Paris Agreement: We Can Work Together!

This summer I worked at the Will Steger Wilderness Center. I learned from stories and reading his book "Crossing Antarctica" that one of his main goals was to show the world that international cooperation can work, and seemingly impossible tasks can be made possible. In many ways, I think the new Paris agreement represents this idea: global cooperation. President Barack Obama said in his speech addressing the agreement, "this moment can be a turning point for the world." He goes on to say the world has ability and will to combat climate change, and that the green industry can benefit the future economy. If nothing else, similar to the Trans-Antarctic trip, this paris agreement shows that we can work together internationally to face something difficult, for the benefit for all people.

There is room for improvement, but I believe that this is a good start and I hope that the enthusiasm we got to witness and experience in Paris will carry over to future implementation of climate change policy and future public participation. The problem is by no means solved. We must remind ourselves of that to prepare for future action in the mitigation and adaptation to climate change.