Last Sunday I was stuck at home because it was pouring rain all day. Many of my friends were a bit sad or even mad that they couldn’t spend the day outside and that they had to cancel plans they’d made. I, however, did not feel this way. We’d had a terrible fire season and I was grateful for the rain; in the past year there have been many huge fires that may have not gotten out of control if we had rain more often. We are in the middle of a megadrought, meaning that we have been in a period of extreme dryness for a long time. Having this rainy day didn’t end the drought, but it helped. It also helped reduce my anxiety. In the same way, this year’s Climate Change Conference may have reduced the stress of others, since people know we must do something about climate change. The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) is one way that nations have been trying to discover solutions, but it simply hasn’t been enough. Nations can pledge to do things but may never even end up doing them. We need to hold ourselves accountable, since it’s wealthy nations like ours that are harming our planet the most.

Thankfully, institutions are pledging to divest from fossil fuels to try to decrease carbon pollution. Commondreams.org states “Over the past decade, nearly 1,500 investors and institutions controlling almost $40 trillion in assets have committed to divesting from fossil fuels.” The hope is that by divesting from these companies it will decrease carbon pollution and that these companies can learn to produce energy in a more eco-friendly way. I think it is important that even though they may have pledged to do something, that they follow through with it. Common Dreams also reports that “Since the movement's first summary report in 2014, the amount of total assets publicly committed to divestment has grown by over 75,000%. The number of institutional commitments to divestment has grown by 720% in that time, including a 49% increase in just the three years since the movement's most recent report.” This movement towards divestment could mean that fossil fuel companies will start to realize they need to change or else lose even more money. This is effective since many of these companies only care about their profits.

Given that the wealthier nations are the ones causing the most damage, I think it's wrong that they are the ones failing to follow through with their plans. Asad Rehman, executive director of War on Want and lead spokesperson for the COP26 Coalition, comments “It’s very much a case of rich countries saying, “Don’t do as I am doing. Do as I say,” and trying to put the responsibility onto poorer countries to solve a crisis obviously they didn’t cause, but that they’re overwhelmingly being affected by.” COP26 should have been an opportunity for wealthy nations to make good plans and follow through. Wealthier countries need to help more as they have more resources than poorer countries. The attitude of “Don’t do as I am doing. Do as I say” is hypocrisy. Reporting for Democracy Now! Amy Goodman says “Leaders of the Group of 20 wealthiest nations, which together are responsible for 80% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, met in Rome ahead of the COP26 climate summit. The G20 leaders pledged to try to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius but did not offer specifics on how to achieve that goal. A recent U.N. Emissions Gap Report showed current contributions and commitments by nations to reduce emissions are not nearly enough to avert a planetary catastrophe.” It's unfair that a high percentage of the nations that are responsible are wealthier, and that poorer nations have to suffer with them. Pledging to limit the global temperature rise without having any specifics on how to do it shows that they are just interested in public relations. They want us to believe that they are truly trying to help, but they do what the big corporations want them to do.

I was grateful for all the rain we received that day, but we can't just keep hoping and crossing our fingers for more rain. In a few years entire countries will be underwater if we don’t start to make changes. Institutions divesting from fossil fuel companies is one change we are beginning to see; another change that has to happen is that wealthier nations need to follow through with plans they make instead of making empty promises. We can all talk about how bad global warming is getting, but if we don’t demand change from our government, it won’t get any better.