A packed crowd spilled out the doors of Antioch’s Community Hall and into the lobby, eager to learn more about the historic Paris Climate Conference.

Ethan Stewart, Editor-at-Large at The Independent, spoke to a standing room only public forum of his experience reporting on the recent United Nationsʼ Conference on Climate Change (COP21), aka The Paris Climate Conference aka The Paris Agreement.

Stewart explained the goal of COP21 was to achieve a universal agreement – one that would be legally binding – on action to address climate change, with the goal of minimizing global warming below 2 degrees Celsius worldwide. And while global consensus was ultimately reached for the first time in more than 20 years – none of it is legally binding. Ethan Stewart reminded the packed hall that legally binding agreements could prove to be tricky if many members of congress and senate do not even acknowledge that climate change is actually a real thing.

Stewart highlighted Laurent Fabius, France’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of COP21, efforts to obtain this historic agreement which was finalized December 2015. He reported that Fabius worked with world leaders around the clock ensuring the cooperation of all its global members.

Stewart’s talk, hosted by the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network, was followed by a panel discussion by community members.