{"id":2909,"date":"2016-01-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-19T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourplanet.org\/gary-cranston-an-activist-speaks-up-and-out-on-the-recent-paris-climate-agreement\/"},"modified":"2023-05-11T19:16:28","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T06:16:28","slug":"gary-cranston-an-activist-speaks-up-and-out-on-the-recent-paris-climate-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourplanet.org\/greenplanetfm\/gary-cranston-an-activist-speaks-up-and-out-on-the-recent-paris-climate-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"Gary Cranston - An Activist Speaks Up and Out on the Recent Paris Climate Agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"
Scientists are convinced that anything above the 2 degree mark locks in changes to the planetary climate beyond civilization's adaptive capacity.<\/span><\/p>\n For some climate activists, like Gary Cranston, the accord was an exercise in empty, feel-good promise making. For example, a group of climate scientists recently submitted a letter to The Independent calling the agreement \"\"false hope\"\" and full of \"\"deadly flaws.\"\" They cited the fact that the CO2 reduction commitments in the agreement don't kick in until 2020. By that time, the scientists argue, so much more CO2 will have been pumped into the atmosphere that we may already be locked into warming, pushing us above the 2 degree line.<\/span><\/p>\n Of course the economy has everything to gain from this agreement. The Paris Agreement could have provided an unprecedented and unique opportunity for the transition to a low-carbon economy to become main-stream, but as a lot of green technology stands to get massive gain, one could say COP21 was covered by green-wash; the targets were too low; and the intentions unclear. Gary makes it clear that until new economies come to the fore and replace growth based capitalism, we will not succeed in real change. This would be the opinion of Naomi Klein, author of, “This Changes Everything”, whom Gary met in Paris.<\/span><\/p>\n The New Zealand Government was caught trying to get countries to sign up to a secret global declaration on carbon trading. This would mean continuing on as it has been before under the now completed Kyoto Protocol. New Zealand has been good at using creative accounting as well as carbon trading to make it look like our emissions are lower than they really are.<\/span><\/p>\n Gary Cranston was sent to Paris by Unite Union as a union delegate. He describes how while formal negotiations went on, there were a wealth of activities going on all over the city. There was lobbying by businesses, unions and NGOs. There was a People’s Climate Summit which went on for three days with speakers such as Naomi Klein, and Jeremy Corbyn, from the British Labour Party.<\/span><\/p>\n