Paris had a trying 2015—there was the shooting at the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices in January, and then the attacks in November. A few weeks later the world gathered for the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference, including Canada’s new prime minister, along with provincial and municipal leaders.
“No, things are not quite back to normal,” a friend confessed to me in a Paris bar on Saturday night midway through the conference. “People are still on edge.”
Security searches your bag as you enter shops on the Champs-Elysées. Everyone in a café jumps a little more than normal when a car backfires. Still, some older men play bocce across from the Batalcan, where 89 people were killed on Nov. 13.
After the terrorist attacks, the Eiffel Tower was dark. During the conference, it lit up each night in green, with words flashing across the steel. A giant tree in the heart of the city. It even had a giant Christmas tree bauble.
The installation, the work of artist Naziha Mestaoui, included the chance to buy a tree for a 10-Euro donation: an image of your tree would flash across the Eiffel Tower, you would be notified and later a tree in your name would be planted in the developing world.
One of the words that flashed across the green-hued Eiffel Tower installation was “healing.” Another was “nations.” Here, in the heart of a great city, was a tree beside the river, proclaiming words from an ancient prophecy, reminding us that we are called to repair the world.
Along with world leaders, who received most of the coverage and made many headline-worthy commitments, nearly 1,000 municipal mayors from around the world also presented their initiatives.
Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson presented Greenest City Action Plan and Renewable City Strategy to Paris. Montreal’s Denis Codere took suggestions from a public consultation. Toronto’s John Tory repeatedly stated that the battle against greenhouse gases begins with cities, and reiterated his mantra for more public transit options.
In an email to me, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie is quick to praise municipal projects, with her chief of staff following up within minutes to boast of even more initiatives, from “a Living Green master plan” to historic transit investments. Mississauga, a city just west of Toronto, has “converted all of our lights to LED to save energy consumption” with “a goal to plant one million trees and expand our urban forest.”
It’s interesting to note how changing light bulbs and tree planting, such simple tasks, remain such an effective contribution to the fight against climate change.
About Jonathan Scott
Jonathan Scott is a member of St. John’s, Bradford, Ont., and was in Paris for the COP21 Conference.