Climate Change Conference wraps, activists wonder if promises will be kept

From left to right: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden and António Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, speak at this year’s Climate Change Conference in Scotland. WikiCommons

Hundreds of world leaders and companies’ heads met in Glasgow Scotland Oct. 31 for the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26). The main mission of the conference, which ends Nov. 19, is to strike agreements among both countries and companies to gradually reduce carbon emissions. The ultimate goal is to reach zero emissions by 2030. 

“It is with ambition, courage and collaboration as we approach the crucial COP26 summit in the U.K. that we can seize this moment together, so we can recover cleaner, rebuild greener and restore our planet,” U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement leading up to the conference. 

Present countries struck agreements Nov. 4 to limit global warming to 1.8 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels by the year 2100, according to the International Energy Agency. 

Many climate change activists are skeptical of the effectiveness of the summit. Climate activist Greta Tuneberg expressed concern about nations actually following through on their promises, saying the conference is “sort of turning into a greenwash campaign, a P.R. campaign,” for politicians and business leaders who have no intent on real action. 

“I hope the United States will be a world leader, but the people of the United States will have to understand changes are necessary,” said Fred Smoller, a professor at Chapman who teaches a course about the politics of climate change.

Climate action advocates are also worried about the power of fossil fuel companies, which many politicians rely on to financially back their campaigns.

Mike Young, the political organizing director for Envirovoters — a climate action organization, told The Panther our political system is “rigged” in favor of such companies.

”We can fight back on it, and we have people fighting back on it, but we’re seeing systemic problems making it really difficult to move big change in a time when we absolutely need to,” Young said. 

Some political candidates have committed to not take any money from fossil fuel companies for their campaigns. California State Assembly candidate Fatima Iqbal-Zubair decided to run for office because of the inaction against fossil fuel companies in her state. Although California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a ban on new drilling within 3,200 feet of schools and neighborhoods, Iqbal-Zubair said no legislation has been passed to address the existing drilling. 

“We need to have real conversations about how to get away from fossil fuels in our state,” Iqbal-Zubair told the Panther. 

Indigenous environmental activist Jackie Fielder brought these conversations of environmental ethics to Chapman University through a Nov. 3 Indigenous Environmentalism Speaker Night in Argyros Forum. The discussion primarily focused on the Land Back Initiative, which advocates for ingenious stewardship and leadership for wildfires in California, and Fielder connected this movement to the significance behind Indigenous voices at COP20. 

Indigenious climate activists like Dennis Garcia visited Chapman University Nov. 3, advocating for bolder approaches to climate action. MAYA BRAUNWARTH, Staff Photographer

In particular, Fielder touched on the lack of inclusion of Indigineous activists at the international conference.  Fielder also spoke to the minimization of these voices on a larger scale, pointing out while Indigenous people make up about 5% of the world’s population, they hold and manage about 65%of the world’s land.  However, governments only legally recognize about 10% of land held by Indigenous peoples. 

Fielder believes politicians in power at the COP26 conference have not been very “bold” in addressing solutions to climate change.

“We’re not going to ‘clever’ our way out, we’re not going to ‘tech’ our way out of climate change — out of environmental disaster,” Fielder said. 

In order to bring real change, Fielder believes in centering Indigenous ways of life to stave off the harshest effects of climate change. Fielder suggested funds be contributed to help fossil fuel workers transition to other professions. 

Correction: An earlier version of this story inaccurately reported the department in which Chapman professor Fred Smoller teaches. It is the political science department, not the environmental science department.