A Student Experiences COP 26

Cailyn Raper is a  student on the verge of graduation with degrees in environmental studies and political science from UNC Chapel Hill. She is dating Treson Thompson, the treasurer of the Southern Adventist University Adventist Peace Chapter.

I am reaching the nexus in my life where many of my long-seeded hopes and dreams can finally come to fruition. I just recently returned from the first of these dreams coming true: COP 26.  For those of you that do not know, COP 26 (of the 26th Commission of Parties) is essentially the United Nations’ annual climate change conference, where world leaders and passionate climate advocates gather for 2 weeks to discuss climate change issues, policies, solutions, and agreements at the global stage for local implementation. I had the incredible opportunity to join the UNC delegation for the second week of the conference in Glasgow, Scotland and learn more about current climate initiatives in various parts of the world. 

Every day on my hour-long train ride from Edinburgh to Glasgow, I sat down and skimmed through my notes from the day prior and reflected on the thoughts, emotions, and conversations. I attempted to write them in a cohesive way that you may find interesting. Processing all of the raw thoughts, emotions and experiences that took place throughout this week was a challenge, but hopefully it will provide you with insight as to what this event was like through my lens of experience.

 08 November 2021

Today I attended multiple events all centered around the central theme "Adaptation, Loss, and Damage." Of the events that I went to, my highlight of the day was attending an event called "Fashion Industry on the Race to Zero" hosted by executives from major brands. This event was interesting because it was almost as though greenwashing had become a live, human being. Though each of the speakers talked about their genuine interest in sustainable textiles, there was no mention of the environmental and human rights impacts of textile production in the places that each of these companies exploit globally. It was devastating to realize that even in the fight for sustainability within the textile movement, solutions for sustainable livelihoods and basic human rights for the exploited workforce that produces our textiles was not even mentioned. How can we, as fellow humans, be complacent in the mistreatment of others made in the image of God for our own financial and material gain and claim it all as part of the “green economy”?

Each of the events that I went to hosted a plethora of experts across multiple continents and of different identities. I noticed a common thread in all of the commentaries: voices matter. In one way or another, I saw that it cannot only be the people in the sustainability and environmental sectors that speak up about climate action. The people in power have a skewed vision because of their own personal blind spots, and they cannot necessarily always speak on behalf of the marginalized communities, such as people of color, indigenous communities, LGBTQ+ identifiers, women and girls, religious backgrounds, and more. It is essential that these communities are involved in the conversation about climate action because these marginalized groups are too often the most impacted by climate action. There is a lot of hope for future structures that bridge gaps across identities and people groups, but there must be follow through in developing these relationships. 

That being said, the church has an incredible role in this conversation of action and justice, but our general lack of interest in the climate issue as a body has made us complacent with inaction. Climate is at the nexus of all human livelihood: with global temperature rising, we are placing fellow humans and future generations at risk for frequent climate disaster, sea level rise, mass species extinction, unfertile land, poorer health conditions, and more through our inaction. The deepest injustice lies in the fact that marginalized communities are most at risk for intense climate conditions, our antipathy demonstrates that these communities are not worth being cared for. Is this what the teaching of the church demonstrates? We are at a crucial point in history where we need the voices of the entire earth involved in halting this unfortunate future, and the church cannot sit on the sidelines any longer with human livelihood at stake globally. 

09 November 2021

Today's theme was "Gender and Science & Technology," so many of the events that I attended fell into these categories. Today was the most discouraging for me, and in many ways made me feel as though the country’s individual Nationally Determined Contributions are virtually out of reach. I do not like to have this kind of pessimistic approach, but I learned so much about advancements in agricultural practice, building development, and policy initiatives that have the potential to make an impact. However, each of these ideas were not in mainstream practice, if in practice at all. We have so many tools at our fingertips that can reduce our carbon emissions globally and we simply are not implementing them because there is little incentive to do so. I felt so drained and exhausted as I learned about all of this only to be met with "we need to do (this) and we can reduce our emissions by (this) percentage." If we are claiming that these advancements have so much potential, then why are we not introducing pilot programs and adopting policies that adopt these practices as the standard? We have been given the opportunity to improve human livelihood and the health of the earth, but we have declined over and over again.

Other than technologically focused events, I attended some events about the influence of gender on environmental condition. The discussions reminded me of the Ecofeminism movement: women have a greater sense of connection to the earth and are powerful assets to climate action. One session that particularly hit home; a speaker emphasized the innate female nature to account for the needs of the family and pinpoint the roots of issues. She used this claim to support the ecofeminism ideals: women have a unique stance in society and within social structures to view the environment through a lens that only they hold. As a woman, I found their insights powerful (and relatable) when it comes to understanding the breadth of climate change and accounting for the whole of its impact. 

10 November 2021

Day three's central theme of "Transportation" gave me one of the most influential quotes I heard at the conference: "climate change is the failure of the imagination." Throughout my interactions and learnings at the conference thus far, I have learned about many of the different technologies and innovations being developed to combat climate change. The imaginative piece is there in the sense that we have come up with climate solutions thus far, but we have failed to utilize our creativity to actually implement these solutions.

I additionally attended a panel that focused on the power of art as a tool for climate awareness. Using the platforms that we have been given to reach others, especially in an empathetic and engaging way, is essential to increasing awareness and climate action on a more widespread level. One of my favorite thoughts from the event was the emphasis on the power of art as a medium for sharing climate narratives that do not make the ever-present climate disaster feel distant or removed from reality. Overall, thinking about the power of art to communicate with others seems quite promising to encouraging climate action. The conference itself has featured a lot of powerful art pieces and even demonstrations that have increased the sense of urgency and dire need for climate action. 

11 November 2021

Today was quite possibly my favorite day of the conference. The central theme was "Cities, Regions, and the Built Environment." I attended a few sessions here and there, hearing from award-winning climate solutions and indigenous women and economists and more. The most fascinating part of the day, however, was an utter coincidence-turned-beautiful moment.

My boyfriend's mother sent me an account on Instagram this morning asking me if I had ever heard of the Christian environmental organization that ran it and if they offered any scholarships. I clicked through the account and learned about the movement, and I realized that one of the girls running the account was someone I had coincidentally attended multiple events with the day before. I messaged his mom back and I told her no, but I would talk to that girl if I saw her again. I had not yet met a Christian at the conference and I found it incredibly discouraging, and I had made it my mission to find at least one person that I could relate with about our faith experiences and environmental passions. Sure enough, I run into girl from the account and we start chatting about our shared desires for climate justice as an extension of our Christian faith. We had an incredibly engaging and passionate conversation with a pastor from a church in California who is making inclusion and justice issue central to the theology of their congregation and teaching. We then ended up spending the rest of the day together, talking about our shared calling and hearing from other young activists & Christians like ourselves. 

We had the opportunity to visit the "Climate Fringe Café" in Glasgow and enjoy roundtable discussions with activists from all over the world and share our hopes and visions for a future where our earth is protected. Following this event, we attended a Christian worship gathering for an album called "Doxecology.” The album talked about climate justice through the lens of Biblical Scripture - something that is rarely, if ever, spoken of in the modern church. I was so moved by the album and atmosphere and so fortunate to share that space with so many like-minded people. This was the first time this week that I was able to interact with other Christian climate activists and I am not sure when I will receive the opportunity for such a moving moment ever again. The entire afternoon & its events provided me with so much hope for the system that exists outside of our governing bodies that demands for climate reform and environmental reparations, even within traditions that are common grouped with climate denialists and anthropocentric values. 

12 November 2021

Today marks the final day of COP 26. My heart ached as we awaited the results of the negotiations. Today I joined protestors from the Extinction Rebellion Movement and the Fridays For Future Movement outside of the Scottish Event Campus to demand financial support for developing countries, commitments to ending partnerships with fossil fuels, and an end to the flashy announcements (such as the commitment to end deforestation) that has been used to cover up the lack of real commitments that have come of COP 26. During this protest I heard from activists all of the world and danced alongside them in the streets.

These powerful moments reminded me of the influence that every individual has in this movement & that even if your voice is not being given a platform in the negotiations, in your local governments, in your institutions, or wherever you may find yourself, you can still make your voice heard and your experience known. It matters. It is up to us, the people, to hold our institutions accountable to meet their commitments and demonstrate that this matters to us and the generations to come.

I have faith that we have the available tools and knowledge to combat the climate crisis. But we must be serious and know that it is up to us to make these commitments our reality. We must take the opportunity that we have been given now for a better climate future. Are we willing to do what it takes?