Former Vice President Al Gore gave an upbeat speech at the Ashden Awards 2017 before the Royal Geographic Society in London Thursday night. The awards are financial prizes given to groups that provide practical assistance to organizations that promote renewable energy, cleaner air and sustainable transportation. So far, those awards have gone to 200 groups serving 80 million people.
Gore told those present that the climate movement is akin to great movements of the past—such as the abolition of slavery—which encountered fierce, long-lasting resistance along the way to ultimate triumph:
When the president of my country was preparing to make his announcement about the Paris Agreement and we didn’t know what it would be, I was very worried that if he pulled the US out of the agreement then other countries, perhaps those not entirely enthusiastic about the Paris Agreement, would use it as an excuse for pulling out themselves. I can tell you that in the aftermath of that decision, there has been no such cascade of other countries — to the contrary. What I have seen and heard is an expression of solidarity, not only in all of the other countries of the world, but also of governors of states and mayors of cities and leaders of businesses in the US.
No one person can stop the climate movement or the sustainability revolution — we are going to win no matter what President Donald Trump says.
The Paris Agreement, I believe, is actually stronger today. I say that with all sincerity and conviction. Since the Paris Agreement was reached, many hundreds of coal plants have been cancelled in China and India and in quite a few other places. [...]
Just as the sustainability revolution should be understood in the context of the technological revolutions that came before it [the agricultural, industrial and digital revolutions], the climate movement should be seen in the context of the great moral causes that have transformed and improved the outlook for humanity.
Gore isn’t the only person to say that Trump’s actions will not derail the climate movement’s efforts to transform the world’s interlinked energy, agricultural and transportation systems. For instance, Elliott Diringer, executive vice president of the nonpartisan Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, said earlier this month: "On the one hand, I don't want to minimize the impact of US withdrawal — it's a big deal. At the same time, there's a risk of overstating it as well because of all the momentum, which is reflected in the fact that you have so many CEOs signing full-page ads and calling into the White House."
The vice president’s message is clearly not one that suggests everyone dedicated to dealing with climate change should relax. On the contrary. By taking note of past clashes between the seemingly unmovable forces of the status quo and those of successful reformers, Gore makes clear victory depends on activists sticking with this struggle whose outcome will affect the lives of billions of people around the planet.