Everywhere in the news, we've been reading about the ongoing COP26 summit in Glasgow. It is considered a really important event to bring climate change under control. Let's understand what is it all about and how can we be a part of this as an individual.

Let's start with the basics.......

COP stands for Conference of the parties, and 
26 means it is the 26^th meeting

COP26 event is an annual conference attended by the world leaders that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in 1992. 196 countries are members to it.

This year's conference is happening in Glasgow, which started on October 31^st and will go on until 12^th November. It is being attended by politicians and people in power.

The main agenda of this conference is to figure out how to slow down global warming and decide on how to prevent temperatures from rising above 1.5celsius. We are already seeing floods, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, rising world hunger, water scarcity…… Ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising. 

Did you know? The world is now about 1.2celsius warmer than it was in the 19th Century - and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen by 50%

Now it's time for action by the countries to put people over profits and put humanity at the center of every decision-making...… this conference is {hopefully} all about that.

To achieve these targets, the countries will need to:

• accelerate the phase-out of coal 
• curtail deforestation 
• speed up the switch to electric vehicles 
• encourage investment in renewables.

But are they really doing it?

Not really, the leaders flew in their private planes, making hollow promises, and are pushing back zero-emission deadlines – again......

India, the third-largest emitter of carbon emissions, said it would achieve net zero emission by 2070, while other countries promised to do it by 2050. No one spoke about animal agriculture and its deadly impact and a lot of other important issues were lost in translation.....

Its not all gloom and doom, all I am saying is it could have been better. The leaders need to keep politics aside and be more passionate and committed to the cause.

Some commonly used lingo during COP26 that you should know.....

What is net-zero?

In really simple terms, net-zero is removing as much greenhouse gas from the atmosphere as is produced. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is called the greenhouse gas because it is one of the gases in the atmosphere that warms the Earth by trapping the heat in it's atmosphere.

Now if you will ask me, isn't carbon dioxide released naturally? Yes, it does but we humans have increased CO2 in the atmosphere by more than a third by burning fossil fuels like coal and oil.

Here are some of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas effect:

• Burning fossil fuel for transportation
• Electricity production (mainly through coal and natural gas)
• Animal agriculture
• Industries
• Commercial and Residential (mainly fossil fuel burned for heat, waste handling)

(Source: EPA)

What is Paris Agreement?

The Paris Agreement is an international agreement to tackle climate change, adopted in 2015's COP21 summit attended by 196 countries in Paris - hence the name.

The Paris Agreement requires countries to:

• Reduce the amount of harmful greenhouse gasses produced and increase renewable types of energy like wind, solar, and wave power 
• Limit global warming to well below 2C (3.6F), preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels 
• Review progress made on the agreement every five years 
• Spend $100 billion dollars a year in climate finance to help poorer countries by 2020, with a commitment to further finance in the future.

What is The Green Zone?

The Green Zone is where the youth groups, public, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, charities, academics, artists and businesses can have their voices heard at COP26, through an extensive program of events, workshops, talks, and exhibitions that promote dialogue, awareness, education, and commitments.

We need to take action

The onus lies not just on these leaders but us too, we can’t rely on them to change things. We can’t be a desk jockey any longer or a spectator to the climate catastrophe, because it is us who will face the consequences and our future generations. WE NEED TO ACT. 

Just simple changes by each one of us can have a huge impact on global warming levels, 1 change by 7.2 billion of us trickles down to a big impact - don't you agree? Simple things like eating more plant-based foods, choosing electric cars when you need to buy new ones, moving away from gas heating,  and not taking as many flights in the future.

Here are a few things you must start with right away.

1. Rethink your diet: Animal agriculture is the greatest driver behind deforestation and one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse emissions and water pollution. Time to switch to a plant-based diet and ditch meat, dairy, and fish.
   
   
2. Reduce and eliminate plastic use: Avoid single-use plastics like bottles, straws cutlery, packaging. Educate those around you on the importance of reducing single-use plastic consumption including your family, friends, and restaurants. Plastic is made from petroleum and, in the US alone, only 9% of the plastic ever produced got recycled. So, imagine where did the rest go? 
   
   
3. Change your commuting habits: Transportation is the biggest contributor to the climate problems we are facing - global warming. Let's change our commuting habits - use public transportation, ride a bike, walk where you can, create carpooling groups in your communities, go for shared taxis, and when you absolutely need to buy a new car - choose electric (better if it is a pre-owned electric).
   
   
4. Change consumption habits: Whether you are shopping for your wardrobe, home or kitchen be mindful. We often engage in excesses - too much food that ends up in the bin eventually, too many clothes in our overflowing wardrobes that have barely been worn (some with still tags intact), too many shoes that we hardly use or need. All of this ends up in landfills creating an environmental crisis.

Here's a little about the textile waste problem...... Textile production requires significant amounts of chemicals, water, energy, and other natural resources. I've shared this many times, but it is important to know that it takes 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt (and you thought cotton was sustainable). When we throw away clothing in the garbage (or donate, most of which ultimately ends up in the garbage), not only does it waste money and resources, but it can take over 200 years for the materials to decompose in a landfill. During the decomposition process, textiles generate greenhouse methane gas and leach toxic chemicals and dyes into the groundwater and our soil.

Now you see the problem??

BE the change instead of waiting for governments to change for you. Daily steps with powerful collective impact have the power to bring a huge shift to climate issues.

Learn more about Is cotton a sustainable fabric