The two short answers to almost every question can be boiled down to ‘more has been promised than ever before, but is still not enough’ and ‘time will tell’. We won’t be able to truly tell the success of COP26 for at least ten years probably. Its success is inextricably linked to wider global economic and social shifts and the success of future COPs as well as what COP26 itself has set in train.

A fraught process

Attending any COP will engender a host of emotions: frustration, exasperation, exhaustion, despair, hope. I have the deepest respect for the negotiating teams who put themselves through the onslaught of sleepless nights, noise, not a moment’s peace for days on end.

Almost every country in the world is taking part - in some ways it’s incredible that anything is ever agreed at all. The end result signals where the whole world is at, collectively. And that is changing.

Their job is urging and entreating others to accept page after page of carefully chosen words to achieve the barest of inching forwards in global diplomacy. This may seem pointless to some, but I still think it is critically important. Almost every country in the world is taking part - in some ways it’s incredible that anything is ever agreed at all. The end result signals where the whole world is at, collectively. And that is changing.

But COP26 has really made me feel the weight, more than previous COPs, of the enormity of the task ahead. And the fear that we will not get there fast enough, a long-held fear that I know is widely shared.

The pledges are moving forward, but global emissions are still increasing. They aren’t even starting to drop yet. We need a 45% drop in global emissions at least by 2030 to stay below 1.5C of warming. I feel we should be talking about that one statistic more than anything else.

We must adapt to climate change

We also need to make adaptation an everyday word and ingrained into everything we do. Thousands of people and billions of animals died last year due to extreme weather that is increasing because of climate change. Climate risk is not a niche subject, and the world is nowhere near well-adapted.

The absence of a simple target to explain it should not be the reason for not acting on adaptation. Every community, business, and region should be thinking about how it can boost its resilience to previously unprecedented levels of heat, fire, flood and drought.

Climate risk is not a niche subject, and the world is nowhere near well-adapted.

What I have also been feeling the weight of is that ‘we’ (‘climate people’) live in a bubble. Most of our collective analysis of COP26 on social media has no doubt fallen on the ears of those who are already signed up to the need to act.

My husband, who is not in that bubble, refers to this phenomenon as ‘keyboard warrioring’. And he is right; talking about it is extremely important, as is talking about it to non-climate audiences. Doing something about it is even more so.

What can we do about it?

I know what my annual emissions are: they are about 4.5 tonsCO2e/yr. I know roughly what I need to do over the next five years to make them compatible with net zero, to get them down to about 2 tonsCO2e/yr. I know which climate hazards I am most at risk from and I am adapting. I know how I can support wildlife in my garden, and I do it. For those of us demanding greater action: if we are not all doing at least this much, how can we possibly urge, request, or demand it of others?

It's also essential that we keep putting pressure on Governments and large corporations to act now to stop burning fossil fuels. Writing to or meeting with your MP is a great way to share your views.

The tools have not always been easy to find, but The Wildlife Trusts are here to help; we have a handy page of eight key actions you can take to reduce your emissions and boost your resilience while supporting wildlife. Any action is better than none, and the actions you can take will be very specific to you and your circumstances; it is not all about just the expensive actions. You can find a range of carbon calculators on the internet. I chose one that allows me to input my actual energy and fuel use rather than estimate it.

Caring, talking and most of all acting doesn’t take the fear away; but it is something. Every bit of avoided warming; every bit of help for nature; and letting nature help us, counts.

And you can support efforts to restore nature, reduce emissions and boost resilience. The Wildlife Trusts are collectively in the top 10 land-holders in the UK. We manage over 100,000 hectares of land for nature. We have restored or are restoring over 45,000 hectares of peatland - more than the Government has signed up to restoring by 2025. We want to restore much more, everywhere, and are trialling innovative approaches to funding nature's recovery.

There are a whole range of ways you can support action like that being taken by The Wildlife Trusts (donations and Wildlife Trust memberships also make great Christmas presents for those not wanting yet more ‘stuff’!).

Caring, talking and most of all acting doesn’t take the fear away, but it is something. Every bit of avoided warming, every bit of help for nature (and letting nature help us) counts.