Reports from COP26
The following are excerpts from reports on COP26 by three Sustaining All Life reporters:
- Our Sustaining All Life (SAL) team has met climate activists, leaders, and politicians. We have listened to people from Nigeria and Kenya talk about the struggles they are facing in the climate crisis. We have shared our RC perspectives on needed climate action with politicians.
- We set up a gazebo to talk with people and share SAL and RC literature. Some of us went to a large movement assembly and listened to inspiring speakers and activists—world leaders and delegates were reminded of why we are gathered in Glasgow: the time to save the world is here and now!
- We joined activists from different countries in a protest march that called for urgent actions to save Mother Earth. Our SAL stand attracted many people.
- We meet most mornings, and every evening we review the day’s activities, say our highlights, and do a COVID-19 check-in. We play games amid much joy and laughter. We observe the COVID protocols to keep safe. It isn’t easy; we want to hug each other and the friends we meet in the street. We want to lean in to hear better, especially with our masks on. But we have to think about the implications of getting COVID or transmitting it. Getting COVID here in Glasgow, far from home, would cause big problems. We have had COVID tests every morning and evening. We played a game in which we all ran toward each other with our arms out, calling each other’s names—then stopped. You should have heard the discharge!
- An exciting action involved United Kingdom doctors and nurses protesting JP Morgan and other big financiers of fossil fuels. They wore scrubs [medical clothing] and medical uniforms with “doctor,” “consultant,” “nurse,” or “radiographer” written on the front. Their banners had messages like “Cause of Death: Fossil Fuel Finance.” They lay on the ground in a “die-in.” Several were arrested. They believed that their medical oath obliged them to take political action against the biggest killer, climate change.
- Negotiations are ongoing in the Blue Zone [the place where the key negotiations between world leaders take place]. After going through four security checks, one comes to a huge shiny corporate space full of smartly dressed people on their phones or laptops or networking in small earnest groups. There are presentations on small nuclear reactors (the UK’s choice) and how to electrify motor racing.
But is there any real progress? The targets for 2030 remain totally inadequate. They put us on track for a 2.4°C temperature increase by the end of the century. (With long-term pledges, it would be 2.1°C.)
Redcliffe, Bristol, England
Brooklyn, New York, USA
(Present Time 206, January 2022)
Last modified: 2022-12-25 10:17:04+00