What a day to be a United States citizen at a global conference directed around finding a solution to the complex and urgent issue of climate change. It was difficult to stay focused on the side events and meetings at the COP because I kept fearing for my friends of a different race or ethnicity, different religion, the opposite sex, or sexual orientation than I and those in foreign nations who need us to help in the fight against climate change. After the election results came in, my immediate thought was, “Now what?” I have spent so much time and energy into learning more about climate change, its impacts on the livelihoods of vulnerable communities, the loss of biodiversity, and how to help resolve the issue as well as how to effectively share these learnings with anyone willing (or not) to find out more on how they can be a part of the solution, and it might have all been for nothing. Then, I reminded myself of how giving up is not going to fix anything. We all need to stay focused, have hope, and remember we have the power to demand the changes we want to see changed. If anything, I am going to continue to fight for those whose voices have been drowned out by the greed of politics, fight for a world where entire nations are not subjected to sea level rise and gone forever, I will fight for sustainable development: good health, gender equality, no poverty, no hunger, reduced inequalities, etc because that is a world worth fighting for and I hope you all will join me and fight the good fight because we ARE stronger together.
No comments:
Post a Comment