It has to begin at home

THE 2018 global climate talks in Poland ended on a disappointing note for many non-state stakeholders. Leaders failed to commit to actions that will help to cap the rise in global temperature to 2°C. The cap was 1.5°C 10 years ago. How do we aim at, much less hit, a moving target?

When I attended the 2009 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate talks in Copenhagen, it was deemed a deal-maker conference – and then it turned out to be anything but. Ten years on, we are still finding solutions while temperatures rise, ice caps melt, animals, plants and humans alike lose their habitats, and people lose their livelihood. As one person interviewed after December’s meeting said, it is time for people to take matters into our own hands because politicians and so-called “decision makers” are not doing anything!