Reflections on the 5th Anniversary of the Paris Agreements on Climate

As we celebrate the 5th Anniversary of the Paris Climate Accords, I’ve been reflecting on the United Nations Climate Change Conferences I’ve attended since COP21 in 2015. These have been pivotal moments in the climate movement. And as we prepare to step into a new era of American climate action, it’s good to look back on how we got here.
The first thing I remember when I got to Paris was just how many people were there. I was leading a delegation of California business leaders with Gov. Jerry Brown, and we joined an entire global community of environmental, political, justice, and business leaders — — all committed to the goal of climate action. Everyone acknowledged that climate action was a necessity and that collaboration was vital.
https://anjtrew.medium.com/watch-happiest-2020-online-full-1080ps-4a4a928fce5a

1. COP22 in Marrakesh was a bleak affair with many wondering if our global coalition would be able to survive. The subsequent conferences proved that, while the global community would continue acting on climate, Trump’s administration would not take part, and global momentum halted. The world was in a disastrous holding pattern.
2. COP23 in Bonn was the first conference after Mr. Trump announced his intent to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. We organized a delegation of sub-national leaders to show the world that a lot of climate action was still happening in the U.S., despite what was happening with our federal government. It was true, but everyone knew it wasn’t enough.
3. At COP24 in Katowice, you could feel the impact of the void in American leadership really starting to settle in. The official U.S. presence in Poland was actively working to undermine global climate commitments, siding with Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Kuwait to block key climate reports, and even hosting a panel praising “clean coal” as a climate solution. Our partners felt abandoned and the climate community felt tremendous fear that the door the Paris Agreement opened was beginning to shut. Emblematic as the only official U.S. presence at COP24, was a closed door.
4. COP25 fell in the middle of my presidential campaign, and I made sure representatives from my climate team participated. New reports were released that revealed we were on track for over 3 degrees of warming, even if every country met their emissions target from the Paris Agreement. Again, all eyes turned to the United States, hoping the 2020 election would mark a turning point when we would restart working with other countries and major emitters to take urgent climate action.
   As we look towards 2021 and COP26 in Glasgow, we know America has a reputation to repair and trust to rebuild. We are going to have to prove to the world that we are good partners, that we are ready to make and meet our commitments, and that we won’t turn our back on this global crisis again.
   I know that the Biden-Harris administration will show the world that America is ready to lead, ready to act, and ready to build a clean energy future. If the world is going to believe us though, we are going to have to act here at home first. We need to show American businesses that their future prosperity lies in the clean energy economy.
   We know that the ways we live, move, build, trade, work will all be shaped by climate change. And American businesses have an amazing opportunity. Either they step up and lead, or they cede the moment to foreign competitors. There are millions of jobs and investments that can be created through climate action. Years ago, I co-sponsored the Risky Business Project, an initiative that assessed and publicized the economic risks to the U.S. associated with climate change. And now finally we are seeing the market move this direction as international banks look at climate targets and financial markets move toward companies focused on addressing climate change and clean energy.
   With new American leadership in government, I’m hopeful that more American business leaders will also see this as their moment and come to the table for climate action.
   The first year of the Biden-Harris Administration and the lead up to COP26 at the end of 2021 will be a defining time in our history. As President-Elect Biden has said, “there is not a single thing we have not been able to accomplish once we set our minds to it. Together, we can and will meet the challenge of this climate emergency.”
   https://ilyas-70980.medium.com/watch-happiest-season-2020-online-full-1080pss-8149746e201f
   https://fanny-40407.medium.com/watch-happiest-season-2020-online-full-1080ps-de412a30655d
   https://anjtrew.medium.com/watch-happiest-2020-online-full-1080ps-4a4a928fce5a
   https://bistay.medium.com/watch-ammonite-2020-online-full-1080pss-eb9bd2cb4f9e
   https://noncitiz.medium.com/watch-the-croods-2020-online-full-1080pss-ba535085ecad
   https://vernieli.medium.com/watch-fate-stay-night-heaven-feel-iii-2020-online-full-1080pss-57c0e5fd36b2