Dieynabou Barry
Today, I attended events that focused more on local and marginalized perspectives. I started the day at the plenary session of the Talanoa Dialogue. COP23 president, Frank Bainimarama, hosted a Talanoa story-telling panel, which featured the voices not only of Party officials, but amplified those of non-Party actors such as an indigenous woman from Chad and a female representative of civil society from Iceland. The panel was meant to set the tone for the all-day Talanoa Dialogue, in which Parties would share their progress and efforts in working towards the Paris Agreement temperature goal. The woman from Chad spoke of the importance of involving indigenous and local people in climate change policy, technology, and innovation efforts because they hold knowledge that many people do not have because they do not have as strong relationships to nature. The representative from Iceland shed insight into how Iceland was able to transition to 100 percent renewable energy and simultaneously boost the economy and improve livelihoods. The shift was led by the local farmers and entrepreneurs. The opening event of the day set the tone for the rest of my day as I attended multiple events on the inclusion of women and gender in multiple aspects of climate policy, bringing the local and indigenous knowledge to the center of climate discussions, and discussing the issue of climate-induced migration at the Negotiations.
Emily Millar
Today we arrived at the COP as seasoned veterans, and by that I mean we knew where the bathrooms and coat check were located. I started my day by assisting the Climate Analytics team with their Climate Action Tracker press conference. It was great to interact with the press and see the genuine interest in a tool we have found incredibly useful for measuring the climate policy efforts of countries around the world. After working on this, I attended the Elaborating and Implementing Article 6 of the Paris Agreement side event which featured an economist, a lawyer, a member of the private sector, and a member of the Chile delegation. It was really interesting to first listen to the technical discussion of different mechanisms that could be used to implement Article 6.2 and then hear the opinions on the feasibility of those mechanisms from the Chile delegation. When I left this event, I moved on to the second part of the High-Level Segment where most countries highlighted the IPCC 1.5 degree special report and the need for significant action now. Aside from all the exciting events happening, we also got to experience Katowice snow!
Molly Bruce
While at COP24, I’ve been working with a think tank: International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). Though the organization has offices all over the world, it is headquartered out of Canada. IISD is primarily interested in promoting renewable energy transition by utilizing certain economic tools. As such, the organization has dedicated much of its energy at the COP to follow Canada’s energy sector actions.
I’ve attended two press conferences with IISD, one on the country’s coal and fossil fuel industries, the other on its involvement with Friend’s Network which works to eliminate the country’s fossil fuel subsidies in favor of more equitable and environmentally-sound subsidy programs. In both press conferences, the speakers were fairly critical of Canada’s oil policies. Namely, the speakers admitted that Canada’s Trans-Mountain Pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia could present catastrophic environmental risks if any sort of failure occurs. The speakers also condemned what they defined as Canada’s over-extraction of oil and coal, arguing that the country would be better-served to invest in renewables because the long-term viability of coal and oil is bleak; by leaning so much of its economy on these two sectors, the crutch will eventually crumble.
However, I also independently attended an evening Global Climate Action Awards session that celebrated different projects countries have taken to promote climate change action. At the event, Canada was given an award for its carbon neutrality government program. Specifically, British Columbia was the first North American sub-national government to take 100% responsibility for its greenhouse gas pollution.
In lieu of these two windows into Canadian climate action, it’s interesting to see how different actors view the same country’s actions on climate change. This instance of differing impressions of one country’s actions implicates broader conversations about climate action progression being in the eye of the beholder.
Aashna Aggarwal
It’s Gender Day at the COP and high energies talking about the importance of acting on the Gender Action Plan. Got the chance to hear the queen of climate change, Patricia Espinosa (Executive Secretary, UNFCCC) speak about women and climate change. Enjoy my gallery of quotes from today by some extraordinary minds in the field!
Rosanne Lam
Second day at the COP! At the Talanoa Dialogue, a platform created by Fiji the previous COP’s presidency to increase inclusivity and trust between parties through storytelling, Iceland inspired the entire plenary with its successful transition to 100% renewables (combination of geothermal and hydropower) in its energy sector telling an incredible tale of the feasibility of decarbonizing the energy sector. Also at the Talanoa Dialogue, a wonderful speaker (pictured) emphasized the need for gender inclusivity and called for the necessity of equity in climate action. Appropriately scheduled, the Talanoa Dialogue broke off into small closed ministerial meetings, after the plenary discussion, and was a great and inspiring morning kickoff event to Gender Day at COP24.
Jacob Glasser
Today was another whirlwind of a day in Katowice. I enjoyed an event on climate finance at the World Wildlife Fund Pavilion, where I was inspired by the good that can be done if finance is aligned with climate ambition. Philip Owen, from the European Commission’s Environment Programme, delivered good news that the EU has increased investor confidence by meeting 2020 climate targets, passing legislation to implement the Paris Agreement, and by publishing a 2050 vision. I would love to see the US take similar action that would induce further investment in renewables. You can’t leave a climate finance event without having heard about the billions—even trillions—of dollars that the US is losing out on by not investing in green energy. Today in a discussion with someone opposed to financing renewables I said, “Would you invest in a business that is guaranteed to go under one day instead of the business that is guaranteed to take its place?” My key takeaway from the day is that it’s important to frame arguments with people in a way that matters to them. If I just talked about the IPCC Special Report with this person, I would have gotten nowhere.
Youngwoo Kim
Setting climate goals is easy. Paying for them is not.
In my second day of COP 24, I explored the relationship between climate finance and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). In the event “Financing the NDCs in Asia and the Pacific”, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) emphasized the importance of financial support to developing countries related to NDCs. This support can help developing countries meet their NDC goals and build capacity to manage it comprehensively.
A panelist from NDC Partnership said there are challenges in terms of convergence when developing countries manage the target of NDCs. First, a country’s path of macroeconomic growth is not always in line with a path to meet target of mitigation. Second, in many countries, there is lack of integrated approach in terms of planning and costing. For example, the Ministry of Finance of a country doesn’t usually have the same kind of care about environment issue in the planning stage as the Ministry of Environment. Also, in most countries, there is no consensus for costing to reduce emissions in the society. So, the panelist argued that country-level legal frameworks should be reformulated including voices of people and civil society organizations (CSOs), including environmental groups. Furthermore, leveraging private sources with public fund, the government should communicate in understandable language with private company for bankable projects.
