i sat down with gregor sharp, an 18-year-old climate activist, to discuss.

podcast transcript:

kaitlyn copland 0:05

during recent years, it seems that an increasing number of social movements have improved their ability to organize and mobilize people around a cause. why? the globe is more connected than ever through social media. 

movements have harnessed the media’s power to revolutionize the spread of information about social change all across the world. one relevant example is the cop26 coalition, which is a uk based civil society coalition of groups, grassroots movements, trade unions and racial justice networks. 

activists from the cop26 coalition converged upon glasgow to protest the cop26 climate summit that ran for two weeks in the fall of 2021. while world leaders revisited the paris climate accords to create the glasgow climate pact, protesters from different countries and movements united under the cop26 coalition to march in solidarity through the soggy streets demanding more immediate climate solutions. 

i had the opportunity to sit down with one of the activists present at cop26. gregor sharp is an 18 year old climate change activist who is a content creator for friday’s for future. we discussed how social media mobilizes organizations and increases connectivity as demonstrated through the cop26 coalition.

the following dialogue is our conversation which has been edited for clarity and length.

gregor sharp 1:31

hi, my name is gregor sharp. i’m an 18 year old climate activist from lake bluff, illinois. i’m a social media contributor for fridays for future and earth uprising. i got involved in climate change around 2018 when i first discovered it when i was learning about it in middle school. and then from that i reached out and branched off to different organizations and kind of got myself involved more and more and here i am today. 

kaitlyn copland 1:56

perfect! i want to discuss with you fridays for future in regards to their history. what are their purposes? what’s their goals and why is this all important? 

gregor sharp 2:05

fridays for future was founded in august 2018 by then not really popular climate activist greta thunburg who had been striking outside of the swedish parliament every friday. she decided that she would continue to be striking every friday and she created the fridays for future movement, which then eventually branched off to different countries around the world where students and young people would strike in front of the parliaments, the white houses, the presidential houses and the legislature houses around the world and in different cities and states and everywhere, basically. it started off with one person and it’s eventually grown to its largest at 4.3 million. 

kaitlyn copland 2:56

how has social media played a role in the visibility and reach of your demands and additionally, how is it increased connectivity for fridays for future branches across the world? 

gregor sharp 3:06

okay. so social media is a really big factor in sharing information. it’s been scientifically proven time and time again that it’s [social media] been one of the greatest ways of scientific movements and scientific information sharing throughout these past couple years, even though it does have a massive amount of misinformation problems. 

but overall within the climate movement, as a whole, we’re able to reach audiences and other people who may have not really heard about climate change. 

kaitlyn copland 03:38

could you also talk a little more on the shortcomings of social media in regards to this movement? 

gregor sharp 03:46

some shortcomings with our environmental movement are with conservative groups and other republican, right wing political groups. they do denounce fridays for future and say that we are prompting misinformation towards environmental sciences and other sciences as a whole. that shuts off our outreach programs to the majority of the far right groups around the world as they do not want to listen to us and they don’t believe that climate change is real.

political leaders who want to profit off of fossil fuel companies and other companies that are basically prospering from climate injustice and environmental deregulations are generally some of the reasons why we haven’t been able to do as much as we possibly can. we keep on getting blocked by different organizations and companies, because they want to focus on their own capitalistic profit.

kaitlyn copland 04:41

would you say that you use social media to try to target these organizations? 

gregor sharp 04:57

yeah, we definitely do target these groups time and time again. we specifically called chase bank out before cop26 happened because of their massive involvement within cop26. they do massively fund fossil fuel companies. and that kind of greenwashing, as we would say, definitely does not, in fact, help the environmental groups and youth movements around the world as a whole because it seems like they’re just profiting off of a name that they are sustainable and doing stuff. they’re also supporting the organizations, companies and the fossil fuel organizations which have been basically polluting and damaging our world. 

kaitlyn copland 05:40

i want to move on to discussing the cop26 coalition. i know fridays for future is a part of it. i’m really interested to know how the coalition was formed, especially if it involves social media. 

gregor sharp 05:54

the cop26 coalition was majorly formed right around the beginnings of when cop26 was birthed. especially with mock cop, where a few delegates met online and established their doctrine that they really wanted to get passed within cop. that engagement with other youth environmental organizations and environmental organizations as a whole eventually led to the formation of the cop26 coalition. that’s just a coalition of environmental and climate organizations that wanted to work together to ensure that we get climate action done and climate action in the cop26 agreement that eventually came out. i think it’s called the glasgow accord. it does include a little bit of climate change action.

kaitlyn copland 06:42

just to recap, when the cop 26 coalition was forming, all of these groups that formed it, connected with each other through social media, and it was like, yes, let’s do it? 

gregor sharp 06:57

we mostly connected through social media, but other people knew each other in person from former experiences with other cops, and just meeting in general in real life. that kind of connection via social media and also real life, interjected and created the cop 26 coalition.

kaitlyn copland 07:15

awesome. during the summit when you were protesting, did social media increase connectivity between the organizations? was fridays for future able to gain new partnerships and allies?

gregor sharp 07:29

yes, absolutely. we definitely gained more partnerships and allies as the fridays for future international group as a whole. generally, because of the fact that most of the events that we were attending were live streamed, they were broadcasted on every single major news network around the world. basically, as you can see on the first friday, the major major strike that happened in glasgow that we saw that definitely happening, where our coalition definitely got the word out and definitely was able to form a big coalition to get the news groups around the world to broadcast this kind of event. it’s major to see around 1.2 million people protesting within the streets of a 500,000 populated city.

kaitlyn copland 08:16

i was going to ask you about, like the visibility and reach of the protests at the summit. were you and the entire coalition, were they effectively able to create high visibility and reach of the protests?

gregor sharp 08:36

i would say definitely, like i said, we got 1.2 million people to protest in a city which only has a population of 500,000, which is absolutely incredible. that’s about double the population. so i definitely agree with social media and other forms of connections outside of social media, working amazingly to get the word out to other individuals who lived around the uk and european area, and also who flew in as climate delegates and other delegates, to cop26 to spread the word of taking climate action now and doing something. 

kaitlyn copland 09:13

that’s impressive. could you speak a little about your personal experience, on the ground at glasgow? 

gregor sharp 09:20

it was really amazing. i got to meet a ton of incredible climate activists and engage in social media myself. after the first major strike, we were able to witness around 28 speakers, youth activist speakers, mostly, even from mapa related countries and bipoc communities speak up about their experiences with climate change as a whole. we were able to rally a lot of people towards climate action during that day. and it was generally something that i really enjoyed. i was down on the streets protesting myself. i got to meet a ton of incredible climate activists and people who generally supported the idea for climate action around the world.

and it was just generally one of those experiences where i will never forget it because it was such a positive experience as a whole because everyone was there for positive reasons because they wanted to support this movement as a whole.

kaitlyn copland 10:23

that’s really exciting. do you have any final thoughts on how social media influences social political movements overall? 

gregor sharp 10:30

yeah, social media does definitely in today’s world affect political movements as a whole because everyone’s really connected now. as we can say with online social media platforms such as instagram, twitter, facebook, tiktok, snapchat, all those different apps and getting the word out for those different apps and different social media platforms, really generally does benefit the climate movement and other movements as a whole. it’s basically become like a revolution because social media has become such an influential factor in people’s lives today, that we generally didn’t realize that until about like eight years ago, because there was no social media back then. the general expansion of social media, and generally increasing our social media as a whole has definitely basically affected the world for the worst and for better.

kaitlyn copland 11:26

awesome! thank you so much for your time. 

gregor sharp 11:28

thank you so much!

each day of cop26, we’ll be highlighting stories from around the internet that align with the daily themes of the conference. we hope to make these themes more accessible, and present stories of success and education that help 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 !

here are some explainer articles to get you started: what exactly will happen at cop 26? who are the key voices? why should we care?

• what is cop26 and why does it matter? what is the unfccc, what are they trying to accomplish, and why should we care? this q&a answers all your questions.

• who’s who at cop26: the leaders who hold the world’s future in their hands. a look at who will — and who may not — be at the glasgow climate summit.

• your cop26 jargon buster. ndcs, climate finance, and 1.5c — here is your summary of the key terminology. 

• interview with greta thunberg about cop 26, media responsibility, and what gives her hope. dive more into the climate conversations of today with a familiar activist.

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

one focal area that others might miss is the interdependence of the big three crises of our time: not just the climate crisis, but also the biodiversity crisis and the crisis of inequality. the reason to watch for these big-3 interactions is that all three crises are rapidly coming to a head and solutions to one can easily harm progress in the other two. yet, we have the opportunity to kill three crises with one stone when we find the right combination of approaches. 

my interest in solving these crises stems from my background as a field biologist. i have witnessed how climate change is affecting biodiversity, not only in remote places like the north slope of alaska, but also here in my backyard in connecticut. my research has detailed how each increase in global temperature will likely make these changes worse and could lead to permanent extinctions. moreover, we can demonstrate that biodiversity losses directly affect human health, economy, and culture, and therefore our needs are inseparable from those of nature. 

i’ll be looking for these win-win-win solutions at cop26 that can address all three crises, and i’ll be deeply skeptical of solutions that do not. for example, restoring or protecting natural forests when done in concert with the needs of local people can capture carbon, maintain biodiversity, and protect local livelihoods and cultures simultaneously. but even this solution can cause harm when done without paying attention to local ecosystems and people.

at cop26, we have a chance to turn things around and make meaningful progress toward limiting climate change and preventing its worst effects. i hope that the students that we bring to the summit will not only advocate for that progress, but become the leaders that make it happen.

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about the author:

mark c. urban is an award-winning scientist, the arden chair and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the university of connecticut, founder and director of the center of biological risk, and global expert on climate change impacts on nature and evolutionary ecology.

in about a week, acc will host the first-ever global conservative climate summit at cop26 with international partners from the united kingdom and australia. this summit will bring together conservative leaders from across the globe to discuss market-based approaches to the environmental challenges that their home countries – and the world at large – face. this is a historic moment that means so much to me personally because it will be one of the first events that showcases conservative leadership on environmental issues on the world stage.

four years ago, i never would have imagined that the acc could make this much progress in such a short time. but too much of the republican party is still associated with climate denial, even as efforts such as the house’s conservative climate caucus advocate for climate solutions. challenges still remain, and my organization often faces opposition by both those on the right, who say we go too far, and those on the left, who say we don’t go far enough. we’re far from done in our push for pragmatic, realistic climate action. still, i have been so encouraged by the massive steps forward we have taken, and it only motivates me to continue to push for more action.

cop26 is a huge opportunity for global cooperation on the issue of climate change. if we truly want to 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 , we must push a diverse set of solutions to climate change. that includes clean energy and reducing our emission output, but it also includes things like natural climate solutions and breakthrough technologies to reduce greenhouse gases already in our atmosphere.

climate change is obviously a challenge, but i prefer to look at it as an opportunity. by promoting innovation and actionable solutions, we can help create a better world for future generations, one that adapts to current effects of climate change and prevents further warming. at cop26, i hope to encourage others to have this perspective as well and use cop as a launching pad for real climate action.

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about the author: 

benji backer, who will be at cop26, is the president and founder of the american conservation coalition, a non-profit organization that engages young conservatives on environmental issues like climate change. benji is from wisconsin and based in seattle. 

the global conservative climate summit will be held nov. 10-11, 2021, in glasgow.

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editor’s note: please check back every day, leading up to the beginning of cop26 on oct. 31, for new pieces from climate leaders in the planet forward network.

during the week of oct. 11, 655 people were arrested in washington, d.c., while participating in indigenous-led “people vs. fossil fuels” demonstrations. organizers demanded that president biden declare a climate emergency and cease approvals of new fossil fuel projects. indigenous activists occupied the bureau of indian affairs, demanding 110 million acres of stolen land be restored to native nations. the d.c. chapter of the direct action group extinction rebellion tweeted footage of an activist spraying the stairs of the chamber of commerce with an oil-like substance, alleging that the institution “used its power for years to deny climate change.” and on oct. 20, five young people announced they were going on a hunger strike to demand that president biden meet his climate justice promises –– and that the reconciliation bill be passed with provisions to cut u.s. emissions in half by 2030.

as a young person working in climate communication, i hear a lot of thoughtful conversations about how to convert climate change deniers into science believers. yet, when i learn about mobilizations like these, i don’t see a cultural struggle for “hearts and minds,” but a material struggle for power. and i wonder if by emphasizing the beliefs of individuals, rather than the heft possessed by institutions, we overlook a different strain of mistrust.

the united states has a record of climate denial –– from the obvious (like president trump telling the secretary of california’s natural resources agency, “i don’t think science knows, actually.”) to the insidious (like big oil crafting curricula to be taught in k-12 schools). yet, even here, 70% of the population believes that climate change is happening, according to this year’s installment of “climate change in the american mind.” the survey even reports that a majority of americans, 60%, think that the trend of “global warming” is human caused! in 2020 the american people elected a president who avowed his belief in science on the campaign trail. he signified that belief by appointing a science advisor to his cabinet. he even had the u.s. rejoin the paris climate agreement –– the international agreement reached at the 2015 u.n. climate conference, which the u.s. pulled out from under president trump.

so, why do climate activists persist? hasn’t majority belief steered us away from the path of catastrophic warming? 

not quite.

in september, u.n. climate change published a nationally determined contributions (ndc) synthesis report; that is, a report that assessed the climate commitments of each of the 191 nations signed on to the paris agreement. when evaluated in conjunction, these plans suggest a path to a roughly 16% increase in greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 as compared to 2010. such a path leads to a global temperature increase of 2.7 degrees celsius by the end of the century –– nearly twice the agreement’s “ideal” goal of 1.5 degrees c.

but the u.s.’s science-believing leadership is holding the line to curb emissions, right? 

well.

this may, the international energy agency published a report finding that to travel the road toward net-zero emissions by 2050 –– the road on which we have a chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees c –– investment in “new fossil fuel supply projects” needs to end now. yet, two months later, the associated press reported that approvals for oil and gas permits on public lands were on track to reach year-end numbers unseen since george w. bush’s presidency. despite biden’s campaign promise to end new drilling on public land, the department of interior approved more than 2,100 permits to drill on public and tribal lands in the first six months of biden’s presidency.

protesting outside of the white house this month, veteran water protector joye braun of the indigenous environmental network let the president know that his actions have not gone unnoticed.

“you made promises to the indigenous communities across this land that you were going to uphold,” she said. “but you haven’t upheld those promises. you’ve been speaking with a forked tongue, just like that one that was before you.”

braun directed her words at president biden, but her meaning resonates beyond. nearly 70% of young people say that governments can’t be trusted, according to a recent survey of 10,000 16- to 25-year-olds in 10 countries. across populations, 65% of young people said that governments’ response to climate change is failing them. american youth’s trust in government is the lowest of all.

leaders may believe science, but my generation doesn’t believe leaders.

“build back better. blah, blah, blah. green economy. blah blah blah. net zero by 2050. blah, blah, blah,” greta thunberg said last month at the youth4climate summit in italy. “this is all we hear from our so-called leaders. words that sound great but so far have not led to action. our hopes and ambitions drown in their empty promises.”

these words may sound harsh, but to me they are a sign of optimism. climate organizers know that solutions exist, if those in power have the courage and creativity to implement them. progress is possible, but it’s not guaranteed. 

i am only 23, but i am old enough for the long line of inaction to hit me in cresting waves of deja vu. that tide engulfed me recently as i watched a clip of american student anjali appadurai addressing leaders at cop17 on behalf of youth non-governmental organizations in 2011. ten years ago appadurai told leaders, “you’ve been negotiating all my life.” ten years ago she said, “you’ve failed to meet pledges, you’ve missed targets, and you’ve broken promises.”

“the international energy agency tells us we have five years until the window to avoid irreversible climate change closes,” appadurai, then a student at the college of the atlantic, said. “the science tells us that we have five years maximum. you’re saying, ‘give us 10.’ the most stark betrayal of your generation’s responsibility to ours is that you call this ‘ambition.’”

those 10 years are up. the window to avoid irreversible damage has passed. the time for bold, decisive action has not. as i tune in to the events of cop26, i will be looking for something my peers and i can believe in. i’m not talking about science. i’m talking about leadership.

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about the author:

victoria middleton is a writer, editor, and multimedia producer who serves as planet forward’s digital editor. victoria started at planet forward as an intern in the summer of 2019 –– a semester before she completed her b.a. in journalism and mass communication and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies –– and stuck around to become a full-time member of the team.  she’s most interested in stories that illuminate how climate connects to human elements of life, especially justice, labor, and food. though she loves doing media production work, her favorite part of working at planet forward is engaging with students, seeing them grow as storytellers, and growing along with them.

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editor’s note: please check back every day, leading up to the beginning of cop26 on oct. 31, for new pieces from climate leaders in the planet forward network.

as representatives of george washington university students and faculty, we’re looking forward to attending cop26 to connect our university to this much broader community of people taking action to address climate change. we want to make new connections and meet people who will support our efforts with their own contributions. we also hope to translate the energy of the meeting in scotland back to our campus in the foggy bottom neighborhood of washington, d.c. 

given the importance of addressing climate change in a way that does not reproduce existing inequalities, one of our top goals is to investigate how cop26 decision makers pursue issues of equity. who will make the decisions about how the world will address climate change going forward? to what extent are they considering how these decisions will affect the poorest countries that may not even be able to send representatives to this meeting? 

we hope that the countries attending will make firm and verifiable commitments to reducing carbon emissions. but, we will look for the ways that the rich countries who created much of the problem will help countries with fewer resources since they bear much of the burden created by climate change. this list should include additional funding, transfers of technology and know-how, and collaborative educational exchanges to co-create collective solutions that address the needs of the poorest. specifically, with the establishment of the green climate fund in the paris agreement, richer countries pledged to contribute $100 billion to poorer countries to help cut emissions. we have not met this goal. we would like to see accountability and enforcement of funding allocations addressed during cop 26.        

as researchers, we are focused on questions of how to improve connections between the university and communities where real people live. we are working to ensure that gw’s knowledge production and teaching efforts address the most pressing problems of citizens in the d.c. metro area. connecting with a broader international community will hopefully provide new ideas that we can implement in our own neighborhood. the conference will be a success if it helps to identify best practices around the world and plant those ideas in fresh soil. 

in attending cop26 we hope to get further insight into the inner workings of an international climate conference. tying this effort to our question of equity allows us to examine the benefits and costs of these conferences, especially during the covid-19 pandemic. some questions that we will look to investigate include what underlying factors are at play when the world meets to discuss climate change? how are decisions actually made and how does this process affect climate justice efforts? what are the consequences of having these meetings in-person versus virtually? 

another area of interest is how to measure the success of an international climate conference, like cop 26. developing these criteria might help us compare this year’s conference to previous ones and evaluate the impact that an international climate conference has on climate policies, the effectiveness of international climate agreements, and the issue of accountability.  

people who have attended previous international climate meetings have told us that this meeting will be much bigger than any conference we have attended in the past. while we are there, we hope to develop ties with the u.n. secretariat that is coordinating international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. there are gw alumni working in this organization and we hope to activate their ties to the university to integrate gw’s efforts more deeply into the broader international coalition of groups working to make our day-to-day life more sustainable. 

cop26 requires the global community to take stock of what is at stake and identify how political, scientific, social, and economic factors can lead to a better outlook for our planet in the shortest amount of time. from an academic standpoint, we hope that the opportunity for interaction and idea sharing will foster new ways to approach sustainability at a global, national, and local level. 

we hope to come away from cop26 with a clearer understanding of how climate justice can be adapted to a more tangible and local sphere. hopefully, cop26 will garner a broader recognition of the effects of climate inaction on everyday life. acknowledgment of local climate activists and opportunities could provide more direct action. from a student’s perspective, a key takeaway will be finding a way to replicate these climate conferences on a smaller scale to 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 , even amid unknowns.  

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about the authors: 

dr. robert orttung is research director for sustainable gw at the george washington university and research professor of international affairs at gw’s elliott school of international affairs. orttung is the lead pi for a new national science foundation project focused on the arctic entitled measuring urban sustainability in transition. he is the editor of the urban sustainability in the arctic: measuring progress in circumpolar cities (ny: berghahn, 2020). in 2019 he edited capital cities and urban sustainability (london, routledge). orttung received a b.a. in russian studies from stanford university and both a m.a. and ph.d. in political science from the university of california, los angeles. 

jane barkholz is a senior at the george washington university studying environmental studies and public health. she is currently working as a research assistant for sustainable gw and has previous experience as a health policy intern. barkholz’s main research interests are in sustainability, international climate policy, and the intersections between people, planet, and public health. 

dr. orttung and barkholz are both attending cop26.

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editor’s note: please check back every day, leading up to the beginning of cop26 on oct. 31, for new pieces from climate leaders in the planet forward network.

i’m going to cop26 to assert, and ensure, that science is actively engaged in informing deliberations, negotiations, and decisions that are rigorous and durable — strong enough to withstand geopolitical challenges.

what do you expect or want out of it?

i hope for a renewed commitment by nations, most especially high-emitting nations, to the upscaled targets set forth by most heads of nations during the april 2021 global climate summit hosted by u.s. president biden. while global enforcement mechanisms do not exist, i would like to see an accelerated level of accountability by nations to make the changes necessary to avoid irreversible levels of catastrophic climate change and to avoid unimaginable human and ecological suffering, damage, and loss.

what do we need to 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 ?

we need the courage and unwavering focus by nation leaders to act, and lead by example so other nations follow, and also constituencies follow as well. science-informed policies and actions coupled with human courage, ingenuity, and relentless commitment can get us moving in the direction we need to, to achieve the future we choose. a level of grit and resolve by everyone, most especially those people and places who are less vulnerable and more able to act, is the top priority to 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 .

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about the author:

michelle wyman, who will be at cop26, serves as the executive director of the global council for science and the environment, an international nonprofit that spans the boundaries between science, decision-making, and the environment. she has worked on clean energy, climate, and environmental policy with all levels of government for over two decades, developing strategic and tactical solutions to implement energy, climate, and sustainability strategies and solutions. before joining gcse, she served as the director of intergovernmental affairs at the u.s. department of energy. she led the governors’ accord for a clean energy future, applied solutions-local governments building a clean economy, and iclei usa, nonprofits that engage directly with state and local governments. earlier in her career, she helped design and launch a public sector law practice at a major international law firm focused on proactive environmental management, worked as the natural resources director for the city of fort collins, colorado, and recycling coordinator for the city of euless, texas, and as a park ranger with the national park service. she serves in a variety of advisory roles with domestic and international organizations to increase the recognition of and reliance on science in service to the environment and society

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editor’s note: please check back every day, leading up to the beginning of cop26 on oct. 31, for new pieces from climate leaders in the planet forward network.

my ongoing efforts and concerns regarding climate change are altruistic – protection of the living earth as we know it. my impatience has grown exponentially, too, because of my self-centered concern for the world in which my daughter and two grandchildren will live. 

the haudenosaunee people, the original inhabitants and stewards of the place i call home in upstate new york, and some of the first people globally to promote sustainability starting centuries ago, teach us to be attentive to seven generations. this is not just about those who have come before, but i argue – most importantly – those yet to come. as national public radio reported recently during their coverage building up to cop26, young people around the globe increasingly are losing hope that we will make the needed progress in protecting future generations of the earth’s awesome living creatures.

yet humanity has had a snail’s pace of response toward addressing climate change. specifically, the pendulum of policy change i’ve seen in my decades of professional engagement on this issue is slow. i’m troubled about our collective inability to effectively engage climate deniers, and i’m equally anxious about what i see is a growing divide, with scientists and science driven to the sideline, also slowing the pendulum of policy change. members of the academic community, including me, have some responsibility for this.

why do i want to attend cop 26? i want to learn new ways to communicate, and if provided the opportunity, help focus attention at the nexus of policy, communication, and science, with the goal of accelerated change. policies that can’t withstand the changing political wind, and an overfocus on education targeting individual choices – while both important – will not save the day. it’s cliched, but we are in dire need of a paradigm shift in how we, collectively, are pressing forward with solutions. time does not afford us the luxury of extended, contemplative action. to 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 , we need to deliberatively embrace impatience.

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about the author:

mark lichtenstein, who is attending cop26, is the executive operating officer, chief of staff, and chief sustainability officer at the state university of new york’s college of environmental science and forestry, where he also teaches sustainability. he is an associate in the program for the advancement of research on conflict and collaboration at syracuse university’s maxwell school, led syracuse’s center for sustainable community solutions and environmental finance center, served as an expert witness to the federal environmental finance advisory board and is a member of the national roster of environmental conflict resolution professionals. he is an honorary board member of the national recycling coalition and served eight terms as president/ceo. he led the first national sustainable materials management summit focused on the circular economy and traded the first recyclables through the chicago board of trade. he has been engaged with regenerative efforts throughout the americas.

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editor’s note: please check back every day, leading up to the beginning of cop26 on oct. 31, for new pieces from climate leaders in the planet forward network.

this cop meeting will be an important one – under the paris agreement, 2020 was designed to be a watershed year, and this will be the first time principals have gathered since it ended. parties should have updated their nationally determined contributions (ndcs) in 2020, setting more aggressive targets that home in on what can be accomplished by 2030. by 2020, wealthy nations should have mobilized to deliver the target of $100 billion per year in climate finance. not all of these goals have been fully accomplished, and there will be much to expect from the wealthiest nations party to the negotiations in glasgow. 

the format of the cop meeting will be much different from usual, with only a fraction of the usual credentialed participants able to attend. it remains to be seen how this, alongside quarantine and vaccination mandates, may create disproportionate barriers for parties from higher-risk countries and ultimately affect the negotiations themselves. most notably, under the paris agreement, a mechanism still needs to be developed to fund responses when vulnerable countries experience loss and damage, and has been the subject of much concern. earning agreement from these least developed countries (ldcs) is critical to the collective success of the international framework, and will be another key issue to look out for in scotland, especially under the strange circumstances.

and, as always, there is much more to look out for beyond just the state-level negotiations. from an industry perspective, ways to accelerate a worldwide clean energy transition will continue to be at the front of minds – from renewable energy, to electric vehicles, to energy efficiency. getting together leaders from the world’s most influential companies, governments, and third parties sets the table for ambitious deal-striking and target-setting, especially around 2030 targets. this is how we 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 .

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about the author:

beth a. viola, who is attending cop26, is senior policy advisor with holland & knight and co-chairs the firm’s energy & clean technology team. the primary focus of her practice is working with clean energy technology companies to create sound public policy drivers for their businesses. she works with business leaders and non-profits to advance effective climate change strategies that result in economic and environmental benefits.

prior to joining holland & knight, viola served as a senior advisor to the white house council on environmental quality. she served as the primary white house liaison on issues of climate change, natural resources and smart growth to elected officials, industry, environmental, religious and labor leaders as well as the media.

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editor’s note: please check back every day, leading up to the beginning of cop26 on oct. 31, for new pieces from climate leaders in the planet forward network.

as a journalist, teacher, and founder of planet forward, i see the story in everything. to me, the cop26 story is a high-stakes thriller. the main character is compelling, strong, and durable but facing off against adversaries who pose a mortal threat. weakened by constant attacks coming from all sides, often unseen, our protagonist is struggling, showing the limits of resilience.   

of course, this is not about some fictional superhero, vested with power by a quirk of fate or transformative potion. it is planet earth, our real-world orb of life that has supported humanity’s rise in ways that were unimaginable only a short time ago. for all it has done and enabled, the planet now bears life-threatening wounds and may not survive as we know it.

this thriller could quickly become a tragedy.

the narrative that emerges from cop26 must be about action that springs from ingenuity and hope, determination and foresight, science and fact, innovation and breakthrough. meaningful commitments to slash greenhouse gases, preserve rainforests, and protect biodiversity must be made and enforced. this is not a new storyline, but it is at a turning point. a new study published in the journal nature climate change finds that at least 85% of people in the world have experienced weather events that climate change has made worse. the adversaries are gaining on us all.

leading countries — rich ones — need to stand side by side with big developing countries like china, india, brazil, indonesia to declare common interests and a commitment to the future. it no longer matters who got rich or when by using which fuel. it is now in everyone’s interest to look ahead, not back. 

we need to see the commitments made by 196 governments in the 2015 paris climate agreement endorsed and expanded. 

we need traditional interests, big business, spiritual leaders, and power brokers to speak up and sign on. 

a good plot twist would be to see new alliances emerge from players who have been adversaries or enemies. governments and major corporations — some of whom have more clout and cash flow than many of the nations in attendance — must make new and binding commitments to join forces even if that means reduced power and profit in the short term. 

and we need to see young people, the inheritors of the century ahead, assert themselves, speak eloquently, and become genuine partners in action. they have the most at stake. the journal nature cited a recent study that surveyed 10,000 16-to-25-year-olds in 10 countries and found 60% were “very” or “extremely” worried about climate change. 

the stories we tell matter. they can invoke fear or hope. they can frighten or inspire. they can bring us together or tear us apart. the stories that come from glasgow will inevitably highlight conflict and tension, setback and adversity. most stories do. but it’s vital to find the subplots that reveal solutions, too. 

the climate story will not feature a “they-all-lived-happily-ever-after” ending. the problems are too complex. but there can be a recognition that the protagonist in this story — this place that gives us the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, the vast wealth of nature and the beauty of biodiversity — is in deep trouble. so the question we confront going into glasgow: are we capable of harnessing the awesome ingenuity of our species to 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 sustainably? 

progress is possible. it is a breathtakingly tall order, but the planetary narrative can — and must — advance.

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editor’s note: please check back every day, leading up to the beginning of cop26 on oct. 31, for new pieces from climate leaders in the planet forward network.