gore warned us about the effects of global warming. How far have we come?

Sure, the winters in Finland were getting warmer every year but other than that, I felt like the global warming didn’t really affect me. I was 15 years old, on my way to high school and planning my Rotary Exchange year abroad in Australia.

However, it was autumn 2006 when I saw the documentary film An Inconvenient Truth. It blew me away. Al Gore was discussing this difficult issue which would affect the entire humanity and he actually had some very decent proof by his side.

The 16-year-old me moved soon to Australia for 12 months and as soon as I was settled in Canberra, we started discussing the weather with my host family. The thing is, australians absolutely love to discuss the weather conditions. However, this was not the typical cheery chit-chat about the beautiful Australian summer; my host family described me how just three years earlier the entire city of Canberra was on fire. The 2003 Canberra bushfires involved several deaths and over 500 injured. Over 70 % of the Australian Capital Territory’s forests and nature parks were severely damaged.

I felt so sorry for the people who had lost family members in the fires. It was also the first time, when I took a better notice of extreme weather conditions. It makes a difference to read about hurricanes and fires on the news, compared to actually speaking to people who had experienced it.

The alarming thing is that extreme weather conditions haven’t calmed down in Australia during the years. The 2009 black Saturday bushfires in Victoria took the life of 173 people. In 2010, the floods in Queensland were so severe that 35 people died. This year‘s heat wave is unusual even for Australia: according to New Scientist climate change is being held accountable. Parts of South Australia and Victoria have reached 46°C, while New South Wales and Queensland recorded temperatures above 47°C.

What actions have we taken in order to tackle climate change?

In my opinion it should be clear to all of us, what are the actions that countries, governments and United Nations are taking in order to prevent climate change. However, in a normal dinner table discussion, it is hard to point out what have we accomplished so far and what needs to be done next.

The 2015 Paris agreement was an important milestone for further action. The language of the agreement was negotiated by representatives of 195 countries. Finally, it was adopted by consensus on the 12th of December 2015. The world’s first comprehensive climate agreement had been born.

One of the most important pointers can be found in the Article 2 of the agreement:

“Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.”

In order to ensure our future on this planet, the finances will have to work together with the environment. People will have to switch from getting most of their energy from burning fossil fuels to getting most of their energy from a wide variety of clean energy sources.

Even if this is clear to most nations and it is stated in an agreement signed by 195 countries and our future is at stake — why aren’t we making this a common problem to all of us?

A common problem

In her Ted-talk Vicki Arroyo states that it is time to prepare our cities for the changing climate, with the increased risk of flooding and drought. In a smart way, she uses her background in environmental law, biology and ecology to bring out new ideas. She raises awareness of the consequences climate change will have on refugees and immigration.

“Will there be tensions over immigration, or conflicts over competition for limited resources? It’s already fueled conflicts in Chad and Darfur. Like it or not, ready or not, this is our future.”

I highly recommend Vicki Arroyo’s keynote. We have to get prepared.

The writer is part of Global Millenial Bloggers. More updates from Millenial Bloggers on Facebook.