Next week 195 nations, out of the 196 in the world, will come together in Paris on Monday 30 November to achieve one vitally important goal: to create a legally binding pact to keep global warming below 2C. This, according to most scientists, is the critical threshold for global warming.
But for Greenpeace International Executive Director, Kumi Naidoo, this is yet not enough.
You will hear, in lots of conversations, people just talk about two degrees. If we keep it at two degrees or below then we are OK. People need to realise that Greenpeace, most of the civil society organisations and most of the least developed countries in the world are saying: If it goes more than 1.5, we are dead. In fact, in the Pacific, the people there are chanting a slogan that says 1.5 to stay alive.
Naidoo said he was disappointed that the political leadership in France chose to enable sporting or cultural events after the attacks, but put a clamp on the space for the biggest issue humanity faces.
People need to understand that this struggle is not about saving the planet. This struggle is about saving us, saving humanity, Naidoo said.
COP21 is a series of climate change talks between various countries in Paris from 30 November to 11 December.
Previous high-profile climate change talks have failed, but there is real hope that success can be achieved this time. The main reason being that two of the worlds biggest polluters, China and the United States, will be at the table ready to work towards an agreement.
