97% of scientists agree:  climate change is the most pressing issue of our time, but now it seems that politicians unanimously agree too. Between the 30^th of November and the 11^th of December, representatives from 196 countries have assembled in the COP21 in Paris. There they have recently signed an important treaty to combat climate change. Here are eight things everyone should know about the COP21.

1.   21 stands for years, not members

Unlike the G7, the Group of Seven (major advanced economies), the COP21 stands for the 21^st annual Conference Of the Parties. The first COP, COP1, took place in Berlin in 1995, from the 28^th of March to the 7^th of April.

2.   Every COP has a CMP since 2005

During the time period of each COP, there is also a meeting of the CMP, a meeting of the Parties of the Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force in 2005. The CMPs are also held at the same place as the COP. The first CMP took place in Montreal. The COP21 in Paris this year is therefore also the CMP11.

3.   Kyoto Protocol?

The first international treaty to combat climate change was the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as The Earth Summit, and took place in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Kyoto Protocol, proposed at the COP3 in 1997, is a continuation of the plans to combat global warming, but was infamously not ratified by the United States. Later Canada revoked the pledges it made in the Kyoto Protocol. It was decided in Durban in 2011 that a new climate treaty should be established at the COP21 in Paris.

4.   COP 2 goals, 1 conference

At the COP21 members try to address two issues. (1) To limit greenhouse gas emissions that are driving the global temperature up by almost 2°C, and (2) to rethink human progress, meaning to rethink how people produce, farm, do business, and consume more ‘climate friendly’.

5.   The critical 2°C

Often in the news you hear about a threshold of 2°C. This is the critical spot that is usually referred to as the amount of warming when the damage of climate change will be too unpredictable or too undesirable. It is also the limit in the rise in the average global temperature that world leaders, such as the members of the COP21, would like to stay under, because it’s a simple, easy-to-understand, and achievable bar.

6.   Life or death battle

For many island states, that were present at the COP21, the issue of climate change is seen as an armageddon. If the projected warming of the planet persists, the sea will rise just enough to flood these nations, and bury them under the ocean as a modern day Atlantis. Climate change is also predicted to most severely affect the European island states like Ireland and the United Kingdom with extreme storms and unpredictable weather.

7.   Achievements

Member states of the COP21 have pledged to keep the rise in global temperature well below 2°C, and pursue efforts to keep it at 1,5°C. The general plan is that emissions of greenhouse gasses should reach their all-time peak soon, and then drop immediately. The equivalent of about 88 billion Euros per year are pledged to help developing nations to set up ‘climate friendly’ industries. Lastly, every five years there will be a review, if all countries are keeping up with their pledges.

8.   Critical reactions

Some voices say that, while this climate deal is progressive, it does not combat climate change well enough, and that many of the pledges that were made are not legally binding.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen

Friday, January 9th. It has been only two days since the atrocious massacre that happened in Paris. On Wednesday morning, the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were assaulted, leaving 12 people dead and many others seriously injured. Among the victims were five cartoonists, which were recognized for their talents and also for being openly acid, irreverent and provocative.

I have known Charlie Hebdo for some years now, and although I’m not French and thus I don’t know well the men behind the cartoons, I felt deeply shocked. First of all because 12 people, 12 human beings, were killed because of their work – drawing cartoons. Secondly, because every second I was reminded of how ridiculous and useless their deaths were. And finally, because different feelings invaded me: fear, anxiety, insecurity, and a profound, deep sadness.

However, the sheer madness continued: on Thursday morning, an armed guy shot a policewoman in southern Paris, and later that day she died because of her injuries. The suspects of the attack to Charlie Hebdo had been identified – and they were thought as linked to a radical Islamist groups, notably Al-Qaeda. Special forces started the manhunt around the country and paranoia started to grow. At the same time, thousands gathered in the main squares of many French cities to pay respect to the victims of the murderous attacks. Today [9 January 2015], around 1pm a new hostage situation took place in Porte de Vincennes, southeast Paris. Another armed guy, allegedly related to the two gunmen responsible of the Charlie Hebdo attack, assaulted a kosher supermarket taking a group of people hostage. At this point in time, sadness and fear were both overwhelming feelings.

Through these lines, I would like to put the finger on what saddens me the most, which is the indiscriminate killing of people, anywhere in the world. And when I say “people”, I don’t put next to it “innocent”, because I want to avoid the Manichean approach of “me” vs. “others”. After reading (and taking part in some of) the debates on social media among my friends that belong to a variety of beliefs, religions and cultures, the only thought that keeps popping out in my mind is that every human being, every human life, is as precious as the others no matter where you are. And this means that yes, the killing of dozens of Yemenis that same day in Sanaa’ is as saddening as the 12 people that were shot in Paris.

Sunday, January 11th. After reading dozens of articles presenting different points of view on what has been happening since the attack at Charlie Hebdo, as well as debating with friends the whats and the whys, all I can think of is: we need to do much more to attain more peaceful and tolerant societies, and aim at justifying less in the name of an ideology or religion.

I strongly believe that the aftermath is as important as what happened today, where 4 million people rallied in France to defend freedom of expression and to mourn all 17 victims of these 5 days of horror. And when I think of the aftermath, there are many ideas that come to my mind. It is sad to see that, in the name of whatever reason, we are capable of losing our humanity. That instead of dialogue, violence is prevailing. What happened in France is as atrocious as what has been happening all around the world, where hundreds of thousands are killed, tortured or imprisoned because of senseless reasons. More than ever, I am convinced that education (and in particular, human rights education) is our only “weapon” to defeat the ignorance, the prejudices, the injustices and ultimately, the violence.