Cap the rise of global temperatures at 1.5°C. That was the Paris Agreement’s goal. Every fraction of a degree matters when it comes to global warming. An average of 1.5°C was not going to stop climate-forced displacement or recover the knowledge, language, culture, and lives lost to environmental crisis. It was, however, the global goal to mitigate negative impacts and future consequences.
Limiting Overshoot, the new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), declares that, inevitably, we will fail to meet this goal. The planet will warm beyond 1.5°C. What do we do with this information?
First, we must acknowledge that, as always, grassroots leaders already knew this. The UNEP report is essential news and scholarship, but it also simply provides quantitative data to support the qualitative knowledge of workers, community leaders, and frontline activists. They’ve been sounding the alarm for years that we were not on track to reach global climate goals. Often, folks in the United States and Global North can give in to despair when confronted with formal reports from institutions with social authority. Meanwhile, leaders elsewhere in the world have already been innovating and must continue to maintain a sense of possibility as they find solutions to urgent climate impacts.
UUSC is grateful to bolster grassroots leaders in their efforts to develop those bold solutions. One way we do this is by supporting their travel to the UN’s Conference of Parties (COP). This annual climate conference gathers world leaders, heads of government, and advocates to assess global progress on combating climate change. Representatives from over 200 nations align on commitments to international climate agreements.
Given the Overshoot Report and the Rise of Climate Change Denial, Why Does COP Still Matter?
It’s no secret that reaching climate justice is an uphill climb. Here in the United States, environmental regulations and innovations already fell short before the second Trump administration. Now, they’re being systematically dismantled. The global rise of far-right interests has strengthened climate change denial and galvanized corporations to further their extractive practices. So why invest in international accountability bodies when their recommendations and rules aren’t being followed?
It’s simple: COP provides a unique advocacy space where our partners’ knowledge and experiences must be amplified. Many of these community leaders have limited opportunities to access an international platform. We must maximize the access that is available and aim to make an impact on the state powers in attendance.
Our partners’ expertise and testimonies belong in a highly visible, publicized context. While heads of state, world leaders, and civilian advocates should be following frontline developments, narrative biases result in climate justice stories of the Global South going under or unreported. COP provides a high-prestige platform for frontline voices, enabling them to disrupt dominant, and often harmful, messaging.
COP31 must be a point of inflection for the world community. Now is the time for radical change. The negotiations over the last 10 years have shown a lack of political will, and failure to meet this moment will continue the cascading impacts on people’s lives. We will see the number of displaced people drastically increase, more extreme climate disasters, and serious shortages of food and water.
Our members and partners are resisting, organizing, and adapting, but there are limits to what we can do without multilateral action, informed by frontline expertise. That is why it remains critical to engage at COP, even with all its institutional flaws. We must connect frontline communities to the negotiators who earnestly seek to make sustainable global change.
You too can support our partners in their work for climate justice. Help co-create social systems that value land, water, human dignity, and the connectedness of us all. Make a contribution today to further the essential efforts of climate advocates.
