2014: The Year of Change

2014 is now upon us and it needs to be the year of change. It's time we set aside our common resolutions like 'eat less' and 'exercise more' for strategies of change that affect us all on a much larger scale. And what do we need to change? The clue is in the title: climate change.

Autor*in Jo Wilkinson, 01.01.14

2014 is now upon us and it needs to be the year of change. It’s time we set aside our common resolutions like ‘eat less’ and ‘exercise more’ for strategies of change that affect us all on a much larger scale. And what do we need to change? The clue is in the title: climate change.

The Warsaw Climate Change Conference concluded in November with the end result being a universal climate agreement in 2015, and significant new decisions on initiatives like the Durban Platform, the Green Climate Fund and Long-Term Finance.

“Warsaw has set a pathway for governments to work on a draft text of a new universal climate agreement so it appears on the table at the next UN Climate change conference in Peru. This is an essential step to reach a final agreement in Paris, in 2015,” said Marcin Korolec, President of the COP19 conference, in a closing press release.

While the conference has ensured governments are set on the right track for tackling climate change, the path isn’t so engaging for the average citizen and we need to do more on a day-to-day basis. All to often we can be satisfied with reading a news story or listening to the outcome of a global conference and feel content that we’ve done our part. We haven’t. We need to adjust our lifestyle before it is too late and the first stop for many of us involves educating ourselves about the issue.

This series of TED Talks gives a good, holistic overview of climate change. The fact it starts with Al Gore probably won’t surprise many, but there are a few less well-known speakers in the playlist that do their best to educate and inspire from a different angle. If you can’t find the time to sit through a 20 minute talk then fret not – Jill Sobule’s two and a half minute global warming theme song gives a nice overview.

Watch it now and help make 2014 the year of change.

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