mutezo is a wildlife lawyer, farmer, and mandela washington fellow from the teapot-shaped landlocked country in southern africa known as zimbabwe. this country is not only mutezo’s home, but host to a quarter of the world’s elephant population.

as a child, mutezo spent most of her summer holidays in a small rural village known as nyanyadzi in the town of chimanimani. while there, she nursed a love of nature, community, and agriculture, as she spent most of her leisure time in the fields with friends or in the wild. when mutezo’s father got a job for a coal mining company, her family had to relocate — and their new home just so happened to be situated around one of the oldest national parks in zimbabwe, hwange national park — also known as zim park. while at the park, she learned that every 15 minutes, an elephant is killed in the wild. this explains why only about 400,000 elephants are left in africa today, as opposed to the 10 million wild elephants that roamed the continent in the 1930s, according to the world wildlife fund.

despite this, zimbabwe has one of the largest elephant populations in the world, with a population of more than 100,000 elephants. although a testament to effective conservation efforts, this poses several challenges, as the current population exceeds zim park’s stated ideal capacity of 40,000 elephants. while elephants are near extinction in other parts of the world, zimbabwe is struggling to devise strategies to cope with overpopulation, yet the threats remain the same: human-wildlife conflict and poaching.

human-wildlife conflict is a big issue in zimbabwe, where most wildlife are found in protected areas adjacent to rural, communal lands. and not only is the elephant population increasing, the human population shares the same growth curve. the country increasingly sees food security threatened by elephants that encroach into human spaces, destroying crops and killing humans. mutezo believes this problem can be solved, which is the reason for her choice of educational path.

“after completing high school at peterhouse girls school in zimbabwe, i left my home and family to study environmental law at the university of groningen in the netherlands, one of the most prestigious law schools in europe,” mutezo says. “it was a platform for exposure to various fields of law including my area of specialization — wildlife law.”

during her studies, mutezo had the opportunity to work at the wildlife justice commission (wjc), which greatly shaped her perspective of the wildlife industry.

“it was during my work at wjc that i gained a better understanding and appreciation of the fact that wildlife crime is one of the most lucrative, illegal businesses in the world and considered a multi-billion-dollar industry,” mutezo says.

with the mass exodus of african youth to europe and america in search of better opportunities, one would expect mutezo to stay in the netherlands for “greener pastures.” instead, she packed her bags and returned to zimbabwe.

“motivated by my combined love for people and nature, and equipped with the knowledge gained from my studies and work in the netherlands, i decided to return to zimbabwe,” mutezo says. “it struck me deeply that it took leaving my home to appreciate the impact that wildlife crimes, such as poaching, have on zimbabwe — and the entire globe. my goal was and remains to find home-grown solutions to local and global issues such as wildlife crime. i would like the future generations to enjoy wildlife, too.”

it has been over 5 years since mutezo moved back to zimbabwe, and she has dedicated her law degree to wildlife conservation by working with the tikki hywood foundation.

“i am the first lawyer employed by a conservation organization in zimbabwe,” she says. “my work in case management includes legal advisory on various wildlife crime cases, including cross-border and high-profile matters, and has set precedence as to how wildlife crime cases should be handled across the region. my contribution also extends to drafting and amending key legislation including laws that ensure that endangered species such as rhinoceros, pangolin, and painted dogs are recognized and given the highest protection at law.” 

by developing partnerships with various national authorities, she co-authored a handbook on prosecuting wildlife crimes and educated law enforcement and judicial officers across zimbabwe on wildlife and the law.

“it has been a great honor to innovate and find ways to use the law as a tool to conserve and protect wildlife,” mutezo says. 

having participated in the 2022 cohort of the u.s. state department’s flagship leadership program for young african leaders, the mandela washington fellowship (mwf), at the university of nebraska-lincoln, mutezo feels she has an even tighter grip on her vision to solve the human-wildlife conflict in her country. (in full disclosure, mwf is where this author met mutezo.)

she returns with a wealth of knowledge and access to resources to effectively execute her focus project at hambai wild, a registered agri-business she founded, with the goal of finding solutions to the human-wildlife conflict, by creating natural boundaries between humans and wildlife.

“my solution to this problem is to use one endangered species to protect another, by encouraging beekeeping to scare elephants,” she says. bees, as well as chili pepper, act as natural repellents against elephants. 

“mwf allowed me to turn an idea into an action plan,” mutezo says. “the access to a coach also gave me an opportunity to fine tune the idea into a viable business model that i intend to bring to fruition back in zimbabwe. i also pitched my project to different people from whom i got constructive feedback to transition from inception to execution.”

she intends to use her prowess as a farmer and knowledge as a wildlife lawyer and policy expert to engage communities affected by wildlife conflicts.

to be more practical, she says, “hambai wild will use the contract farming model, by providing inputs to local communities such as seedlings, beekeeping kits, and by empowering the local population with technical expertise and training to grow chili peppers and keep bees. this would allow us the option of buying back the produce and selling sustainably sourced produce.”

just like in a colony where each bee plays a contributing role to the survival of the hive, she looks forward to strategic partnerships with other organizations that have successfully implemented similar models, like save the elephants in kenya and awf (african wildlife foundation) in uganda. 

says mutezo: “i encourage collective action by everyone to protect the zim’s natural resources for future generations.”

matt scott, manager of storytelling and engagement at project drawdown, is working to “pass the mic” to underrepresented climate change makers. in this pairing of interviews, matt chats with eli chen, senior editor for overheard at national geographic, and mckenzie allen-charmley, planet forward comcast nbcuniversal sustainable storytelling fellow, to discuss what “passing the mic” means to them.

watch “drawdown’s neighborhood” to see matt “pass the mic” to climate heroes.

listen to eli’s work on “overheard at national geographic.”

ice plant is a succulent-looking plant that is native to south africa, a place with a similar temperate climate to the coast of california. ice plant was probably brought to the pacific coast in the 1600s with colonization, but started its boom with purposeful and widespread planting in the early 1900s. continuing until the 1970s, people believed that the drought resistant, quickly growing mat-like structured plants were beneficial for sand dune and soil erosion. they thought that these non-native plants would hold sand in place better than the native shrubs and allowed ice plant to thrive as it took over dunes and out-competed native plants. what people know now is that the ice plant is extremely aggressive and actually destabilizes soil as its leaves are big and heavy, good for storing all of the water it sucks up without losing much, and the roots are shallow, clinging to the soil tightly, increasing erosion and the frequency of landslides. the mats of ice plant build up so much biomass that the soil below sometimes, unexpectedly, collapses. 

at the time, in the mid-2000s, as i wandered the marin headlands with my other eight year old classmates, one practice to try to eradicate ice plant was to physically crush it. so in learning about watershed systems and local ecology, we also walked up to the top of some sand dunes overlooking rodeo beach and discussed ice plant and the harm of the wildly out of control plant. then, each of us took a turn pickle-rolling down the dune, smashing as much ice plant as possible under our little bodies. and making sure we avoided the abundant poison oak also surrounding us. the instructors there at naturebridge in the headlands then pointed to another portion of the dune that had no ice plant on it. they told us, see, this is where another group rolled before and look! now there’s no more ice plant. and i felt like we were really doing something! just from rolling down a sandy hill, i could help get rid of this bad (invasive) plant that was crowding out the good (native) plants. 

here we are in the spring of 2022 and i am still doing the same thing, but a little differently and having learned and grown a lot in the years since third grade. i volunteered one saturday in february with the big sur land trust, pulling ice plant from martin dunes in marina. the day started by getting picked up by a friend, the volunteer coordinator for the land trust, so we could all carpool. we headed to marina and drove through dry, tired-looking agricultural fields, arriving at a badly rutted dirt parking lot. though there was a deep pit with various tire tracks through it in the middle of the lot, the dirt looked like it hadn’t seen rain in years. and it probably hasn’t. or at least seen enough of it. once all of the volunteers assembled, we ventured out to the beach and then along the dunes to an unmarked trail of sand between dunes that wrapped to a couple of decaying wooden picnic tables. and for the next couple of hours, we all worked by hand to pull out as much ice plant as possible and lay it root-up in piles in the sun so that the plant would die. something that has changed in my time since rolling over ice plant in the headlands til now has been my deep immersion into climate change and environmental justice. and what i noticed while ripping plants out of the sand is that ice plant is just like climate change. 

you need to get to the mother root 

ice plant generally has one big main “mother root.” there may be smaller sections of root that spread out and run right under the sand, but they all connect to this one thicker root. same with climate change. when looking at the climate crisis, there are so many different aspects to get invested and discouraged by. there’s the acidification of the ocean and collapse of marine systems and food and livelihoods of millions. there’s the deforestation of the planet’s lungs and burning of the very trees that make it possible for humans to breathe and survive. there’s the growing variability and inconsistency of global circulation patterns and currents, the driving forces of all global systems. what gives the planet weather and climates and moisture and nutrients and much more. and with that, the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events that our human systems don’t have the capacity or care for. every season is record breaking and one day may bring intense heat while the next has intense rain. weather whiplash. there are polluting power plants in the backyards of communities that have long disproportionately suffered the harms of a small group of elites prospering. there are millions and millions of refugees, fleeing instability, violence, climate disasters. and this is just a glimpse. you need to get to the mother root. the other roots may be thinner and slippery, hard to grab onto. or they may be in stringy clusters, difficult to continue to pull out of the sand. but all of them connect back to the mother root. what connects all of these different injustices and the destruction and suffering? climate change is rooted in the separation of people from the rest of nature and prevailing mindsets of domination, extraction, and exploitation. this disconnect between people and the environment looks like the proliferation and thriving of colonialism and racial capitalism. the whole plant can’t be killed until the mother root is found and yanked out, laid down to dry in the sun, and decimated by the power of something much bigger and stronger than it. 

the sneaky bastard is everywhere, especially where you don’t expect it 

don’t forget to give ice plant some credit. it is a sneaky bastard. and if you don’t look closely and with an eye for it, it can evade your gaze, hiding under other plants and intertwined with the beautiful plants you do love. that bastard of colonialism is much the same. until you open your eyes and are able to see the tricky ways of colonialism and exploitation, you might not see the small patch of ice plant hiding under the shelter of the taller, native saltbush. and these ideas of domination and extraction seem to have proliferated almost everything. if you look closely, at the toaster that you can buy for $4, past the convenience and ease and higher standard of living for most people (alongside much larger gaps in equality) you see metals and other materials that have been mined in all parts of the world and then shipped somewhere else to come together in manufacturing and then sold somewhere else. these areas are where people aren’t paid a fair and livable wage for the work they do. and where the natural environment also pays the price in having its soul and structure extracted in the cheapest, often more destructive, way possible. and maybe these people or companies or countries don’t have a choice in how they contribute to the global market. trading their mined exports for more accessible imports and safety and a better relationship with the powerhouse countries that have gotten to where they are with centuries of colonialism. colonialism hides along in the shadows, creeping on through, touching all in sometimes not fully seen and understood ways. all issues and injustices today can be traced back to a disconnect between people and the environment. this mindset that is essential to colonialism, of domination and disrespect for other beings, leads to extraction and exploitation, now so widespread that people are actively killing other humxns, animals, plants, the future. these destructive dominant ideas also only accept and duplicate themselves. as audre lorde wrote, “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” hierarchies reinforce themselves so that those with power can stay in power. mats and mats of ice plant are pulled out, only to reveal oxalis below them, another invasive plant. the small green sorrel leaves peek in between fingers of ice plant, finding shelter and protection within another invasive. the name of the game is exploitation and there’s a race to the bottom. 

she’s an octopus! novapus? decapus? why so many arms?  

the surprising part of needing to get to the mother root of ice plant is because with its sprawling mat-like structure and arm after arm after arm of plump, icy fingers, you’d expect there to be roots all along each string of the old thing. but that’s not the case. all of these arms stretch out from that one main root and spread, intertwining, interweaving, becoming complex, and sometimes simple, and creating a messy, complicated front. and the climate crisis is the same way. upon first look, all you see is a big tangle of mess that is difficult to even know where to start. but when you creep a little closer, you can find the end of one arm that you can grab onto and see where it leads. there are many different access points, because everything is related to the climate crisis. you can start pulling up ice plant on one side or another or another or another and you’ll still end up working towards that mother root. everyone needs to be involved and invested in climate justice and the equalizing part of the climate crisis reaching everyone in some regard or another is that no matter your interests, strengths, values, passions, you can do important work. the art and culture that you create contributes to helping people imagine and envision a more just future. the data you clean up and crunch can help create projections and models, laying out an exact timeline essential to policymakers and scientists. the love you have for hiking can be shared with others, helping to connect more people with the environment and their surroundings, in turn developing their sense of stewardship and responsibility in taking action. there’s infinite ways in to limiting the harm and suffering of the climate crisis. find the arm that stands out to you and start getting in there. 

you think you’re better than me? hah try again

ice plant was introduced to california’s landscape by people who thought they could control the environment with something new and different. but in reality, the native plants that co-evolved with the landscape over millions of years are much better equipped for providing the services their ecosystem needs than plants that have been blindly dropped into a different context. native plants know their areas and have mutualistic relationships. and so do indigenous people. people indigenous to an area have grown and lived alongside the same local context for thousands of years, cultivating knowledge in relationship with a particular place and all of the beings at play there. moving away from colonialism’s wrath of extraction and exploitation, people need to look to indigenous people for examples of how to live in reciprocal relationship with the environment and what living locally looks like. rather than techno-fixes and shiny new ideas or band-aid fixes like atmospheric geoengineering, we need to focus on communities and relationships. we need smaller systems where people rely on and steward the landscape they live in. we need to invest in communities and celebrate the local. these smaller scale models and practices of reciprocity and gratitude can be connected, creating worldwide change. 

let’s get nice and up close and personal 

looking over and across most sand dunes throughout california, you see a beautiful sea of red and green and varying shades of those colors. and that’s tons and tons of ice plant. it covers most dunes and even when people try to remove it, it comes back. and while climate change can be overwhelming and lead to dissonance because of the sheer hugeness of it, each and every person still needs to put in the work. it is hard work. pulling out ice plant requires you to use your muscles. you’ve got to pull with your legs lest you risk straining your back. it will get you sweating and tired and maybe sometimes discouraged if you look up at the pile of ice plant you’ve pulled out over the last 20 minutes and meanwhile one glance to the left shows one hundred times the amount of ice plant you just pulled out. it’s daunting and discouraging. and it takes hand pulling plants out twice before they stop coming back. supposedly. but your ice plant pulling does make a difference. no matter how little ice plant you pull out, getting out there, yanking a plant or two, and trying is something. as long as you are doing something, it’s important. and you never know what small action may lead to a bigger impact, especially on others. that one patch of sand you cleared may become the happy home of a native ca coastal buckwheat plant and feeding ground for native pollinators. and it takes hard work that is up close and personal. spraying ice plant with herbicide may not be the best way to eradicate the plant. there are unknown impacts and many times the plant comes back anyway. the way to engage with climate justice work is to get in there, get personal, confront the challenges, and figure out what you can do and how you can make an impact. there aren’t big blanket solutions that can be used, sprayed from afar and nonspecifically. take some time to figure out your skills, passions, and goals, and then get started. you’ve got to be face to face to find your grip on the plant. 

climate change and ice plant are more alike than they may seem. all people have a stake in climate justice because nothing in your life remains untouched by the environment and the harms of humans’ separation from the, especially local, environment. take some time to figure out how you are already up close and personal with climate change, and use your skills and experiences to find an arm of the plant that you can grab onto and start ripping away at. keep in mind the mother root and do what you can to eradicate it. look to others for knowledge and wisdom and invest in your surrounding community. one person can’t do it all but everyone needs to do something. it’s hard work but good work. and don’t forget to plant something new once you get that ice plant out. 

but at the same time, around 100,000 people took to the streets of glasgow to advocate for more climate action. around the globe, people marched for the same cause.

soon after the conference, the house of representatives passed the build back better bill, approving over $2 trillion in spending, much of which is allotted to combat climate change throughout the next decade. yet to be approved by the senate, the bill’s spending overall is more than a trillion dollars less than president joe biden’s original proposal. among the list of ideas proposed by the bill is the first-ever civilian climate corps, a federally funded program to provide america’s youth with environmental protection and reclamation jobs. both cop26 and the bill reveal insights into what the future of climate change advocacy looks like for youth around the world.

in conversation with me on november 22, washington post climate reporter and planet forward advisory councilmember tik root analyzed what happened in the conference, or maybe more appropriately, what didn’t happen, and how the future of climate action may be shaped by cop26 and the build back better bill. 

podcast transcription:

helen bradshaw  0:02  
the united nations climate conference, cop26, wrapped up on november 12 in glasgow. i’m planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 helen bradshaw. and in the aftermath of the climate discussions, i sat down with washington post climate solutions reporter tik root to learn his key takeaways from the conference, and what the future of climate action could look like for young adults.

our first question is, what do you think are the most important and potentially impactful promises to come out of cop26?

tik root  0:38  
i mean, i think they accelerated the pace at which they’re going to be making ndc reporting commitments. i believe it went from five years to one. so i think there’ll be some increased reporting on that front. but i think the story of cop is largely what’s what’s not there? more than more than what is there? and i think there’s, i think there was pretty, pretty widespread disappointment with with the deal, that deal that was reached out to conference. you know, there was some language about fossil fuels. but i think, you know, advocates would say that it’s, it was pretty watered down from from some of the original calls. and most importantly, you know, there was a, there was a call for, for countries of the global north to meet its commitment over $100 billion a year in funding for the global south. but it doesn’t appear that there was a increase in that, in that funding, which i think would be really, which which country i’d say is really necessary to keep some of the climate finance and emissions targets on track. so overall, i’d say that people were fairly disappointed with what came out of glasgow, but it will be, it’ll be interesting to see how they deal with that going forward.

helen bradshaw  2:15  
so in response to a lot of what was happening, there were many protests led largely by youth, indigenous people and people from the global south. do you think young people can or should play a role in holding governments accountable for their claims of action?

tik root  2:30  
i mean, i think that can be a question, you know, is answered by your question. they were there. and i think greta thunberg said, a bit of a tone for the conference at the beginning with her, bla bla bla, quote, which i think you saw, you know, boris johnson reiterate and a few others. so, i mean, they’re clearly having an impact, and they’re clearly being, being taken relatively seriously as, as participants in this process. you know, whether they can have a more direct role? that’s an interesting question. i know that the un calls for increased participation in a lot of its unfccc documents and in the paris agreement, but i think there’s not a lot of concrete plans as to make that happen.

helen bradshaw  3:21  
can you think of any ways that young activists in particular can work to hold their governments accountable or to make them adhere to the claims of action that they’ve created?

tik root  3:29  
yeah, no. i think you i think you’ve seen, you’ve seen people like greta thunberg and the friday’s for future, you know, garner significant media attention and significant, you know, attention globally. and so i think, i think you start to see it, definitely register on, you know, global leaders who are reiterating the phrases or some of the demands, and i think you’ve seen some of these small country nations as well make their voices heard, you know, what, what leverage they ultimately have on the final decision, as i guess up to the negotiators, but they’re certainly not unnoticed t would seem.

helen bradshaw  4:14  
along those lines, similar, just in vein to talking about young peopl, the house passed the build back better bill on friday. i know in an article recently for the washington post, you touched on the new civilian climate corps proposed by the bill, if this becomes a reality, how do you think it’ll impact young people?

tik root  4:30  
it will be really interesting and the expansion of, i mean, the biden administration called it for the creation of a civilian climate corps and in many ways, it’s an  expansion of the [unintelligable] corps to include a lot of climate focused jobs and you know, dating back to fdr, ccc, you know, they tried to harken back to that program, which was, you know, fairly beloved in its time. i think it’s going to be an employment opportunity and employment option for many youth around the country, if it passes, if it gets implemented, you know, it’s unclear exactly what the timeline would be but you know as soon as a couple years from now there could be an option for kids coming out of high school and college to join the ccc… again.

helen bradshaw  5:21  
do you see it being a largely youth-run organization in the sense that, you know, its majority comprised of youth? or what do you think the breakdown of that could look like?

tik root  5:31  
yeah, my understanding is there’s likely going to be age requirements. i haven’t seen exactly what that might look like. but my understanding is it’s very much geared towards youth and young people.

helen bradshaw  5:43  
the us is responsible for nearly a quarter of the world’s co2 emissions, despite only making up less than 5% of the total world population, based on the steps outlined during cop and the potential for the build back better bill to become law is the us promising to do their fair share to combat climate change?

tik root  5:58  
i mean, i think the data shows that pretty much every country is on track to not meet their – the the ndcs and the emissions targets that they promised, i believe that includes the us, but even if they were on track, it doesn’t, it’s not enough of emissions reduction to keep us below a 1.5 degrees celsius of warming. and so i guess the question is, if the paris agreement, you know, tries to keep 1.5 in sight, and the us and other countries targets wouldn’t allow that, and they’re not on track to even meet those targets, i guess it’s you know, yeah, i can let other people say whether that means you’re doing enough to combat climate change, but there definitely appears to be that. and glasgow didn’t change that and i think this is one of the biggest disappointments people have this glasgow’s that it kept the world on track to blow past 1.5 and possibly even two degrees celsius of warming, which is not what the paris agreement calls for.

helen bradshaw  7:14  
you can find tik’s most recent work in the washington post. for planet forward, i’m helen bradshaw.

transcribed by https://otter.ai

dr. luzadis is a professor in the environmental studies department at suny college of environmental science and forestry (esf), and is the founder of heart forward science, a program created to advance sustainable scientific outcomes with the whole-person approach. she also serves on the planet forward advisory council, and is chair of the board of directors of the global council for science and the environment (gcse). 

a huge thanks to dr. luzadis for taking the time to chat with me. it was great to get an inside look at what went on at the conference and from such an interesting perspective. as an educator at a school like esf, dr. luzadis has a unique point of view on these issues (i would guess that most representatives at cop don’t work with youth activists in their day jobs). i hope the solutions and behavior changes recommended by dr. luzadis will be widely heard and implemented. 

podcast transcription:

lily john  0:00  
my name is lily john and i’m a planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 at suny-esf. i recently sat down with esf professor dr. valerie luzadis to discuss her experience at this year’s un climate summit. was this your first time attending a cop conference?

dr. valerie luzadis  0:18  
it was this was my first one. yes.

lily john  0:21  
okay, and how did it compare to your expectations?

dr. valerie luzadis  0:25  
well, i didn’t have many going in, i wasn’t really sure exactly what to expect. of course, i know about this work, since it’s critical to sustainability. but this was also the first time that the global council for science and the environment had a delegation. so it was very interesting to work with a group of people from other institutions around the world to come together, and, you know, have a common platform for observing and connecting with one another. so it was a really, overall great experience, and so many ways. i was full time observing the second week, when all the negotiations were happening. and i found that i got very invested along the way, well, following certain threads of language and discussions. and as is typical with negotiations, and with consensus approaches, which is what’s used for the cop meetings, things are a little stronger, earlier, and usually get softened language wise by the end, and that happened, and there’s kind of an emotional ride with that, then it’s like, oh, i really wanted to see this. happen that way. and, and so almost disappointment at moments of that. it really took me a couple of days after the meeting ended to say, okay, remember what this is. it’s consensus. it’s global-level discussions. we have no formal enforcement mechanisms, and then really look at what happened at the meeting. and when i did that, i can say, i think progress was certainly made. and it’s not enough.

lily john  2:04  
yeah, that seems like the consensus. but, the language was softening just in order to reach a compromise, like that was the only way to get people to agree to what was being proposed?

dr. valerie luzadis  2:17  
yes, and it’s an interesting process that they use, because it’s not formal agreement. it’s just agreeing to not block it, right. so at the very end, that’s how the consensus is reached. and so there’s this process where they have these informal stocktaking sessions, and i found those very interesting was where the countries would be able to say, here’s what we want. and here’s what we think should be happening. and by the end, it became “we are not happy with this, this, this, and this, and we are not going to block this.”

lily john  2:52  
i imagine it’s quite complicated to be managing all of these different pieces of input and beginning with what each party won’t agree with. from that perspective, it’s kind of impressive that anything got done. what did the representation outside of government look like? and what was the role of these groups?

dr. valerie luzadis  3:11  
well, the the formal parties and government deal parties are all through the un. and so it’s not a formal representation in terms of the consensus building, that’s only the governments themselves. and so the observers and our ngos, businesses, civil… civil society groups that meet outside of this are there to share their thoughts about how to move things ahead. there’s a whole set of technical advisors who are also there. how do we do what we need to get done?

lily john  3:43  
it’s great that there was so much representation of different groups there. so this year, what were the primary themes of cop?

dr. valerie luzadis  3:51  
the primary themes continued, of course, to be on mitigation, and then adaptation. there was also a big discussion on what they called loss and damage. and that’s because there are already losses and damages related to climate change. and it’s happening in large part to countries and to peoples who are 1. not causing this problem, and 2. don’t have the resources to be able to respond to it. there was also a very big focus on climate finance. and then the final thing was creating what was called “the paris rulebook.” and this was really rules that are needed to implement what was agreed to in paris. so the goals of this particular cop 26, included, trying to secure global net zero by mid century, and keeping to 1.5 degrees within reach of possibility, because right now, we were set toward a greater than two degrees increase global warming before this meeting, and so a lot of the conversation was about what do we need to change what has to be added? how can we get to keeping us to that 1.5 degree limit. there were adaptation conversations around protecting communities and habitats. and then this finance issue was big because the agreements that were made, and paris didn’t come through, i heard at one point that only 20% of what was promised came through. and so there was a lot of attention to that lack of follow through, and the need for what they’re talking about, it’s $100 billion a year mobilized toward helping to deal with climate change. and there were certain countries, developing countries, who really wanted to say developed countries should be paying this. there are 20 countries that produce 80% of the the greenhouse gases. and the two biggest contributors, of course, are the us and china. and so i think this is one of the issues is who’s paying this money in? so when you talk about this climate finance, it’s not just countries, but it’s also private financing.

lily john  6:00  
is that private companies? are they part o f the question?

dr. valerie luzadis  6:04  
this would come from companies who have created some sort of… you might think about it the… so the language that we ended up with at this point was that we would agree to phase out “unabated coal” and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, but “unabated coal” suggests that we need to abate coal. so there are companies that have the technology and ability to be able to do that. and so they become part of the financing activity.

lily john  6:32  
is there a discussion around the big polluter companies making financial contributions?

dr. valerie luzadis  6:38  
this is one of the things that i do know is that within the nationally developed contributions, each country is looking at how they manage the polluters. and so the polluter pays, of course, is one of those techniques that are used.

lily john  6:53  
why do you think that these regulations haven’t been effective?

dr. valerie luzadis  6:57  
coal and fossil fuels have never been called out in one of the climate agreements, and so it wasn’t in the paris agreement. so the fact that this was going to come into play and get put into language in the document was a really big deal. and the beginning, it was to phase out coal, and to phase out subsidies to fossil fuels. and it changed to to phase out unabated coal and inefficient subsidies to fossil fuels. and those situations, it’s at the country level, or even sometimes sub-national level where these things are regulated. and so that’s the question, it’s kind of moving, it gets moved into different scales, where we have a global problem, but now we have to figure out how and at which scales do we need to do which things in order to have a global impact and changing it?

lily john  7:52  
yeah, those systems seem like they’re very well established. and the systems needed to reverse that action and to work together to end burning coal, or whatever else needs to be done. it seems like those systems haven’t really been established because of the lack of agreement.

dr. valerie luzadis  8:11  
yeah, so this is probably one of the most interesting things about this cop for me was was exactly this bigger picture around systems. the youth voice was strong at this cop. and there was not one voice. we also heard indigenous youth speak so clearly, and passionately. and one of the most astounding things i heard was this group, essentially saying, “why are we looking to you who created this problem to fix it? because there’s no incentive for that.” and so what i started to see was a very clear voice set of voices in this process, and a very clear set of voices saying this process is not going to do it. and we need to be doing something else. and the youth voice collectively, and the indigenous voices collectively, i believe, are likely to lead us otherwise,

lily john  9:04  
was there much youth or indigenous involvement in previous cop conferences?

dr. valerie luzadis  9:10  
there was more this time, from my understanding, than most. youth voice in particular was written into this cop in terms of following on with a regular set of activities with the youth groups and indigenous groups as well. the thing that really strikes me i saw on the major panels throughout this, both youth and indigenous people, the indigenous voice one of one of the the messages loud and clear is that indigenous people have knowledge that can help us to resolve these issues, to mitigate and to adapt with climate change. and i did not see any indigenous people invited to share substantive ideas about that. all i heard were indigenous people invited to say, our voices need to be heard. they were also saying we have knowledge that can help. we had science everywhere, on every panel all the time, but not indigenous knowledge with it. and i don’t understand that there’s a relegation of these voices. and that’s hugely problematic.

lily john  10:13  
i recently heard a piece on npr about a group of young indigenous women who had travelled from new zealand and alaska to speak at cop. but their time was cut short and almost eliminated. so it seems like only the first step is being taken with inviting them to be there.

dr. valerie luzadis  10:31  
i would say that’s right. and not only inviting, but inviting into a process that clearly they weren’t part of designing, and in which their approaches and their relationship with time and relationship were not respected. again, that’s hugely problematic. there was a very, very big sense of frustration. and that was really palpable. and not just in the protests, it was palpable in the rooms, it was palpable from different governments, and especially the smaller countries and the small island developing nations. and so it’s a really interesting question of what kind of activity through civil society can take place or will take place that will help us to address this problem. at the same time, we’ve got this formal process, and there was progress made.

lily john  11:19  
overall, would you say you’re leaning toward more towards optimism, or more towards being disappointed by the lack of results?

dr. valerie luzadis  11:28  
i am, by nature, an optimistic person. and i put my energy and my attention on the positive and on the vision of the future that i want to see. i can say, some progress was made. and it was not enough. i like to see the activity of working by consensus, because so much of our world is a violent world. and to see where countries can come together and work by consensus, that’s very important. it’s a non-violent approach to getting us to a non-violent, equitable, sustainable world. and at the same time, it’s not enough for modi to come out and say 2070 for india to be net zero. that’s too late. the ideas on the radar, that’s good. so is that better than not being on the radar? maybe?

lily john  12:17  
yeah, i was curious about india’s announcement, because that was one of the first things i heard out of cop. and i thought it was super exciting. and the landmark dramatic change that we were looking for, but now reading about the reactions and act thinking about where 2070 is… and also it seems like the social justice and the human issues have not really been acknowledged there. so it’s more of something for shock value is kind of how it seems from the outside.

dr. valerie luzadis  12:49  
well, the truth is that politics are at play in this setting. there was a us-china agreement that came out. and that’s actually got a lot to do with why we have the language of unabated coal and inefficient subsidies of fossil fuels, is because of the us-china agreement. is this a good thing? it is because as one of the biggest emitters, china, did not send their leader to this meeting. and so to have an agreement come out during this time was really important.

lily john  13:20  
given everything we’ve discussed, what do you see as being the most effective step in implementing the necessary systemic change?

dr. valerie luzadis  13:29  
i think that one of the things we do is that when we teach only about the intellectual mind, and the analytical aspects of things, and we don’t necessarily teach about heart, and love, and imagination, and intuition, these other parts of us super important. and that’s actually what’s going to weave into that with our intellect, that i think will help us to hold that vision and figure out how to get there. it’s the whole person approach, we need to bring all of ourselves to all that we do for a long time now, we’ve been asked just to bring this part of us just our heads. and that’s not enough, we can see it. and we certainly don’t teach the skills of how to understand intuitive knowledge, where there are skills affiliated with that, that we could learn. it’s different than analytical knowledge. it’s just as important. and so understanding and using these things in tandem, is actually the the education of the future, i believe, but we need to build that skill set and we need to build the community system that’ll allow us to do that.

transcribed by https://otter.ai

i was lucky enough to have the privilege of attending cop26 as a delegate from the university of connecticut, where i am currently a senior environmental studies student. on my second day at the conference, i heard an indigenous bolivian woman—angélica ponce chambi—speak about gender equality and climate change, the role that indigenous women have in protecting the environment, and the need for immediate global action for environmental protection. it was beautiful and it was moving. it’s one of the relatively few events at cop that gave me genuine hope. another such moment came in hearing from emtithal “emi” mahmoud, a sudanese-american poet and advocate for refugees. what the two speakers have in common is personal experience. they didn’t get a comfortable delegate job through family connections, because they’re wealthy, or any other reason based on luck and privilege. 

rather, both are from a community already feeling the impacts of climate disasters, communities doing the real work to recover. they have been impacted, and they are fighting every day for real action. they are on the frontlines.

these are the people we need to hear from. communities have solutions—ones that are often more effective because they are created by the people who are affected by the problem and will be affected by the solution.

i know that cop is about politics; i know that countries, people, organizations, and corporations are there to make a statement and negotiate deals. but what if, for just a moment, we paused and listened? truly listened, with empathy and caring, to those being most impacted, to the community organizers, to those who are not usually heard. i’m not naive. i know that listening won’t suddenly make all of our differences disappear, that the negotiations won’t suddenly become easy, but i do believe it would help.

the problem is different when we’re able to see it through a human and community lens. it’s harder to think of it as just a policy issue, and not a people issue. when you think of something as a people issue, what choice is there but to act? when there’s a face and a story, and when we listen with empathy, we can see ourselves, and our loved ones in that story.

when i heard mahmoud speak, i heard someone with a different past, and different identities from me—but also someone who shares an identity as an activist, and a frustration with cop for ignoring the voices of those being affected. when i heard chambi speak, i again heard someone with different identities and backgrounds, but also someone who shares an identity as a woman who is proud to be in the climate movement and bring her specific perspective as a woman to the table. their voices and stories resonated with me, while allowing a glimpse into someone else’s lived experiences. 

i believe that stories based on lived experiences matter. they have an enormous impact. the presence of these stories and the people who carry them might not “fix” cop because of how unjust it has been—from the lack of women at cop in positions of power to inequities in who was able to access the covid-19 vaccine and travel to the conference. yet, i believe that it would go a long way in remedying some of the harms that have been done by creating space for those who need to be heard most, and result in action that is more on par with the needs of the moment.

cop27 will happen one year from now in egypt. the world is watching. we are ready for a cop that is just and equitable, that centers on those most impacted, and acts on climate change at the scale of the crisis we are facing. we are watching—and we expect better.

on nov. 12, planet forward wrapped up the series with a conversation between scholars and storytellers: “champions of climate justice: where do we go from here?” the panel focused on the climate justice movement and how to report stories on sustainability that captures a range of diverse voices and perspectives. 

dr. imani cheers, award-winning digital storyteller and associate professor at gw’s school of media and public affairs, led the discussion. joining her in conversation were dr. lemir teron, associate professor at the planet forward pillar school suny-esf; matt scott from project drawdown; and lexi hernandez, planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 and senior at pillar school chapman university. the panel shared tips, perspectives, and best practices on how to keep climate justice as a central part of how we adapt to a changing environment. you can watch the complete discussion above, or over on our youtube channel.

you can see the videos from other fall events on our salon page.

• can cop26 become a turning point for gender responsive climate action? several authors team up in this opinion piece to argue that any meaningful international effort to address climate change must have women and girls at its center.

• advancing gender equality through climate action. women and girls are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change and pay a higher price. why? what needs to be fixed?

• 4 black women leaders on climate, justice, the green ‘promised land.’ it’s well documented that black neighborhoods and other communities of color are disproportionately affected by a changing climate, amplifying existing disparities related to race, gender, and class. read this q&a with four leading black women activists and scholars in the environmental movement about what this moment means for their communities.

check back tomorrow for more info on what is being explored at cop26 — and good reads to keep you informed!

• the u.n. climate summit will take on “adaptation, loss and damage” monday. what does today’s conference theme mean? how is cop26 tackling the topic?

• 12 great examples of how countries are adapting to climate change. the thames barrier, risk-pooling in africa, community involvement in indonesia, and more — learn about current adaptation projects around the world.

• new u.n. report: step up climate change adaptation efforts, or face huge disruption. why is improving worldwide adaptation efforts such an urgent task, and what’s been holding us back? researchers explain their work in the united nations environment programme’s 2021 adaptation gap report. 

• a “just” climate change adaptation needs arts and culture. visual artists are increasingly teaming with climate change adaptation experts to help communities achieve the needed “just transition.” see how creatives and adaptation experts can make change together.

check back tomorrow for more info on what is being explored at cop26 — and good reads to keep you informed!

what makes climate change so complex is that every country, every industry, and every individual is a stakeholder. governments, businesses, and nonprofits across the spectrum have differing priorities on how to tackle the climate crisis. climate change disproportionately affects global south countries who have contributed the least to the problem, also making climate change an equity issue. throw a catastrophic pandemic into the mix, and climate change becomes an even more complex issue that only worsens human health and survival. 

the clock is ticking, and every day vulnerable communities around the world face climate consequences that threaten their livelihoods––from droughts to hurricanes to rising sea levels. these consequences will only continue to spread and worsen, which is why cop26 takes place at such a crucial time. 

i hope that countries, especially the biggest players in climate politics, prioritize the planet over profit and develop drastically stronger national climate plans that highlight climate actions towards achieving the paris agreement. i hope that climate finance leverages the vast resources of the private sector to support a robust global transition towards greener technologies and processes. i hope decision makers will finally hear and amplify the voices of those most affected by the climate crisis––from coastal communities to youth activists to indigenous environmental defenders.

can these hopes become a reality in time, before it’s too late? i’m looking forward to finding out in a few weeks. as a young person deeply concerned about the state of our planet and its inhabitants, it’s an honor to be part of the conversation.

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about the author:

francesca edralin is a 2021 planet forward comcast sustainable storytelling fellow, 2020-21 planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 , and 2021 planet forward storyfest winner. she is in her final semester at the george washington university pursuing a b.a in international affairs with minors in journalism and mass communication and sustainability. although she grew up in new jersey, her family comes from the philippines, one of the countries currently most severely impacted by climate change and environmental conflict. her background led her to be passionate about environmental issues––especially looking at the climate crisis through a global lens and understanding how climate change disproportionately impacts the world’s poorest countries and communities.