Phase I

On the climate change crisis thus far

For years the citizens of our planet have been made aware of the impending crisis of climate change. Be it through models that predict the future of worldwide climate change or the devastating impact this crisis has had on our planet so far, this foretold disaster increases in magnitude with each passing day.

There has been no lack of effort to mitigate the disasters that climate change will bring. The 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and the 2016 Paris Agreement have all engaged many states across the globe in the fight against climate change. Yet the Kyoto Protocol thus far has ultimately failed to effect any significant change, with global emissions increasing substantially since 2005 [1]. A combined 32 nations account for 80% of global emissions, yet only two have thus far met the goals set out by the Paris Agreement, and none go beyond the 1.5°C ideal, considered the bare minimum in preventing major catastrophe [2].

These effects are already seen: in a time of greater wealth, technology, and development than ever before, we also bear the effects of drought, famine, war, poverty, natural disaster, and the ongoing fight for the ability to thrive on a shrinking planet [3]. In this time of abundance is also a time of great loss.

What else is to be done? The failures of international agreements to push these states to change and the snowballing magnitude of climate change point towards a hopeless future. Already the emergence of violence between citizens fighting for the protection of their homes and militarized police, the struggle to obtain resources, and growing population of refugees worldwide point towards only a small piece of the tragedy that will befall our planet in the wake of catastrophic climate change. With every push from mankind to make changes that save our planet, the current structures of power in place hold strong.

That is the narrative of climate change thus far. It is an undeniable fact, but it is a narrative; one with emotion, drive, and a plea behind its story that urges all who hear it to fight against this terrible future. We fight not because we want to, but because we have to. And even when we do fight, we fail.

Anyone with a basic understanding of the climate change crisis can look to the future and see the inevitability of disaster. Disaster has already happened, and without dismantling the current establishment that holds this threat in place, it will never end. When one looks forward, they see two roads: one of a brighter future and one of the reality or worldwide climate change. When one looks to the present, they see that the road toward that brighter future is untraversable.

However, with the right tools, and enough people working towards the same goal, that road does become traversable. We as global citizens must turn our attention towards clearing the road towards that future instead of fearfully watching the progress made in the other direction.

Thus, the climate crisis to this point has been accurate in its assessment of the problem that threatens our future. But in painting this picture of a near-unstoppable monstrosity, those who speak on the dangers of climate change have planted the seeds for climate disaster to become self-fulfilling prophecy. To deny the ability for humankind to progress towards something greater based on the current state of the world is to discount what has already been done and what others are choosing to do. For any significant change to occur, the present state of discussing climate change and what must be done needs to take a significant turn in the attitude it presents towards the citizens of the earth and our vision of the future. Only then can disastrous worldwide climate change be effectively countered.