Hope at COP26
By Sam Bonelli
“COP26 is a failure!”
- Greta Thunberg at the Fridays for Future Rally in Glasgow
After attending COP26, it's difficult to disagree with Greta. Fossil fuel lobbyists outnumbered every single country delegation. Wealthy nations blocked progress on the loss and damage fund. Coal-reliant countries refused to commit to phasing out coal. COVID-19 restrictions and high costs in Glasgow prevented underrepresented communities from attending. The Adaptation Fund created twenty years ago in Kyoto, remained underfunded. In the end, we are still a long way away from restricting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The list of failures feels overwhelming. If I think about it for too long, I feel powerless. However, this isn’t a productive feeling for someone working in environmental economics and policy, nor is it a healthy outlook. To avoid a spiral into a debilitating and pessimistic abyss, I compiled a few sources of hope at COP26.
Researchers:
Looking at the press coverage of COP26, it may seem like only world leaders and celebrities attend. But, for every Emma Watson or John Kerry who was at the conference, there was an observer, specializing in some niche climate change adjacent topic. These researchers, ranging from tenured professors to think tank analysts, gave lectures, spoke on panels and held workshops on how their respective disciplines are working to combat and adapt to climate change. While country delegates were tucked away in private rooms negotiating, researchers were accessible and present throughout the venue, providing glimmers of hope for the future.
It's hard to think our planet is doomed when you meet so many experts working tirelessly to save the world.
Corporations
I never expected to turn towards the private sector for hope. However large businesses made huge commitments towards combating climate change. In particular, the Glasgow Alliance for Net Zero, consisting of over 450 firms from around the world, pledged more than $130 trillion to transform the economy towards net-zero. They pledged to transition their companies away from fossil fuels and achieve zero emissions by 2050, with many companies agreeing to a more ambitious plan of achieving the goal by 2030. In addition to this alliance, several major automakers committed to phasing out gas and diesel cars in the next decade. While these commitments are non-binding, major corporations seem to understand that they must transition to make a profit and are starting to make real changes. They may not be perfect, but at least we know they are willing to come to the table and make major commitments.
Youth Activists:
Every single time I entered the Scottish Event Campus, where the Blue Zone was located, I had to make my way through a crowd of activists. These activists may not have had badges to enter the venue, but their voices were still heard. They were there to hold the policymakers inside accountable. Each day as I passed by them entering and leaving COP26, I took solace in knowing that they were there advocating for our planet and reminding world leaders that they were being watched closely.
Some youth activists were granted passes to enter the venue, and they made the most of this privilege. For example, Vanessa Nakate, a youth activist from Uganda delivered an impassioned speech in the final hours of negotiations. I sat in the back of the plenary room while she told the world leaders that we were tired of their empty promises and abandoned commitments. She implored them to prove us skeptics wrong. The audience listened closely to her words. As I scanned the room, many were nodding their heads and tearing up. When she finished she received a standing ovation that lasted nearly two minutes. For a brief moment, I felt a deep sense of unity with every person in the room. Vanessa’s powerful words have stuck with me to this day, and I am hopeful that they remain in the audience’s mind for years to come.
While the failures of the conference motivate me to work harder in my field, these moments of hope remind me that the work isn’t in vain and that there is a large, diverse, and dedicated group of people working every day to combat climate change. It is easy and even tempting to fixate on COP26’s failures. However, I challenge myself and others to find reasons to be optimistic about the future of our planet and cling to those in moments of despair.