Why should Melbourne care about COP21? Climate action and the city

NASA image by Robert Simmon and Reto Stöckli.

Between 30 November and 11 December 2015, COP21—the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties, also known as the 2015 Paris Climate Conference—will, after twenty years of UN negotiations, aim to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.

While nation leaders will make the ultimate decisions at the conference, contributions (or interventions) to the negotiations can and should come from everywhere across the world, from every part of society, from every person, young and old. So what can Melburnians do to make an impact, to make a difference, to have our voices heard? What about big cities and country towns, artists and NGOs? And will any of it make any difference at all?

Presented by Oceania’s division of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI Oceania), this evening’s panel includes Cathy Oke, City of Melbourne councillor; Guy Abrahams, co-founder and CEO of CLIMARTE; and Victoria McKenzie-McHarg, climate change campaign manager at the Australian Conservation Foundation. Listen in and raise your hand as the discussion asks what climate action we can take to stay under the tipping point and how we can get our leaders to take notice—because what they decide to do about climate change affects us all.