Examining the implications and impact of the UN’s Climate Summit
The economy and industry of modern-era civilizations has created a mass increase in the amount of global carbon emissions polluting the atmosphere and our environment. Two days before the UN Climate Summit was held, approximately 310,000 protestors peacefully marched the streets of New York in the name of climate change. This historic march was the largest demonstration for environmental change the world has seen; undoubtedly, the awareness of citizens across the world has expressed the need to rise up and take action against climate change for future generations.
On September 21, the largest rally ever put together on the topic of climate change shook the foundations of New York City’s streets and shed light on one of the most important issues of this generation. Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, put together this Climate Summit in response to the overwhelming scientific statistics and noticeable changes in the environment. Ban’s opening statement brilliantly captures the anxieties of citizens and global leaders regarding climate change, addressing the importance of action and vigilance against our environmental destruction.
“In cities around the world, hundreds of thousands of people called for action,” said Ban. “They demanded that leaders lead. That is why we are here today. We are not here to talk, we are here to make history.”
This attitude against climate change and setting a goal towards effectively reducing global carbon emissions has been adopted by many world leaders and environmental activists alike. While economic circumstances may differ between nations, what remains common is the present threat of climate change and the need to combat it as a global community. Among the speakers at the Climate Summit was Leonardo DiCaprio, the newly appointed UN Messenger of Peace, who delivered a poignant speech which set the tone for the urgency of the Summit’s efforts.
“I believe that mankind has looked at climate change…as if it were a fiction. As if pretending that climate change wasn’t real would somehow make it go away,” said DiCaprio. “We need to end the free ride that industrial polluters have been given in the name of a free-market economy. They do not deserve our tax dollars, they deserve our scrutiny.”
Ban’s decision to name DiCaprio as the UN Messenger of Peace days before the Climate Summit demonstrates the UN’s efforts to make the issues presented by global warming more accessible to the public and the media. DiCaprio’s speech garnered attention from people who normally would not be aware of the magnitude of environmental change on a global level.
As shown by the effort and commitment of the thousands of demonstrators at the march for climate change, the call to action for environmental change has grown immensely and cannot be ignored. With Ban, DiCaprio, former Vice-President Al Gore, and President Barack Obama as some of the notable people participating in the demonstration, history was made as New York was swarmed with a message urging environmental awareness and a call to action.
While the US is the second highest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions (China being the first), President Obama made it clear in his powerful speech at the Climate Summit that actions will be taken. Expressing the need to expend resources towards climate change, President Obama communicates the long-term consequences of environmental ignorance for present and future generations.
“The alarm bells keep ringing. Our citizens keep marching. We cannot pretend we do not hear them. We have to answer the call. We know what we have to do to avoid irreparable harm. We have to cut carbon pollution in our own countries to prevent the worst effects of climate change,” said President Obama.
“We have to work together as a global community to tackle this global threat before it is too late. We cannot condemn our children, and their children, to a future that is beyond their capacity to repair. Not when we have the means — the technological innovation and the scientific imagination — to begin the work of repairing it right now.”
The topic of climate change has expanded from a national issue towards becoming a more communal and global challenge. The importance of global leaders congregating for the sake of taking action against climate change is a priority. President Obama continued throughout his speech the urge other powerful nations to act: “We [the U.S] recognize our role in creating this problem; we embrace our responsibility to combat it. We will do our part, and we will help developing nations do theirs. But we can only succeed in combating climate change if we are joined in this effort by every nation –- developed and developing alike. Nobody gets a pass.”
In the larger picture, what did the Climate Summit actually accomplish? While no major ground-breaking deals were signed by global leaders, the implications of this meeting will forever change the way environmental politics are perceived.The last Climate Change summit took place in Denmark five years ago. Since then, unprecedented amounts of scientific research and environmental impact reports have illustrated a clearer picture of the environmental violence brought on by carbon emissions. As stressed by the multiple speakers at the summit, the future once envisioned will not be the same unless present global actions are taken to prevent the degradation of the Earth and its ecosystems.
Ban’s decision to implement the Climate Summit after five years was a crucial move for international discourse on environmental change. An astounding 120 global leaders made four-minute long speeches about climate change at the summit. But what importance does this serve if no agreements were reached?
This summit marks the awareness and recognition of climate change as a legitimate threat. A great number of the leaders who made speeches have never spoken about climate change officially until this summit. By bringing the discourse of climate change into the global vocabulary, the opportunity has risen to adequately combat the challenges presented by industrial pollution. The dialogue of environmental urgency is now in full effect. With the next summit hosted by Paris in 2015, global leaders are now in a position where they must draft and meet climate change targets to reduce global emissions before the meeting in France’s capital. While thinking about the effects of climate change has helped raise awareness, the call to action has been answered by citizens of the world and global leaders alike on a verbal level. The UN’s Climate Summit has brought forth and made present the dialogue of environmental discourse into the sphere of international politics, and it will not falter until action is taken.