As we reach the height of this snowless holiday season, the 2015 United Nations Conference on Climate Change, or COP 21 (21st Conference of Parties), just wrapped up on Saturday, December 12. Taking place in Paris, over 190 countries came together to address the greatest threat to the world. That’s right folk -- it’s not ISIS or Donald Trump’s potential presidency, but climate change that poses the greatest threat to us all. If we don’t deal with climate change soon enough (and we’re already far behind), there won’t be a planet left to have any other issues on.
Before we dive into the bureaucratic quagmire that is any UN conference, I feel like I should clarify something. Personally, I’m new to the climate change issue. A few years ago, I thought climate change was either a wacko conspiracy theory, a last ditch attempt by Al Gore to maintain his fame, or another desperate attempt by the “liberal media” to generate hysteria and therefore more views. Suffice to say, I didn’t “believe” in climate change. Oh, how I wish climate change is simply a belief we can be free to believe in or not. A few centuries ago, most people believed the Earth was flat. A few centuries before that, people also believed that the Earth was the center of the universe. Suffice to say both scientific and general consensuses change over time as our knowledge grows. That time has come again, but are there still climate change deniers? You bet. As I mentioned, I was one, and there are plenty of others who still refuse to even consider climate change as anything more than folly. According to NPR, Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum do not believe climate change is real or man-made (side note: Ted Cruz actually compared those who recognize climate change to those who believed the earth was flat). Many industries and corporations also deny climate change as it would obviously cut into their profits.
But what happened at this UN conference anyway? Well, over the course of nearly two weeks, the countries participating in the conference reached a binding agreement to cut carbon emissions. According to COP 21’s official website, this is the first time such an agreement was made. And what does this momentous agreement include? Well, all countries involved share the same goal of preventing global warming from getting above 2° Celsius. That may seem like a small number, but even the smallest change in temperature can lead to more extreme weather, drought, and rising sea levels.
So now what? Can we breathe a sigh of relief and sit back while the world’s governments fix everything? Of course not -- this is barely a stepping stone in our fight against climate change. It’s an achievement, to be sure, but it’s up to the countries’ governments to keep their end of the bargain, which is not guaranteed to happen. There is a large difference between what governments say they will do, and what governments actually do. Hopefully, the governments realize how dire this situation really is, and stay true to their word. After all, it’s only the entire planet that’s at risk.
