Expectation vs. Reality at COP21

On our first evening in Paris a classmate and I decided to go check out Notre Dame. We hopped onto the train and road to a stop we thought was closes to Notre Dame. We ended up having to walk for abut 10 minutes, as we were not yet familiar with the train system in Paris. On this walk we saw 10-15 police vans roll by, filled with armored riot officers. We sort of shrugged it off and continued our journey to Notre Dame. After we returned to our Hotel later that night, we were informed that there were riots on the other side of town. Riot police had been dispatched and were handling the "illegal protests" from environmentalist. These were environmentalist that seemed to be against COP21. I was surprised to hear this. I had thought that COP21 was something that everyone who believes climate change is a threat is on board with. After learning this and going through the rest of my week, I have come to some interesting incite between what I had initially expected with COP21 and the realities of it.

Riot Police breaking up protest on the first night of COP21

From my perspective, it seemed as if most people thought COP21 was a good thing and that it is the most effective way we will meet solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change across the globe. There were many activists thought who didn't look at it this way. They might bring up the sponsors of COP21, a few of these being Air France, Volkswagen, and Evian. COP21 as an event was criticized by some, particularly these more extreme activists, by allowing companies responsible to climate change and environmental degradation to be major funders. People see this as greenwashing, and a way for large CO2 emitting companies to 'justify' there actions and change their public images. Think of Volkswagen, who was just caught manipulating the CO2 emissions from their vehicles. 

There were many concerns from French citizens. The fact the President disallowed marches, and activist gatherings people interpreted as unfair, especially in the light of how important public activism engagement is at the UNFCCC COPs. This concern was expressed by people through many forms of protests. One example was an art display put as fake advertisements around COP21, poking fun at big sponsor companies. There was also a demonstration on my last day in Paris, where over 200 people marched with stolen chairs from Banks funding non-environmentally friendly businesses and ones that don't seem to be actively trying to become more sustainable. It ended with performances, and people chanting in a crowd circling the stolen chairs. It was incredible to see and I felt I had a different understanding on COP21 and the different perspectives and goals among citizens concerned about a changing climate.