There’s a certain nonsense to climate negotiations. Year in and year out we see climate action plans devised, and year in and year out we see them come back unmet. This year’s UN climate conference COP30 has been no different, bringing the news that in the next decade, we will overshoot the Paris Agreement’s landmark limit of 1.5°C. What are we doing wrong?
Bushfires burn below Stacks Bluff in Australia. Bushfires have become more frequent and intense as climate change drives hotter, drier conditions. Photo courtesy of unspalsh.comClimate conferences are full of yes-we-cans and yes-we-wills. They promote a solution-oriented mindset and act as though we can solve this issue so long as we do x and y. This gives attendees and world leaders the impression that climate change is simply a hurdle we must jump over. Yet, climate change is not a hiccup in our plans so much as the simple reality that our actions have an impact on the natural world. And so long as we live industrialized lives, we will have to work to mitigate that impact.
Of course, many people could not ignore the reality of climate change even if they wanted to. For example, the Indigenous communities of Brazil at COP30 who are protesting development and deforestation on their native lands don’t need to be told that these projects threaten them. However, those least impacted are often those responsible for the most impact, and so the question remains how we can convince them to listen and act.
To start, it is worth considering the way these parties view climate change. Surely, representatives from countries that are less impacted by climate change still accept the inconvenience it poses. Yet, it is less likely that they feel a desire to truly address the climate crisis, because it is largely an abstract concept to them. Instead, what they want is for the threat to be dissolved, and that’s a very different thing.
A protest sign demanding ‘Climate Justice Now!’ held up during a climate change demonstration. Climate change is an ongoing global issue being discussed. Photo courtesy of unsplash.comFrom this vantage point, they will eagerly accept the narrative which these conferences tend to present and satisfy themselves that any red on the ledger can be resolved through discrete items like investments in green energy and conservation efforts.
To change anything, we need to bring the truth to the foreground of climate conferences. We must stop promoting this mistaken worldview where climate change is simply a set of tasks on the docket. It needs an all-hands-on-deck response. There is not one discrete point where the issue of climate change will be resolved. Rather, it is a constant effort of mitigation, and the more effort we put in, the better our outlook will be.
This does not mean that we need to stop setting climate goals; they are key to agreeing upon collective action. It is not the goals that are failing, but our perception of them. We simply need to understand that these goals, like the Paris Agreement, are a tool for progress, not a crystal ball that will tell us when we have finally fixed everything. They need to be reached alongside the knowledge that there is always more to be done.
COP has immense potential for change. The fact that so many of the world’s nations come together to talk about the climate is in itself remarkable. The groundwork is all there. If we can only manage to steer the conversation where it desperately needs to be, then perhaps the reality and urgency of the situation can be appreciated by all parties — and some coexistence with the natural world can be found.