Week Fifteen: UNFCCC Post Six

It is a historic time. I feel incredibly proud and lucky to have been part of the delegation that went to Paris. While my presence there obviously had nothing to do with the negotiations, I like to think about someday being able to tell Norah about being part of the movement that finally decided we needed to do something about the changes that we caused ourselves. I like to think about being 72 years old in 2050 and her being 38 and us sitting down for a conversation about the week 35 years ago when I left her and Dada behind to be a part of something historic. To talk about the huge changes in our world that are part of her reality that were never part of mine. Her no carbon-emitting vehicle, her house that is powered entirely by renewable energy, her lack of options to purchase single use packaging, her recycling container that is larger than her garbage container and fills twice as fast, her awesome job in whatever field she has chosen that is making a positive difference in our world. I don’t spend much time thinking about her as an adult, wanting to enjoy each moment as they come, but her adult life and the life of any children she chooses to raise were on the forefront of my mind during this entire class and experience in Paris. This agreement is absolutely about the generations that are to come and while there is still a long way to go and lots of hard work to make the necessary changes, I am so pleased the world seems to be moving in the right direction.

Thanks so much, Jessy, for an amazing class and an amazing experience!