By Anne Jellema, 350.org
Ten years ago, the Paris Agreement marked a turning point in humanity’s fight for a liveable planet. For the first time, world leaders agreed to limit global warming to 1.5°C and to drive a rapid transition away from fossil fuels. It was a moment powered not by governments alone, but by millions of people: Indigenous leaders, frontline communities, youth, climate-justice organisers, scientists, faith groups, and others who refused to accept the lie that climate change was inevitable.
And what they achieved was far more than words on paper. Before Paris, we were on a path to 3.5 degrees of global warming – levels that would have made much of the Earth literally uninhabitable. A decade later, Paris Agreement commitments have brought that down to 2.5 degrees. That is still much too high, but it does mean that we have a fighting chance of closing the gap and reaching home safely.
In fact, the most important story about the Paris Agreement is not what governments promised and didn’t deliver, but about the sense of possibility it created – and about what people power has achieved. The most important story is how far we have come, because this gives us the courage and hope to go the remaining mile.
Across the world, people are washing their hands of costly, polluting fossil fuels. Solar and wind are now the cheapest form of new power in most countries and if governments won’t give it to people, they are doing it themselves. Rooftop solar expanded four-fold in Pakistan and more than tripled in South Africa in just two years, while energy cooperatives are springing up around the world. Pipelines have been stopped, coal plants cancelled and shut down. The incredible divestment movement, started by 350.org has seen trillions divested from the fossil fuel industry, while a job-intensive new green economy is taking off everywhere that politicians have the vision to support it. In these last ten years, we reimagined and recreated what a cleaner and fairer future can look like.
The question now is no longer can we change course: since the Paris Agreement, we already have. It’s whether we’re willing to turn the ship around fast enough to reach safe harbour in time. That means a rapid, fair transition away from coal, oil, and gas. It means polluting companies and nations must pay for the damage already caused by their emissions, and the funds must reach those who are suffering most. . It means reclaiming democracy from the far-right movements that weaponise fear and division to protect polluters. Most of all it means that the climate movement needs to center the needs, aspirations and leadership those who are in the frontlines: the mothers, workers and elders who face floods, droughts, bad air quality, heatwaves and unaffordable energy bills – and the children who might not have a future to fight for if we don’t act fast enough.
The Paris Climate Agreement showed us what global cooperation can look like. The decade since has shown us what people-powered action can achieve. Now we must bring those forces together and make the next years about decisive, collective and fast transformation.
2026 offers real political opportunities: the global roadmap initiated at COP30, and the renewed international focus on fossil fuel phaseout open new avenues for effective and inspiring multilateralism – and concrete steps for the world to finally transition away from oil, gas, and coal.
The truth is simple: our future is still unwritten. And together, we have the power to write one rooted in justice, courage, and hope. We don’t have another decade, though. The time for action is now.