Without the intention to even scratch the surface of countries’ external and internal agendas for attending COP, I’ll share my reflections and impressions within the very limited time I was exposed to COP.

Currently, there are 198 Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. That includes all 193 UN members, two eligible non-member states (the Cook Islands and Niue), Holly See (Vatican), the State of Palestine, and the European Union. When I listened to some of the opening statements by heads of delegations, heads of state, or their representatives, two countries called for the inclusion of Taiwan (Tuvalu and Eswatini). Notably, some other may have also called but I’ve heard only some twenty five opening statements. With an overarching theme of tackling climate change, each country also has its personal agenda directly linked to climate or having nothing to do with it.

The USA, despite the election results, is leading the way on many fronts. Primarily due to being the largest economy and housing the world’s most influential companies, timing one little switch in packaging, fuel type, or operation procedures can have more impact than getting a small country to net zero. As we learned from one of the generous US briefings, this year’s COP isn’t relaxed and surely not ‘laid back.’ The atmosphere is far from: ‘It doesn’t matter as the leadership will change within a few months.’ On the contrary, the delegates are all hands on deck to get done as much as possible.

As to the country where I was born, Ukraine is approaching 1000 days after the full-scale russian invasion, and the climate agenda is tightly linked with the agenda of peace and the country’s very existence. War, amidst human lives, takes a heavy toll on nature. Ukraine has the most landfill-mined content in the world, with 7% of arable agricultural land being unused as it lies along the frontlines. On the technical side, who is responsible for the carbon emission of the flight from Beijing to Warsaw or Stockholm that now has to travel extra miles due to the ongoing russian aggression? The answer is the same as the climate justice answer: polluters pay, or in other words aggressor pays. Despite the war, Ukraine not only had a pavilion for the third time but also announced its long-term low carbon emissions strategy until 2050.

Overall, more than 65,000 delegates had registered to attend the conference. This makes this year’s COP second in size after the last year in Dubai and bigger compared to notable COPs such as Copenhagen in 2009 and Paris in 2015. The goals for countries to be a part of COP are multidimensional, and only a few veterans of international negotiation have the experience to give an approximate estimate of a country’s goal, especially the most impactful players. With the class, we were lucky enough to meet one of these veterans, Stephen Hammer, the CEO of New York Climate Exchange and ex-negotiator, who, while we spoke for over an hour in the middle of the COP corridors, pointed to a half dozen of people summarizing their negotiation achievements.

To conclude, the COP is sizeable with countless events and agendas, yet when one focuses on either getting a brief understanding of everything or going deeper into one topic, things become easier. Check other blogs for more!