Kowan O'Keefe: Play Your Part

Attending the UN Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru, has been the best experience of my life. I had the opportunity to talk to and learn from all kinds of people from so many different parts of the world. It was truly inspiring. I even got to chat with the President of the COP20, Peru’s Minister of State for Environment – Manuel Pulgar-Vidal.

In a little over a week of talking to delegates representing countries from all over the world, there were two main things that most people seemed to agree on:

1.     There is definitely a shared understanding  that we need to act quickly to combat climate change, much more so than the media portrays, and,

2.     There is not as clear of an understanding as to what exactly will be done, who will do what, and who will pay for it.

Unfortunately, the health of the economy appears to be more important to the governments of the world than the health of the environment.

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal and myself. Photo credit to Barry Hartweg.

“We know there will be costs in taking action, but if we were to compare that with the costs of inaction, there is absolutely no comparison, because the impacts of climate change will become progressively more difficult and beyond the scope of our being able to adapt to them. Action has to be taken now.” – IPCC Chair, Rajendra Pachauri

Big emitters like China, the United States, the European Union, India, Russia, Japan, and Canada all need to Play Their Part. Smaller and less developed nations, some of whom face an existentialistic threat posed by climate change, can only do so much. For me, hearing firsthand the pleas for action by delegates from many of the small island nations in the Pacific really puts in perspective how serious climate change is. But, more importantly, it conveys a real sense of urgency for us to act together accordingly.

“We have to act quickly and decisively if we want to avoid increasingly destructive outcomes. But, we do have means to limit climate change and build a better future.” – IPCC Video

My biggest takeaway from Lima is that, while we are dealing with a very serious situation, there is reason for hope. Those that stand to be impacted the most by the adverse effects of climate change are the younger generations of today. At COP20, the youth of the world could definitely be seen and heard, even though we were vastly outnumbered! There were numerous actions and demonstrations by young people throughout the conference. This needs to continue throughout the world, outside of the framework of the United Nations, from discussions with friends at your local coffee shop to small talk around the dinner table, and all the way to COP21 in Paris next year.

As citizens of the world, we can all Play Our Part. We can turn off the lights when we’re not home. We can recycle our bottles instead of throwing them away. We can carpool, ride a bike, or even walk. We can all contact our elected representatives and demand action on climate change. 

If we all work together, we can accomplish incredible things. The world needs you to 
Play Your Part!