COP26 Report from Tim Crosland, Extinction Rebellion spokesperson and Director of Plan B.Earth

Used with permission of Extinction Rebellion.

My deepest respect goes to Tim Crosland, Extinction Rebellion spokesperson and Director of Plan B.Earth, for keeping his focus on climate reality. Near the end of the Sky News approximately 7-minute broadcast, Adam Boulton says "But the way politics works you've got to take everyone along, and that recognition by the [COP26] global community is surely worth something."  

Crosland responds, "What about taking everyone along from the Marshall Islands, and from Tuvalu, countries that are going to disappear if that 1.5 limit is exceeded? People in Bangladesh. Whole regions of the world are going to be uninhabitable. How are those people feeling right now when they see it ['emissions rising by 13.7 % by 2030' in the deal] going in the opposite direction [of scientific report to limit warming to 1.5 C by 'reducing carbon emissions 45% by 2030'] ? And how would you be feeling?" 

In related matters, RTE, the Irish Public Broadcast Service, reported Saleemul Huq, of the Global Climate Action Expert Group, Bangladesh, said "It's a death sentence for the poorest people on the planet, and not only that, the polluters are saying 'To hell with you. We don't care. We're not going to give you a penny.'" In the same video, it was noted former President of Ireland Mary Robinson tweeted, "[ . . . . ] While millions around the world are already in crisis, not enough leaders were in crisis mode. People will see this as a historically shameful dereliction of duty."

Reframe, Redefine

Those who closely follow the climate emergency know even if we had COP26 global cooperation, and sincere GHG (greenhouse gas) reduction commitments by 2030, the climate future would be challenging. It's important to note, according to Carbon Brief "[ . . . ] the US [ . . . ] is responsible for the largest share of historical emissions, [ . . .] with some 20% of the global total." while China, ranked second, is responsible for "11%, followed by Russia (7%), Brazil (5%) and Indonesia (4%)." Carbon Brief added "The latter pair are among the top 10 largest historical emitters, due to CO2 from their land."

I had to reframe the issue into who and what may be protected for how long, and redefine success as keeping alignment with one's conscience for atheists, and God for believers. Writer Dahr Jamial said, as I wrote and posted in a video before, "'What do we do knowing all of that [bad news about the climate emergency], [ . . . ] and I think more importantly, how are we going to be in what we do?' He suggests Cherokee Elder Stan Rushworth's point about 'rights vs obligations.' Jamail said, 'I am obliged, no matter what, to serve future generations, and to serve the planet. [ . . . . ] Since we've never been here, we don't know what's going to happen. [ . . . . ] One of the stories that I write about is being up on a peak in the Deception Basin area in the Olympics [ . . .] at 7,000 feet, roughly 2000 feet above treeline, [and] there is this tree growing [ . . .] out of this [ . . . ] crack in this rock. [ . . . ] Given half a chance, life is going to persist. [ . . . . ] The two questions I'll send you home to ponder are': 'Where do you go to listen to Mis Misa [healing, and centering place]?' and 'When was the last time you went there to listen?'" 

102-year-old "independent scientist" and originator of  the Gaia hypothesis James Lovelock wrote a COP26 Opinion in The Guardian Nov. 2, 2021, "Beware: Gaia may destroy humans before we destroy the Earth." In the article Lovelock warned "But my fellow humans must learn to live in partnership with the Earth, otherwise the rest of creation will, as part of Gaia, unconsciously move the Earth to a new state in which humans may no longer be welcome. The virus, Covid-19, may well have been one negative feedback. Gaia will try harder next time with something even nastier."

To help students, and others, understand pressure on world leaders regarding "climate risk management," watch the approximately 14 minute video "Paying For Predictions" game designed by Pablo Suarez and Janot Mendler de Suarez for the Red Cross / Red Crescent Climate Centre.

After the First Day of COP26 (began Sunday, October 31)

Used with permission of Extinction Rebellion.

The gap between COP26 rhetoric and action reminds me of the end of Nirvana's song "Smells Like Teen Spirit": "A denial, a denial, a denial, a denial, a denial/ A denial, a denial, a denial, a denial." Previously, I linked to their playing of David Bowie's song "The Man Who Sold the World" which fits. I appreciate the above Extinction Rebellion video has writer James Baldwin's quote I also used, "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." 

As a reminder, after The Paris Climate Agreement December 12, 2015, Amanda Erickson wrote in the Washington Post October 11, 2018, "Few countries are meeting the Paris climate goals." The Climate Action Tracker graph in the article was updated November 2021, as carbon and methane emissions keep rising. The Gambia is the only country that is "1.5°C PARIS AGREEMENT COMPATIBLE."