En route home from COP29, I’m filled with a paradox of emotions. Excited but exhausted. Hopeful yet concerned.
It was an incredibly productive time for 3T. We forged meaningful friendships and learned invaluable lessons.
But it’s hard to reconcile those gains with the growing sense that the COPs are not fit for purpose.
Emissions are still rising, we’re on track to catastrophic warming, loss and damage payments are stalled, fossil fuel interests remain disturbingly powerful, ecosystems are dying—and that’s just part of the list.
We are depressingly behind in the climate race. With each year we lose, the cost of action only climbs—now projected at $2 trillion per year before 2030.
I fear we are trapped in a vicious cycle of inaction feeding further inaction. As of 2024, the possibility remains that the world could cascade into climate chaos, where we’re all left to fend for ourselves.
Yet, if you look closely, there are glimmers of hope.
Article 6 negotiations have advanced, bringing us one step closer to a global carbon market under the UN.
With strong frameworks and safeguards in place, this market could make it far easier for both the private and public sectors to trade “Mitigation Units”—essentially the UN’s version of carbon credits.
If implemented properly, it has the potential to unlock action on a massive scale and exponentially accelerate global collaboration on reducing and removing carbon.
And hope is everywhere in the corridors of COP, alive in the energy of people from every corner of the globe, each devoting their talents and time to move the needle forward in their own way.
So, how do we make sense of this yin and yang? This collision of hope and despair?
Climate action, and everything surrounding it, is unavoidably complex. Getting the planet to align was never going to be easy. Still, the complexity can feel discouraging.
But there’s a question that cuts through the confusion and complexity. That is: What action will I take?
Should it matter what the outcome might be, for those of us who can, to do the right thing?
No. You put your head down, do what you can, and you build. One step at a time.
Almost three years ago, 3T began as three people searching for 5,000 hectares in Ghana to restore.
Today, we have trees in the ground, chiefs on our side, investments supporting us, and, most importantly, a growing tribe of passionate people who wake up every day to play their part—no matter how small.
Every day brings challenges that knock us off our feet, but we get back up. Because that’s the only thing that makes a difference.
To those watching COP from afar, my hope is this: ask yourself the most important question – What action will I take?
Because that’s the only thing that will make a difference.
