Member-only story
Featured
The New Climate. New(s)letter #22
COP-ing mechanisms, celebrating the Chinese New Era, Solastalgia, and Solutions.
The past month began with that unique blend of hope spiked with cynicism that can only mean one thing: a COP. This one, COP30, was more chaotic than most, culminating in perhaps the perfect metaphor for where humanity finds itself, and our inability to tackle climate change: a huge fire breaking out inside the venue in Belém, Brazil. As negotiations resumed, and any mention of fossil fuels was removed from the final text, the only thing missing was a little dog in a hat saying ‘this is fine’.
We marked COP30 in our own way on The New Climate. In Listening to the Global South: Climate Action Beyond Financial Guilt, Stephen Kamugasa hoped that the Global North would “transition from being the architect of the crisis to becoming the diligent apprentice: listening to, resourcing, and amplifying solutions forged by those in the Global South who are living on the frontline of climate collapse.” A sentiment echoed by Felix Keuya in Why Africa Risks Being Left Behind (Again) at COP30.
COP30 was supposed to be the ‘Indigenous COP’, and indeed saw the largest attendance of global Indigenous leaders in the conference’s history. Yet they were largely kept to the periphery of the conference. According to Earth.org…
