The first time I heard about climate change, I was in third grade. Obviously, learning about the world getting warmer and the oceans rising caused me great worry. But, with success, my father waived my anxieties when he told me that humanity didn't really have to worry about these things for centuries, if not millennia. It wasn't until my first or second year of high school I realized the severity of the situation. Since then, things have only gotten worse. In the months leading to this year's COP26 in Glasgow, we have seen record-breaking heat waves, Siberian forests burn at unseen levels, and Greenland's ice sheet melting faster than ever. Recently, my dorm at Yale was flooded by heavy rains from Hurricane Ida, whose ferocity was felt from Louisiana all the way up to New England. For a few years, I truly believed I would live out my life unmarked by climate change. Clearly, this was never a possibility.

"Although a complex political issue, the path forward is undeniable: we need to move away from fossil fuels..."

The recent report from the IPCC describing the current state of climate change was summarized by the UN's secretary-general António Guterres as a "code red for humanity." The reality is disturbing -- we are not only in the midst of climate change -- we are in a climate crisis. It's taken me a long time to accept that my life, and the lives of others, will be irrevocably defined by climate change. But the science is clear -- climate change is unequivocally here, and we must act now. The question is: how do we move forward? COP26 is less than two months away -- this is no ordinary conference -- it's our future.

Although a complex political issue, the path forward is undeniable: we need to move away from fossil fuels, ensure a just transition to a more sustainable world, and protect the world's most vulnerable communities.

In order to move away from fossil fuels -- renewables, nuclear energy, and hydropower are key. Each has downsides, but a mixed regime of the three is the most sustainable and most efficient way to decarbonize the electric grid and other carbon-heavy sectors, such as the transportation industry.

A big investment in infrastructure is also needed to decarbonize the transportation sector. We must build up public transportation, replace combustion engine vehicles with electric vehicles, and make communities and cities friendly to pedestrians and cyclists.

Investment in carbon capture technology is essential.

"...we must hold our political leaders accountable to the conclusions of COP26."

A just climate transition must avoid exploitative political systems. Climate justice is at the center of any policy move towards a more sustainable world and this implicates the UN, which has been responsible for injustices. Climate policies, even ones as progressive as the Green New Deal, could perpetuate, even worsen, the exploitation of developing countries and their resources by rich countries. These exploited countries are generally also the ones who have contributed least to climate change.

Communities most at risk of the effects of climate change must be protected and supported. In the US, these communities are mostly BIPOC and low-income. On a more global level, we must mobilize resources that build up protections for vulnerable communities, care for climate refugees, and properly account for climate change economically through taxation and compensation.

"Joe Biden has introduced an expansive clean energy plan, electric vehicles are on the up-and-up, and the financial tides are turning against the old world of fossil fuels."

Climate change requires drastic and radical political and global action. The unfortunate truth is that governments and institutions can be slow-moving. But we must gather whatever energy we have and advocate in whatever way we can for a better and more sustainable future. We must continue to mobilize activism at a mass-scale, as the Sunrise Movement, Extinction Rebellion, and Fridays For Future have been doing; we must elect candidates who care and want to do something about climate change; and, we must hold our political leaders accountable to the conclusions of COP26. In the six years since the Paris Agreement, little progress has been made. The Trump administration pulled out of the agreement and Bolsonaro's aggressive deforestation of the Amazon forest has transformed it from being a carbon sink to a carbon emitter. But we have also made big steps. Joe Biden has introduced an expansive clean energy plan, electric vehicles are on the up-and-up, and the financial tides are turning against the old world of fossil fuels. Let's take stock of the wins, but we still have a long, long way to go.

"This decade will define the course of climate change in the 21st century. There's no getting around the fact that we will have to live with climate change, but how we live with it is up to us."

Climate change requires drastic and radical political and global action. The unfortunate truth is that governments and institutions can be slow-moving. But we must gather whatever energy we have and advocate in whatever way we can for a better and more sustainable future. We must continue to mobilize activism at a mass-scale, as the Sunrise Movement, Extinction Rebellion, and Fridays For Future have been doing; we must elect candidates who care and want to do something about climate change; and, we must hold our political leaders accountable to the conclusions of COP26. In the six years since the Paris Agreement, little progress has been made. The Trump administration pulled out of the agreement and Bolsonaro's aggressive deforestation of the Amazon forest has transformed it from being a carbon sink to a carbon emitter. But we have also made big steps. Joe Biden has introduced an expansive clean energy plan, electric vehicles are on the rise, and the financial tides are turning against the old world of fossil fuels. Let's take stock of the wins, but we still have a long, long way to go.

This decade will define the course of climate change in the 21st century. There's no getting around the fact that we will have to live with climate change, but how we live with it is up to us. We have wasted decades. Still, the best time to start doing something is now. We need to rise up to the demands of the Paris Agreement and beyond. I still think we can, and I think that a lot depends on the outcome of COP26 and how we respond.