The Climate Deal in Paris was all hype, all marketing, and no real action. The negotiations were controlled by the same companies and countries that caused the climate crisis, not the countries and people who are suffering from it. As usual, the police were used to silence the voices of dissent or disagreement.
Except on the streets outside the convention halls, there was no mention of the fundamental changes that are required to the globalized economic system. There was also no talk about the sacrifices (at least they are sacrifices in our current way of thinking) that must be made, for example the fact that we need a lot less cars and a lot less cows. There was no specific agreement to immediate and severe reductions in fossil fuel use, vs. the abstraction of carbon emissions, by businesses and consumers. Can we even imagine an end to the advertising and purchasing of unnecessary vacation flights and cruises to faraway places?
We need products that last, much less packaging and plastic waste, and much more reuse. Many people put too much faith in salvation through alternative energy. We cannot overlook all of the other devastating environmental impacts we are facing, such as those caused by mining, which is required for solar, wind and other alternative energy technologies. Alternative energy can be part of the solution, but fundamentally we need to use much less energy, not just a different type of energy. The solution must be decentralized and localized, the exact opposite of what the rich transnational corporations want. The world must recognize that there is no longer a place for these corporations (if in fact they ever really deserved their influence in the world). The majority of businesses that remain must serve and be committed to a specific place, a local community or region.
However, the corporate-controlled media will not give this necessity of economic localization any credibility. Many in the middle class will also resist this alternative because they work for large corporations or have their retirement funds invested in them.