I felt empowered and hopeful when I held my 2-week old great nephew over the holidays instead of fear for his future. That is what the Paris Agreement is about. It’s also about responsibility, action and vigilance.
WE CAN
WE WILL
WE MUST
This was the mantra of the COP (Conference of Parties) posted in so many places and languages on site and around the city of Paris and it truly captured the spirit of everyone there, delegations from 196 nations and representatives from global civil society. An estimated presence of 30,000, all genuinely filled with that sense of purpose to accomplish the critical task at hand, conclude with that strong and compassionate agreement to prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change. It was such an honor to be part of that mission, as one of six congregants representing the Unitarian Universalist Association and part of the global faith contingent ensuring that the moral argument was heard and heeded.
WE DID
With the successful adoption of the Global Climate Agreement the entire world is now on notice and on board to break our addiction from life-threatening fossil fuels. Really! 196 countries universally agreed that unless we hold green house gas emissions to well below 2.0 degrees C with the goal of pursing 1.5 degrees there will be grave global consequences. We will also go to essentially net-zero in the 2nd half of the century. This sends a level of certainty and predictability that that markets, technology and innovators can finally work with to get us there.
Some other agreement elements are:
1) Transparency/Verification/Validation: All nations will post their plans into mandatory database for all to see and hold each other to. This will also include actual data over time so all can see how well nations are keeping to their pledges and will be a monitoring mechanisms.
For a short summary of each pledge.
2) Ambition and 5-Year Reviews: The current pledges do not prevent temperature increases from going above 2 degrees C., but ambition will. So as technology, capability and motivation increases we can get there by “rachetting-up our ambition” quickly over time. As prices drop for renewables, and society realizes how doable and urgent it is to improve on our pledges, we will get there.
3) Differentiation: This is one of the attempts to bring fairness to the negotiations. Every nation brings a different history and capability to the table. Differentiation acknowledges this and is a mechanism that adjusts expectations over time for each country.
4) Technology & Finance/Adaption & Mitigation: Another step towards fairness is that developed countries will share resources so that other nations can leap-frog beyond emissions-intensive energy sources and get to renewable energy faster and bring their populations out of poverty. Resources will also help countries protect themselves from and adapt for climate change impacts. Climate change from emissions they did not contribute to.
WE MUST CONTINUE AND BE VIGILANT
With the powerful leverage of the Global Climate agreement there is no reason to delay the transition to renewables and ensure we keep temperatures will below 2 degrees. It’s up to us, the faith community, to move society in that direction, because climate change is a moral issue.
There are disappointments over this agreement, but it doesn’t have to be so. It’s up to civil society and especially the faith groups to call out abuses, monitor the progress of the players and the agreement, continue improving it, work together to keep it on track so that the vulnerable of today and tomorrow are not betrayed.
For a 10 min video overview of COP 21 go to:
http://newsroom.unfccc.int/paris/
For a very comprehensive review of the 2 weeks of negotiations and the outcome – go to: Earth Negotiations Bulletin
FaceBook Blogs from the UU Observers in Paris: UUs in Paris
UUs can:
1. Take even more action in your personal life, within your congregation, in your community and workplace to reduce fossil fuel use. Increase sustainable practices like ethical eating, reduced water use, and education in all these areas.
2. Get involved with the multi-faith movements supporting creation care. United our voices are stronger.
3. Get involved with the many environmentally oriented groups doing the same in your community.
4. Work with your UU Statewide Advocacy Networks to further related legislation related to the Agreement. If you don’t have one, start one. For a list of existing UU SANs visit: http://uustatenetworks.org/
5. Education – This is critical. Everyone is in a different place in their “journey towards a common understanding “ of this massive global shift towards a sustainable economy and integral ecology. Be respectful and constructive everyone is in a different place, but at least with the Paris Climate agreement we now have a common global goal.
6. Become more engaged politically. Motivate your Congress and Senate representative to support the Paris Climate Agreement by approving funds for the Green Climate Fund.
7. UU Initiatives: Start a Climate Action Team (CAT), and engage with Commit2Respond (and more): http://climate.uu-uno.org/ http://www.commit2respond.org/step_1?splash=1
8. Be an ally for your friends and relatives who are skeptics and not yet on board this journey. Research shows that many skeptics are actually deeply concerned about climate change but don’t want to be public with these concerns. Give them space to take a second look at the evidence and a face saving mechanism to come around.
9. For UUs in the National Capitol Area – Join the UUSJ Environmental Task Force, join Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions (FACS) and stay tuned as we develop the “Superhighway from Paris” Strategy within UUSJ.