The capstone of my week in Katowice was attending an event with United Nations Secretary General. I was thoroughly impressed by António Guterres. He was candid, humorous, smart, and passionate.

My view of the UNSG from the second row.

It was refreshing to see the Secretary General admit that he had made a mistake. He claimed that he had been unclear about loss and damage and a just transition, because he always spoke about how technology and economics were on our side. However, he did not focus on the human impacts of climate change action. We need more politicians who are willing to admit their mistakes and grow from it. Guterres was eager to talk about how we must address the social dimension of climate change. All economic interventions have winners and losers, and we need to ensure that we take care of the people who lose their jobs. We cannot let the social issues like job loss impede on climate action. We must tackle both problems as one systemic issue by increasing social safety nets, among other policy options. The climate community, including the Secretary General, had neglected this for too long.

It was unfortunate to hear the Secretary General say that we will be probably be disappointed at the end of the conference, but it was nice to hear that he will be too. As I write this, the plenary meeting that was supposed to start at noon has been postponed to 4am because parties cannot agree on negotiating texts. Hopefully the Paris Rulebook will be agreed on by the end of the weekend, although the COP was supposed to end today. More importantly, as the Secretary General addressed, the rulebook is not enough. As the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and High Ambition Coalition announced, they want the COP to also result in an agreement for countries to enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Given the recent IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C, this is the only sensible option. It seemed as if the Secretary General would agree, as he said that the Paris Agreement was not enough and that we need to conclude Katowice with the highest possible ambition. I loved to see the Secretary General not afraid to call out the parties and the COP’s Polish Presidency on their lack of political will. I look forward to following the Secretary General’s Summit on Climate Change next year, and hope that some real action comes from it.

All in all, my experience at COP24 was incredibly inspirational. I learned more than I think I could in a classroom environment, met some amazing people, and had tons of fun. I am leaving Katowice with a strong feeling of hope that if the tens of thousands of people who gathered here all continue to work hard, our planet has a chance.