There are renewed hopes and aspirations associated with every Conference of Parties for Climate Change. But for COP 27, the hopes are pinned on to Loss and Damage more than mitigation or adaptation this year. On the learning curve of Climate Change, one experiences the significance of all focus areas one after the other. Sometimes its mitigation which seems and definitely is crucial for global survival, but then there are adaptation and resilience as well. Finally loss and damage upstages every other field of climate change due to its speed and devastation. But as soon as you focus on one area of climate change and become passionate about it, you feel as if you are leaving behind other important aspects. It becomes increasingly difficult to work exclusively on one field alone without connecting to or impacting some other aspect of it. Advocacy for different fields of climate change is also linked with the Global North and the Global South debate. There has been a divide along mitigation and adaptation prioritization during many global climate negotiations. This divide permeates the political arena as well and appears to be widening the gaps instead of bridging it. The realization, that all of these facets of climate change are equally important and intricately linked to the other, comes much later. It may not entirely require a linear approach but instead urges us to slow down and re-orient ourselves as a global community. It becomes difficult to find common ground with such complex issues and diverse implications in the climate change dialogue and action. But there is one commonality in all of this: the local communities. The common citizens across all the nations who simply want a healthier environment to shape their lives in and a threat free natural environment. Identifying the voice and hopes of these local communities in the COP27 therefore, may have the potential to make any treaty more meaningful and effective. But how do we approach these communities may also be equally important. Do we focus on global emissions hotspots and densely populated centers to begin with? Or do we approach all communities as one with the same approach and tools?
These are the questions I will try to find the answers to in this COP. The answer beyond mitigation, adaptation and loss & damage, for the person who is mourning his submerged house, cattle and crop after the floods in Pakistan, and the one facing displacement and disease in Kenya from successive drought and floods. What and how does the COP27 bring them relief? And how soon is the result visible for these communities. Besides these burning issues, the COPs are an attractive platform and may be unprecedented in bringing together not only national leaders but civil society groups, scientist, private organizations. The diversity of these ideas, experiences and thoughts cannot be valued enough. The in-person connections that this platform provides, reveals insights that remain veiled even with all the knowledge and access to research in the field. As I head to the latest COP in Egypt, I see the national and regional priorities taking precedence over addressing the gravity and enormity of climate change related issues. But hope is still carried through all the leaders and representatives of the global citizens and local communities, to the forum of the UNFCCC. Just before the start of the official COP27 tomorrow, the loss and damage issue appear to be under discussion for inclusion as an official agenda, keeping the hope of many alive.
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