My Report Back From COP26

Last month, I had the honor of joining leaders from around the world at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) to discuss our role in helping solve the greatest threat to civilization: global warming. As part of the California State Assembly’s delegation, I had the opportunity to meet with national and subnational leaders from several nations, including Germany, France, Australia, China and Armenia.

I had amazing conversations with activists from as near as Los Angeles to as far as the nation of Nigeria. The wealth of perspectives, knowledge and unique experiences has deeply enriched my understanding of the climate crisis both globally and locally. It’s a huge topic with so many pieces that I could write a whole series about what I learned at this year’s convention. However, today I want to report back to you on the broad points about this year’s convention, why California’s participation is important and what this all means for us here in the 43rd district. 

So, what is the COP? As with many official meetings of the United Nations, there are a lot of unwieldy acronyms that can get confusing. In brief, the Convention on Climate Change is a massive international agreement between many of the world’s nations. For nearly three decades, these meetings have been taking place so that world leaders can negotiate the terms and plans of action for addressing the climate crisis. These meetings are called the “Conference of Parties,” which is where we get the acronym “COP.” This year we had the 26th of these nearly annual meetings. 

The conversations that take place at these conventions set the stage for global climate and sustainability policies. They’re critical to our success at keeping global warming below our targets and staving off the most severe impacts of climate change. However, as with all discussions between nations, they can be slow and, unfortunately, inconclusive. Which is why subnational governments, such as California, have realized that we cannot rely on nations to meet our climate goals. Cities, states, provinces and even non-governmental organizations attend COP meetings and play a huge role in the fight against global warming. This is the reason why climate focused nonprofits sponsored the California Legislature’s trip to Scotland to participate in the COP (taxpayer funds were not used). I was honored to have been selected to participate by these sponsors.

This year, our delegation met with national and subnational leaders, policy experts, advocates and entrepreneurs on a wide array of issues critical to improving our sustainability here in California and across the globe. We met with members of the Governor Brown-founded Under2Coalition, including representatives from the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

At this meeting we discussed building on our policies to keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius, how climate action is impacting German politics, technological developments such as green hydrogen, and our shared vision of addressing climate change through transportation policy. We met with representatives from the Scottish Energy Division and Marine Scotland on the benefits and pitfalls of offshore wind generation and policies; with a delegation from Paris to exchange ideas about preparing for extreme heat events; with Australia on addressing the impact of increasingly severe wildfires; and with nations such as Armenia that are looking to further partner with California on sharing resources, policy ideas and technology to fight off drought and wildfires.

California is a large and important voice in these global-scale talks. We’re the fifth largest economy in the world and we’re an international technology leader; we have the ability to impact global markets. We’re also viscerally impacted by even the slightest increase in global temperatures.

As a result of climate change, 7 million acres have burned in the last two years and we’re experiencing another drought that’s requiring us to provide emergency water to rural communities. Increasingly common and severe heat waves are impacting the health – and even taking the lives – of Californians, especially our most vulnerable residents. We came to COP26 to do our job and represent the people of our state. We came to forge alliances with other subnational governments, to do our part to ensure global cooperation and to share our commitment to fighting climate change. 

I’ll be frank – results from UN negotiations are not coming as fast as we need them. This has furthered the role for subnationals. With parties like California stepping up, we’re seeing the needle start to move. As of this year, the Under2Coalition we founded now represents 1.5 billion people and 50% of the world’s economy, all led by members of other subnational governments like our own. So, although national leadership is hugely important, subnational work is equally crucial as are actions taken by cities, organizations and even individuals such as those of us in the 43rd District. 

I learned so much at this year’s COP, and I’m ready to return to Sacramento with a refreshed perspective and new insights into the scale and complexity of climate change. I know this issue can feel hopeless, as if our voices and actions are too small to impact a problem of such enormous scale. My takeaway from this year’s COP is that this couldn’t be further from the truth. We can all make meaningful changes, in our own ways. And the greatest antidote to hopelessness is action.

As always, please reach out to me for ways to get involved in the fight against climate change or any questions you may have. You can reach my District Office at (818) 558-3043, or by email at Assemblymember.Friedman@Assembly.ca.gov. To learn more about my experience this year, you can watch a recording of a virtual town hall I held via my website: https://a43.asmdc.org/.