Climate change protesters in Cheltenham have agreed that the COP-27 conference fell short of some expectations.
The COP-27 Climate Change Conference, held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, ended on the 20th November after two weeks of discussions.
Meanwhile, on the Promenade in Cheltenham over 5,000 miles away, a small group of people quietly shared information with pedestrians about the climate crisis.
Activist Miriam Frings said that the protest was situated in front of the Municipal Offices to “remind the council that climate change is still an issue and that they did declare a climate emergency in 2019.”
The activists were holding up small banners on wooden poles and sharing small cards with passers-by on little things to do to reduce your carbon footprint. They were making their own stand, peacefully.
Jerry Barr spoke about the effect of the protest: “We’ve had very mixed public reactions, most people actually are quite receptive, but there are those who say, ‘no thank you’ or ‘I’m alright’, which is an interesting response to which I’m tempted to say jack.”
After the COP-27 conference ended, the UN Climate Press Release described a ‘breakthrough’ new funding arrangement. This was arranged for ‘loss and damage’ in vulnerable developing countries hit by climate disasters. The Guardian described this financial assistance as a ‘major milestone’.
In addition to this, the press release outlined other outcomes, including forest protection with the launch of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership. This ‘aims to unite action by governments, businesses and community leaders to halt forest loss and land degradation by 2030.’ Funding plans were announced in different sectors to support a planet on the brink of disaster.
However, many criticised the lack of progress during the conference on cutting emissions. The Independent described the ‘major blow’ in the conference’s failure to call for the easing down of fossil fuel use.
Anne-Knight Elliott, one of the Cheltenham climate protestors, said: “At last “a loss and damage fund” has been agreed for richer polluting countries to pay poorer nations for climate damage, but this can only be judged by seeing it in action. Sadly, and most concerning, is that no plan has been taken for further phasing use of fossil fuels.”
Miriam agreed with Annie’s views. “Trying to be hopeful, I’d say it doesn’t relieve us all of our individual efforts to lessen our carbon footprint. We don’t have to wait for governments to set the pace. Oh, I know we need system change, but often huge changes are brought about when the people themselves decide to take action – and the governments catch up with the wishes of the people.”
