let’s name this – – shadorma sequence

let’s name this
betrayal of trust
egregious
failure to
preserve to perpetuate
air water shelter

let’s name this
non-leadership stance
refusal
to adapt
to mitigate disaster
floods droughts hurricanes

a mother
jailed for death of son
not given
medicine
No charge for head of state who
ignores climate change?

to name is
to take a stand is
to call this
criminal
neglect, perhaps manslaughter
Office abandoned.

~

I wrote this poem after the close of the world climate summit held in Bonn—the leader of the largest carbon emitting nation expressed an intention to withdraw the United States from the international climate agreement.  Despite this stance, an independent delegation of sub-national United States leaders attended to report ongoing efforts by states, cities, businesses and citizens to achieve the carbon emissions target agreed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement.  I am warmed by the words of Fiji’s Prime Minister, who opened the summit with the overall sentiment:  “we must not fail our people”:

The need for urgency is obvious. Our world is in distress from the extreme weather events caused by climate change – destructive hurricanes, fires, floods, droughts, melting ice, and changes to agriculture that threaten our food security. All consistent with the science that now tells us that 2016 was a record year for carbon concentrations in the atmosphere.

All over the world, vast numbers of people are suffering – bewildered by the forces ranged against them. Our job as leaders is to respond to that suffering with all means available to us. This includes our capacity to work together to identify opportunities in the transition we must make.

We must not fail our people. That means using the next two weeks and the year ahead to do everything we can to make the Paris Agreement work and to advance ambition and support for climate action before 2020.

Opening speech of Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama of Fiji, President of the United Nations Climate conference held in Bonn November 6 to 17, 2017 (COP 23)

Key achievements from COP 23

~

©2017 Ontheland

Shadorma November