Youth Are Tired Off Promises Alone
At the UN climate talks, Friday was dubbed a youth day. “Wherever I have been in the world, I have been struck by the passion and the commitment of young people to climate action,” COP26 President Alok Sharma said in a statement. “The voices of young people must be heard and reflected in these negotiations here at COP.”
What those voices are calling for is more action that backs up promises. They’re also calling for a system change, one that doesn’t rely on the goodwill of capitalist overlords to address the climate crisis. On that front, COP26 has been a bit of a mixed bag so far. A contingent of countries has committed to no longer funding fossil fuels abroad, a concrete plan that brings public finance to bear on the clean energy transition. (There are still some loopholes, but it’s a good step.)
However, major private financial institutions have mostly made a splashy-sounding pledge about firms with $130 trillion in assets going on a net zero pathway that’s been panned as greenwashing by the likes of Greta Thunberg and the Financial Times alike. U.S. leaders at the talks, including John Kerry, have also a very business-oriented approach to the crisis given Congress’ inability to pass strong climate provisions to date.
