East Side Gallery, Berlin
I am writing this as I head to Katowice on hour 8 of my train journey from Berlin. It has been as beautiful and adventurous as it sounds. As I await my arrival in Katowice, I have begun developing a schedule of events that I would like to attend during my first day at COP 24. COP events are of two types: official meetings, which can either be closed or open, and side events, which are open to everyone to attend. The events this year are split into three different categories: (1) enhancing ambition, (2) promoting implementation, and (3) providing support. Throughout the UNFCCC Practicum coursework, I have focused on Gender in the Negotiations. At COP23 in Bonn, the UNFCCC established the Gender Action Plan, which identifies steps to increase women’s participation, promote gender-responsive climate policy, and mainstream a gender perspective in the Convention. I am particularly interested in the steps Parties have taken to work towards this Plan either by strategizing or taking action on any of the goals. Therefore, I plan to attend meetings and side events that speak to the role of gender in advancing climate change goals. I am also lucky to work with FAWCO, the Federation of American Women’s Club Overseas, who is a member of the Women and Gender Constituency.
As I was creating a schedule, I have found that there are many events of interest that are happening concurrently. Not only am I interested in gender equity, but I am also interested in learning about bringing marginalized voices to the arena of the Negotiations, the steps businesses and corporations are taking to address climate change, how countries with fossil-fuel intensive economies participate in the Negotiations, and the underlying power dynamics that influence the Negotiations. Therefore, there are a multitude of events I would like to attend, but must prioritize according to FAWCO’s interests and my personal and professional goals.
Stepping back a bit, I’d like to talk about the importance of COP24 and how it differs from other COPs. The COP President sets the tone and goals of the COP. This year, Michał Kurtyka, has set the focus on three main themes: (1) Technology, (2) Human, and (3) Nature. On the Human theme, Kurtyka, plans to emphasize the need to lead change together with people through solidarity and fair transformation of regions and industrial sectors. He envisions a transformation that will help to protect the climate while maintaining economic development and jobs. He believes development should be economically, socially, environmentally and climatically responsible and places emphasis on modernization, technological change, and the implementation of innovations for efficient resource use. This is an interesting theme because Poland is coal-dependent. When I first heard the term, “Human”, I thought about environmental justice and finding climate solutions that protect people first. However, this wording indicates that protecting people means protecting the economy, or further, protecting coal-dependent economies, which have a lot to risk if the world continues to move towards a low-carbon global economy. Protecting the climate, people, and economy are, many times, at odds of one another, so it is interesting to see the COP24 President grouping the protection of the economy and people. I am interested to see how this plays out with the United States backing coal and Saudi Arabia and OPEC seeking to protect fossil-fuel industries.
This COP is also very important because the goal is to adopt a decision ensuring full implementation of the Paris Agreement. This really means increasing the ambition of individual country goals to protect the climate. The COP will also perform a Global Stock-take to take stock of the collective efforts of Parties in relation to progress towards the long-term goal. This Stock-take is to happen in “Talanoa” form, which is a traditional word used in Fiji and across the Pacific to reflect a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue. The purpose of the stock-take is not to shame countries, but instead to build mutual respect and trust and advance knowledge through empathy and understanding. With events like “Fossil of the Day,” which publicly calls out the worst actor of the Negotiations in a humorous fashion, I am eager to see how the Talanoa Dialogue proceeds and the actions that Parties are taking to meet the Paris Agreement temperature goal.
