We Are Still In: The United State Has Not Abandoned the Paris Agreement

Posted by Alexander Rezk

       (Myself and other Junior Scholars speaking with Billionaire Philanthropist Tom Steyer, Keynote          Speaker for We Are Still In's Reception at the U.S. Climate Action Center)


        We waited, we wondered, and we searched. Finally, we found what we were looking for. On Friday December 7th, the United States made its unofficially official presence known at COP24 through the U.S. Climate Action Center. It is an odd thing, to be a world leading nation and only a half-willing participant in one of the international community's premiere diplomatic events. Throughout this first week, while the official negotiating delegation from the United States was around they were not exactly visible. Certainly, their presence (or lack thereof) hung like a pall in the Pavilion area, where you could palpably experience the oddity of their absence. What's more, early in the week, event maps actually denoted a location for an official US Pavilion, only to have this landmark taped over hours later in a hasty attempt to correct what appeared to be either a mistake or misunderstanding. Enter We Are Still In (WASI) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). 


        WASI is the United State's contingent of sub-national actors that has pledged to uphold our Nation's commitment to the Paris Agreement. It is consisted of Regional and Municipal Governmental bodies, Private Sector organizations like banks and businesses, social organizations, Tribal Groups, Faith Leaders, and more still. Since a Federal Delegation of US Negotiators is actually present (despite the fact that their only main event is being hosted on Clean Coal) an official Pavilion cannot be established without their involvement. Hence, the WWF and WASI partnered to host the U.S. Climate Action Center inside WWF's Pavilion between Friday, December 7th and Monday, December 10th.

       The day began with an opening reception, in which regional representatives, private business leaders (Mars, Inc. was a major presence), energy sector folks, Faith Leaders (An Episcopal Bishop and a Presbyterian Minister), and Tribal heads of state spoke passionately about our national commitment to combat climate change, and our pledge to uphold our part in the Paris Agreement, regardless of the Federal Government's official position. The President of the Quinault Indian Nation gave a rousing speech which situated the fight for climate action as a multi-species fight for the right to life. And messages of environmental equity and justice prevailed. In contrast to the depressing and, quite frankly, embarrassing display of Fossil Fuel support that would occur later in the Conference, this was a moment in which I was proud to be an American at COP24. A fulfilling sentiment.

      Later Friday evening, the U.S. Climate Action Center would hold their main reception, celebrating our inclusion in the COP and the US sub-national commitment to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement across the board. The Keynote speaker was none other than billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer. Steyer gave an inspiring speech about the need to confront climate denialism as an issue of injustice, and the necessity of retaking America's place as a global leader of just transition and intellectual integrity. Further, in a room full of diplomats and established career researchers and politicians, a curious thing occurred. Steyer made his way towards a group of young scholars including myself and other YOUNGOs. His reasoning? The youth are the future of the climate movement, and our ideas and views are as valuable, or more, than anyone else in the room. This was not a mere passing conversation either. He must have spent over 20-30 minutes with us, both before and after his keynote address. While it is not necessary to have the approval or admiration of the wealthy and famous to address the urgency of climate action narratives, one cannot deny the sense of achievement that results from knowing that people in power are aware, and that some are listening.

       Throughout the rest of the U.S. Climate Action Center's time at COP24, the message of sub-national and regional engagement with our international commitments was woven through a narrative thread of public-private partnerships, state and local governance actors, businesses, and other engaged parties. Overall, an optimistic picture was painted of our non-Federal ability to maintain momentum. All that being said, as an anthropologist, I feel we cannot abandon a critical eye completely. In my own research, I seek to explain how representative justice is articulated in discussions of resilience and adaptive planning. When we look at scenarios like the one before us, where sub-national actors assume the role of the overarching state in meeting international accords, we must still hold said actors accountable to the same standard we would under any convention of rights representation or ethical norms. We have a tide of action building beneath our nationalist frames. Slowly eroding is the tendency to think of ourselves merely as members of nation states. Instead, perhaps, we grow to a space where we recognize ourselves as members of a global community, a movement of all life, to live and thrive. And yet in this space we must ask ourselves how much we are prepared to sacrifice, and how much we are willing to recognize the severity of the threat.

        At one panel under the U.S. Climate Alliance, a representative of the California State Gov't. in response to a question from a Polish audience member about how we are to meet these goals in the time needed said that she believed: "We probably will not make it in time for 1.5C...we can probably avoid catastrophe, we can probably achieve 3 Degrees C." This is not enough. 3 Degrees is catastrophe. We are pushing hard, but we must push harder. And we must ask ourselves what it means that the burden of the future falls upon those least able to carry the cost. As President Fawn Sharp of the Quinault Nation stated, the Salmon cannot leave the river, we are here to speak for all. Just so. The people of the most vulnerable regions also cannot leave their abodes and attend the COP, and if the UNFCCC truly wishes to fulfill the promise of The People's Seat, we must think persistently about this reality.

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