CLIMATE CHANGE: What can you do?
Twenty four years of climate negotiations. Twenty-fourth time we saw more or less the same scenario roll-out: delegates debate without reaching an agreement at the end of week one, all thought hope was lost, a frantic rush in extended hours to have a text. Luckily when the COP President’s hammer hit the table at COP24, consensus was reached and now a rulebook, though weakened throughout the negotiations, exists for implementing the Paris Agreement.
Moreover, COP 24 was marked by the protests of future generations — the tenants of the definition of sustainable development, “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” From school strikes around the world to Greta Thunberg’s viral speech, the future generation made sure they were heard.
As inspiring as youth action is, it is as old as the sustainability movement itself. I grew up with the video of Severn Suzuki addressing the World at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Many have followed at numerous UN assemblies and YOUNGO (Youth NGOs), who fought to be recognized as a constituency from the start, formally got a seat at the table in 2009.
If something made COP 24 stand out, it was the urgency of the moment. Right before COP24, the IPCC SR15 report on 1.5°C warming warned of the catastrophic impacts of a hothouse earth. Throughout the year, news in 2018 was marked by reports of climate change impacts: from extreme weather events throughout the globe, to species extinction rates sky rocketing, forest fires, and the four warmest years on record in the last four years. These are changes that my generation, the previous “future generation” that grew up with COPs, has experienced first-hand.
As we leave the age bracket defined as “youth”, it is increasingly our responsibility to shape the sustainable development paradigm preached to us throughout our lives. Individual actions such as eating less meat, reducing consumption, and recycling more, are all important, but we must also scale-up action where the regulation being put forth will lag.
As citizens of a country, we depend on our national delegates to negotiate on our behalf. But as members of our local communities and institutions, there are policies we can shape. Below are three thoughts on how to step outside our comfort zones to further push climate action:
1. ENERGY AUTONOMY
The energy transition from fossil-fuels to renewable energy is gaining momentum. To accelerate the rate of change, whole communities can shift to renewables before the traditional energy grid does. For example in France, numerous villages such as Aubais and Marmagne, are aiming for autonomy through the implementation of citizen-led and citizen-owned solar farms.
Are you a homeowner in a building? Talk to your building association about the feasibility and cost-savings possibilities of renewables. What about your office building? Is there an initiative to reduce energy use? Ask the building operator.
Have you participated in local elections? Locally elected officials are the first level of governance citizens can demand further climate action from. Ask for borough or municipal candidates to present energy transition plans in their campaigns.
2. DIVESTMENT
Funding fossil-fuels will keep the fossil-fuel industry alive. Divestment means giving up stocks, bonds, and investment funds that are unethical or morally ambiguous.
If you are an investor, look more carefully at what your investment portfolio supports. Is there a greater risk stock in a sustainable alternative that could give you a higher long-term return? Explore non-traditional sustainable investments. Tools such as the Fossil Free Indexes can help.
If you are a concerned individual, think about what institutions you are member of that might have investments. Are you a student or university faculty or staff member? What is your university’s investment portfolio like? Do you contribute to a pension fund? Ask your employer what that fund supports.
3. MOBILIZE
In the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Get creative about how you can group with those around you. Does your office have an internal sustainability program? Are there other concerned colleagues with whom you could group to implement one?
Or can you come up with a creative way to have a direct impact by grouping with others? Rather than making a donation to a reforesting initiative as an individual, perhaps you have friends and family that would be interested in starting a fund that will provide longer-term support to a project restoring degraded ecosystems.
Brainstorm with others on how you can pool your resources to amplify climate action.
