In Hong Kong and around the world, we all have a part to play in combating climate change

The climate change conference in Paris is in its last days and the 196 official delegations are working hard, under the auspices of the French president of the conference, towards adopting a universal, fair and legally binding agreement by December 11. Considering the wide political mobilisation and the efforts deployed during the first week of negotiations, we have reason to be cautiously optimistic about our chances of success.

There is no doubt that it is the responsibility of political leaders to create the legal framework to fight climate change. But taking up the challenge requires that all of society – local authorities, cities, the private sector, businesses, investors, non-governmental actors – feel involved and play their part in both the immediate and long-term response to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough and to transition to low-carbon and resilient economic and social development.

In this regard, the Hong Kong people are well aware of the challenge and of the need of a truly global response. I was impressed to see on November 30 so many people from Hong Kong, of different origins and political beliefs, participate in the “Global Climate March” organised by the NGO 350.org.

In recognition of this essential role of non-state actors, the French presidency of the climate conference has ramped up, from the very beginning, efforts initiated by the UN secretary general in 2014 to involve as many private companies, regions and cities, scientific communities and non-state actors as possible in an “action agenda” (or “agenda of solutions”). The message was simple: climate disruption concerns us all. It implies radical changes to our production and consumption patterns. It also provides major opportunities for economic and social progress.

December 5 was an important moment to take stock of the progress made on that front; an “Action Day” was organised as part of the conference, showcasing the most inspiring commitments and initiatives already under way and showing what could be a low-carbon and resilient world in 2050. People at the forefront of efforts to tackle climate disruption shared groundbreaking ideas, like the five Chinese students from the China Youth Climate Action Network who proposed “21 ways to change your university”.

So where are we one year after the first 2014 “action day” in Lima? Actually, the breadth of individual and collective commitments already taken by non-state actors in the framework of the “action agenda” demonstrates that a change in mentalities is already taking place and that its acceleration is both urgent and feasible.

The data is eloquent: 75 large multi-stakeholder cooperative initiatives have been launched for climate action worldwide, covering key impact areas such as financial mobilisation, less polluting transport, climate-friendly buildings and resilience; cities and regions accounting for 1 billion inhabitants have announced climate commitments; US$230 billion has been redirected to climate efforts, which includes portfolios of decarbonisation, divestment from fossil fuels and pro-climate investments; one in four of the world’s largest companies have committed to address climate change.