COP OUT? Words
by
Jessica
Rowe
Maybe some of you will relate when I say that at the end of last year I had been approached by many a’young activists attempting to educate me about COP26. I listen, but of course retain nothing and leave the conversation feeling good for providing a listening ear, but nonetheless as ignorant as I was before. If you’re like me, passionate about world issues but struggling to keep up with the intricacies of politics, then you’re in luck! Here’s a breakdown of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. As explained on the official United Nations website, COP26 brought together 120 world leaders and over 40,000 registered participants including party delegates, observers and media representatives. The conference spanned over two weeks in the city of Glasgow. The outcome was the Glasgow Climate Pact, and new agreements were made in the areas of forests, coal, cars, methane and private finance. At first glance, the outcomes of COP26 seem positive, like our world leaders are totally down with fighting climate change! So why did it seem like the Adelaide activists were so eagerly trying to mobilize the every-day person to get involved? Lucky for us, Maddy Tapley from Uni Students for Climate Justice is here to explain…
“After decades of summits like this one, global emissions have continued to rise. COP26 was nothing more than a conference of “blah blah blah”. World leaders committed to fighting climate change in rhetoric only, and even then, what they committed to is completely inadequate given the level of destruction we are already witnessing. Instead of buying into greenwashing events like COP26 we need to focus on the action (or inaction) of world governments. We believe that the fate of the world should not be left up to those who exploit its resources for profit. The urgency to fight for climate justice has never been greater, and we need that fight to happen in the streets because politicians clearly aren’t going to fight for us. We need a movement like the anti-uranium campaigns of the 70s and 80s that saw communities and workers mobilise to stop the mining and transportation of uranium for weapons manufacturing.”
Maddy T apley
35
