{"id":50782,"date":"2020-10-07T15:31:58","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T15:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wagingnonviolence.org\/wr\/?p=50782"},"modified":"2020-10-19T15:44:25","modified_gmt":"2020-10-19T15:44:25","slug":"un-climate-talks-postponed-glasgow-agreement-seizes-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wagingnonviolence.org\/wr\/2020\/10\/un-climate-talks-postponed-glasgow-agreement-seizes-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"With UN climate talks postponed, the Glasgow Agreement seizes the initiative on climate action"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After more than 40 years since the first UN conference on climate change<\/a> in 1979 \u2014 and after more than 25 years of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/a> \u2014 the world is still far from any serious climate action. Although carbon emissions keep rising, there has been a bend in the curve this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, serious concerns about a major rebound<\/a> remain, and China\u2019s emissions have already rebounded beyond pre-COVID levels in May<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the pandemic, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, or COP26, in Glasgow \u2014 which was meant to be decisive for staying within the limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature rise \u2014 was postponed to November 2021, marking climate inertia by the institutions supposedly created to save the climate. However, molecules don\u2019t wait for institutional negotiations and climate change keeps accelerating. 2020 is on track to become one of the five hottest years in recent history<\/a>, with a good chance of topping the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In late 2018, climate justice groups from Europe came together and formed the group By 2020 We Rise Up<\/a> with the goal of closing the gap between the analysis of a climate emergency and \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d by the climate movement. A concept of escalating waves of nonviolent direct action for climate justice was meant to increase the pressure for decisive action on climate prior to the COP26. While this was well on the way, the COVID-19 pandemic caused an abrupt slowdown to mobilizations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agreement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Glasgow Agreement creates a constitutional moment for the climate justice movement, rejecting empty declarations and assuming … institutions\u2019 impotence cannot become our movements\u2019 impotence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Glasgow Agreement<\/a> is an initiative picking things up where By 2020 We Rise Up left off. It provides a framework for further strategic escalation of social movement action for climate justice. At the same time, by looking beyond COP26 (or even bypassing it), the agreement also takes on board the lessons from the collapse of mobilization after COP21<\/a> in Copenhagen in 2015. Yes, we need urgent climate action by our governments, but we know that even in the best case scenario COP26 (now in 2021) will be too little too late. Thus, to avoid a sense of failure and a subsequent collapse of mobilizations, the Glasgow Agreement aims to retake the initiative on climate action from governments and international institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exact text of the Glasgow Agreement<\/a> is still being developed, but the key points are clear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n