Only fundamental changes, not only to the global economy and to individual lifestyles, but to the way we relate to one another, to our past and to the planet, will be enough to avert a climate catastrophe
We are finally getting ready for COP26, after many postponements and uncertainties. We will go there with our allies and friends as part of a global community to fight for climate justice. But most of our real leaders won’t be there. For our real leaders in this struggle are the people whose lives have been upended by typhoons, droughts, rising waters that took away their land and their traditions.
They may not be with us in Glasgow, but these are the people already showing us real alternative ways of living. They are the guardians of the forests, rivers, mountains and oceans. Many who would otherwise have come to the conference have been unable to do so because of Covid restrictions. The unequal distribution of vaccines across the world has highlighted that, even when it comes to protection against a deadly virus, it is the poorest communities who come last. People are impacted differently by climate change, but so often it is the ones who are the least responsible for it who feel it the most: the very people unable to travel to Glasgow.