Maybe the Antidote to Cynicism Is Strategy

Is it possible to live in these times and not feel cynical?

I’m tempted to scroll past every email I receive about climate and democracy campaigns, because do letters or petitions even make a difference anymore? 

How am I supposed to read about heatwaves killing thousands in India and then just go about my day? How do I watch bombs fall on Iran and Gaza, then log onto my laptop to write a blog post like this? 

The scale of today's global crises can make any action feel futile. Organizers are burnt out, lost, and circling around the same questions. What can we actually do? And does any of it matter?

Often, when I don’t have the words to make sense of that feeling, I turn to other writers instead. Author and organizer Kelly Hayes never fails to offer clarity. (If you’re not already subscribed to their Substack “Organizing My Thoughts,” get on it!) 

Hayes writes: “We need more people highlighting solutions, practicing care, bracing for impacts together, and naming the openings we might push through ... Not because people are obligated to be cheerful, but because resignation, transmitted as a factual conclusion, becomes an invitation to surrender.” 

That distinction has been sitting with me. I’m not sure I always believe in hope as a political strategy – it can feel tenuous and hollow in the face of such immense global injustices. BUT. I do believe in strategy. I believe in identifying new possibilities; in clear goals and tangible victories.

Which brings me to the recent UN resolution demanding climate accountability. 

USCAN Member Knellee Bisram recently wrote about April’s historic Santa Marta conference, where a coalition of governments came together to advance practical pathways of phasing out coal, oil, and gas.

Just weeks later, on May 20, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) passed a new resolution affirming states’ legal duty to take climate action. The vote passed by an overwhelming margin of 141-8, signaling broad international support for stronger climate governance.

Let’s back up for a moment. In 2025, the world’s highest court – the International Court of Justice – ruled that countries have binding obligations under international law to protect the climate. In other words, climate action is not simply a policy aspiration, but a legal responsibility.

The new UN resolution builds on that momentum. It calls on countries to comply with the legal guidance by taking concrete climate action. Drawing on past “COP” climate agreements, the resolution urges states to implement measures like…

• transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems 

• phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies

• include Indigenous Peoples, local communities, Afro-descendants, women, children and youth, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups in decision-making on climate action

UNGA Resolution: Final Votes (141 In Favor, 8 Against, 28 Abstentions)

UNGA resolutions are not legally binding, but they can help establish political norms and shape future legal frameworks. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for example, began as a UNGA resolution in 1948, and went on to influence generations of human rights law and advocacy.

Unsurprisingly, the United States was one of just eight countries to vote against the resolution, alongside major fossil fuel producers like Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia. But from Santa Marta to the UN, we're seeing evidence of a growing international consensus: the fossil fuel era must end. A just transition means not simply swapping out fossil fuels for solar and wind, but also broadening energy access, strengthening workers’ rights, closing Global North-South resource gaps, and cultivating resilient, regenerative economies. 

This week, countries are again gathering again to discuss international climate action – this time, in Bonn, Germany, at the annual “intersessional” talks. Civil society is demanding concrete implemntation and financial support for the newly-adopted Just Transition Mechanism. Negotiators, meanwhile, will spend hours debating sentences, timelines, and levels of ambition. But the bottom line is this: those who choose to ignore the realities of the volatile fossil fuel market and geopolitical conflict are being left behind in this new world. 

Hope in the abstract isn’t enough for me in this moment. What lights my fire is developments like these: concrete examples of people organizing, like in Santa Marta, and institutions creating new pressure points for action, like at the UN General Assembly. What the climate movement needs now, more than ever, is more clarity and disciplined action.

Resignation may feel like a conclusion, but it is also a choice. Despite everything, people around the world are still choosing to organize, negotiate, build coalitions, and fight for a livable future. That's not a reason to relax – but it's a reason not to surrender.