{"id":1372,"date":"2017-11-20T22:44:08","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T22:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalchangeecology.com\/?p=1372"},"modified":"2018-06-25T14:51:18","modified_gmt":"2018-06-25T14:51:18","slug":"week2-hope-and-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalchangeecology.com\/2017\/11\/20\/week2-hope-and-love\/","title":{"rendered":"COP23: Hope and love to protect nature"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Bonn, 17.11.17) As the sky in the city of Bonn takes on shades of orange last Friday, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change has come to an end.<\/p>\n

Although the negotiations in the Bula Zone<\/span> were still going on until Saturday midnight, the exhibition booths and pavillions in the Bonn Zone – where the side events had taken place for the past two weeks – were being dismantled and packed for the next occasion.<\/p>\n

During our stay in Bonn, all of us heard many opinions about COP23<\/span>. Those opinions were a mixed bag. While some of them were optimistic, some were pessimistic. Some people had criticized the slow pace of the #<\/span>ClimateChange<\/span> negotiations and there were others (including me), who remained thoughtful.<\/p>\n

Throughout my time at COP23 I had a nagging thought in my mind. I had witnessed how world-class politicians would talk about #<\/span>Change<\/span>, but as soon as they would leave the room, their #<\/span>ChangeMomentum<\/span> would vanish. Their rhetoric speeches that had called for global climate efforts vanished into empty ambitions, in an aesthetic diplomacy, in \u201cjust words<\/span>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Many were wondering why the political discourse at COP23<\/span> sometimes resemble a business talk that gave the impression that our future was being negotiated and traded. Perhaps going back to one essential thought was necessary at COP23<\/span> to realize the urgency of a Changing Climate<\/span> and of a Changing Nature:<\/span><\/p>\n

With every second, minute and hour that went by during the Conference:<\/p>\n

One <\/span>more tree was cut in the Amazon
\nOne <\/span>more fish died drowned in oil
\nOne <\/span>more ice drop thawed from the Arctic and Antarctic ice shields
\nOne<\/span> more ton of Greenhouse Gas was emitted
\nOne<\/span> more human suffered the consequences of a Climate Change<\/p>\n

And overall, \u00a0as another day passed by,
\nin the lives of some<\/span>, the day brought no big news nor worries,
\nand in the lives of others,<\/span> the day brought damages and losses.<\/p>\n

So, how could we all talk for hours,<\/span>
\nwhen it is exactly now<\/span> <\/strong>that things are happening?<\/span>
\nIt is exactly right now<\/span><\/strong> that Action is needed?<\/span><\/p>\n

On one hand, the ongoing negotiations of COP23<\/span> left behind a taste of uncertainty in regards to concrete efforts towards Global Climate Action, towards Energy transition and towards an effective and pragmatic implementation of the Paris Agreement 2015<\/span> in the subscribed countries\u2019 national policies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"COPpolaroid2.png\"<\/p>\n

On the other hand, a collective call for urgency<\/strong> <\/span>and hope<\/strong> <\/span>was also heard at COP23<\/span> and it forged the necessary optimism and confidence that Change is not only possible, but that it should be done by Our Hands<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps, after all what has been said and done, the greatest achievement of COP23 was to unite around twenty thousand voices of agents of change<\/span> from all over the World and to gather them in the same place and at the same time.<\/p>\n

\n

COP23<\/span> brought the vulnerable, the emerging and the powerful Nations together. In spite of their political and historical differences \u2013 reunited them around the goal of protecting Nature and its inhabitants <\/span><\/strong>\u2013 from ourselves.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

From Pacific Island Climate Warriors and indigenous Amazonian and Andean voices, to change-driving Eco-villages and civil initiatives in Africa and Europe, everybody shared their own testimonials of change, of local empowerment, and existing solutions.<\/p>\n

\"COPpolaroid3.png\"<\/p>\n

The message that impressed me the most was from the “African Voices” Event (Talanoa, Bonn Zone) which reminded us that there are no seventeen Mankind Goals<\/span>*<\/span>,<\/strong><\/span> instead, the<\/strong><\/span>re is just one and that is love<\/span>.<\/strong><\/span> Love<\/span> <\/strong>for nature and love for each other, to reflect on our actions, to assume responsibility and to take care of all the inhabitants of thi\"COP23-02\"s planet.<\/p>\n

To the Love <\/strong><\/span>component, the Action<\/strong> <\/span>component was added this past Wednesday, when Timoci Naulusala – a 12-year old Fijian schoolboy \u2013 reminded us that “it’s not about how or who, but it’ s about what <\/span><\/strong>you can do as an individual”.<\/p>\n

As complicated as international agreements may seem, the Change we all really stand for is as basic a<\/span>s Love<\/span> put into Action<\/span>, Conviction put in practice and Justice <\/span><\/strong>made reality.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

International negotiations and agreements either at this COP23<\/span> or at any COP<\/span> ahead will stand for Sustainability and Peace. However, what we should truly stand for is the empowerment<\/span> <\/strong>of our individual Potential of Change, the courage<\/span> <\/strong>to challenge our mindsets, the conviction<\/span> <\/strong>to improve our lifestyles and the realization<\/span> <\/strong>that this is the only Planet<\/span> <\/strong>we have, for us today, and for the coming generations.<\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/strong> Mankind Goals referring to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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COP23 Wrap-up: After all, what truly matters and what we stand for is as basic as Love put in Action, Conviction put in practice, Justice made reality.<\/p>\n

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