Mixed emotions. Should we be glad with the agreement reached in Le Bourget? The goals that were set are definitely not enough to keep us within the 1.5 degree global warming, but it is an huge improvement compared to what we had.

 

On Thursday I attended a beautiful closing ceremony of Run for your life at Notre Dame where Sami and Pacific Islanders told their story about their fight against climate change. The ice that is melting in Lapland is the sea level that is rising in the Pacific. Will this agreement be sufficient for frontline communities? Definitely not. Will these words on paper turn out to be hollow phrases? I’m afraid so. Does this mean our struggle is futile? Definitely not.

 

Seeing that over 15,000 were willing to go into the streets despite the state of emergency gave me hope. That I was there with so many of my friends was even better. I’m happy that I helped to arrange a Fossielvrij NL bus to Paris. Having this experience makes me even more determined to step my game up a notch.