With the Paris Climate Summit set for December, French President François Hollande has made a visit to China to make a pre-emptive push for a more aggressive modification to the current national pledges to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. Representatives from “more than 190 countries” are expected to attend the summit in Paris, and given the global stakes of the dialogue, the decision to begin ensuring the success of the summit early is commendable. Hollande and Chinese President Xi Jinping hope to gain China’s approval for a program that will extend further than the previously agreed upon pledge to cap the country’s growing rate emissions by the year 2030.
The cooperation of China in the upcoming climate summit will prove to be pivotal in the success of the summit given the country’s global influence and position as the No. 1 producer of greenhouse gases in the world. While the proposed, revised plan is not definite, it would tentatively call for countries to revisit “emission targets automatically every five years.”
Applause for France’s efforts to go above and beyond the minimum of what will be necessary to combat the threat posed by greenhouse-gas emissions to the global climate has come from actor Sean Penn, who described the meeting of nations “the last great hope” in terms of reaching an accord that will actually be successful in implementing change. In many ways, this description is correct, because only through unanimous global efforts will greenhouse-gas emissions be reined in to a manageable level, and hopefully in time to a sustainable level for the global climate.
Accountability and cooperation amongst nations will become the deciding factors moving forward in the global battle against climate change and emissions, but it is important to keep in mind action aimed toward promoting positive change is not limited to the upper echelons of global bureaucracy and celebrity endorsements. Implementing the policy necessary to create a sustainable future does not have to be a solely top down mechanism, and the responsibilities we place on those elected to represent our interests should not mark the end of our involvement in the initiatives we wish to see put into action.
As important as it is to hold those holding positions of power and influence responsible for their choices, it is just as important for people to be active and involved in their own communities. While the Paris summit may be the last great hope, that does not diminish the relevance of the everyday hopes that can be enacted at the local level. Just last year, the University of Iowa announced its cooperation with the city government to work on sustainability projects through the program Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities, which has enacted programs throughout the state.
Furthermore, there is always the option to use the perks of a democracy and push for initiatives and representation in accordance with the change one wants to see at the City Council level. The combination of efforts both large and small will eventually culminate into meaningful change just as long as the brunt of responsibility is evenly distributed amongst citizens and bureaucrats.