On October 31st, 2021, all eyes were on Glasgow. The 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) had begun, bringing 197 parties from all over the world together to accelerate action towards Climate Change. World leaders, negotiators, government representatives, businesses and citizens came together to discuss necessary steps towards the Paris Agreement made back in 2015, facing one goal: reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming 1.5 degrees. Because one thing is for sure: we must act, and we must act now! 

Together with our partner @bambuu (producer of our bamboo toothbrushes), we were part of COP26 supplying guests attending the conference with a dental kit, including our toothpaste tabs. 

With their mission "To Educate, Inspire and Empower to make sustainable actions accessible for all through our Purposeful Products that give back and create purposeful impacts to our planet and people," @bambuu is a company with a positive impact fighting global plastic pollution.

Dear Tommie, can you tell us about your main takeaway from COP26? How would you rate the success and buzz around the conference?

My main takeaway from the conference is that, unfortunately, the people who contribute the least are being directly impacted by the climate crisis right now. Obviously, we knew this before but after speaking with tribesmen and women from the global south and developing world, they expressed
that there is not much hope for them. Climate issues are happening now on their doorstep and no one is listening. This was highlighted in the Loss and Damage fund not being completed in the Glasgow Climate Pact. 

In my opinion, the buzz outside the conference was incredible, but the buzz
inside the more government-level conversations was flat.

Do you think the four goals of COP26: Mitigation, Adaptation, Finance, and Collaboration, have been discussed in enough detail? Or do you think the time has not been enough to discuss the most critical topics?

I think they were all discussed, but again, not enough has been done to highlight these four key areas and to support the detrimental effects that these four aspects are linked to.

Goal 1: Secure global net-zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach

Not enough was completed to stop global emissions from meeting the necessary targets set by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). Hence, we are coming back next year to address this matter.

Goal 2: Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats

There wasn't enough spoken about natural solutions in adapting to the crisis. Nature has the answer and people who have the most knowledge about natural solutions are not even in the conversation.

Goal 3: Mobilise finance

Finance needs to be diverted at an alarming rate from fossil fuels to renewables which it is not at the moment. I think a positive thing that happened was that people who are very much "against" capitalistic views may have seen that we need finance to be behind this adaptation and diversion more than previously.

Goal 4: Work together to deliver

There were some positives on collaboration with the signing of many pledges from smaller nations, but we really need the G7 to take a leading role in these pledges to collaborate with the people who need the support the most.

Which of these goals do you think we need to pay the most attention to right now to hit the emission targets?

The ocean - Life below water - SDG 14 - (Sustainable Development Goal). There was only one session discussing this topic. With the ocean absorbing around 25% of emissions each year and producing over 70% of the oxygen we breathe, there is not enough time to discuss how to utilise the blue economy to mitigate some of these issues.

We’ve been following your panel discussion about the importance of having Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the conversation to hit emissions targets. How can we as SME’s (Bambuubrush and Denttabs) contribute best to hit the emission targets?

We need to take a holistic approach to this as SMEs. Yes, I understand that our primary focus is to provide a high-quality product that allows us to sustain our business. Still, we need to look at how we can all engage our community to educate, inspire and empower, so our community's knowledge
on global issues is increased. Only then can we inspire them to take action on those issues and then, in turn, empower our community to spread that message. As our SMEs grow and our communities grow, we have positive procedures and policies in place to create more impact on these issues.

Did Tommie's perspective motivate you as much as it did us to keep fighting for climate action? Please share your thoughts with us by commenting on the blog post.

Your Denttabs Team