During one of the meetings we had while at the COP we were told that are two types of COPs: big COPs and little COPs. Since Copenhagen in 2011 all the COPs were more like big COPs in that they were focused on reaching a historic new agreement on how to deal with climate change that could be bought into by all countries. These culminated with the Paris Agreement last year; setting COP22 up as the first little COP in 5 years.

Marrakech, being a little COP, does not make it any less important than previous years, but it does mean there likely wouldn’t be a lot to talk about in terms of specific outcomes. The goal in Marrakech was to keep the momentum gained from the Paris Agreement going and to help build off it. That is why COP22 can be considered successful even though it wasn’t built up like previous COPs.

Countries established a strict timeline for getting work done on the implementation of the Paris Agreement by 2018. This timeline is much more ambitious then the pace that the UNFCCC usually works at. It also helps to ensure that the proper rules and guidelines are established early in the process. Countries will be able to take the global stock take and begin to create more ambitious NDCs without a further deal. These smaller milestones that got done during COP22 are things that can be pointed at to demonstrate its success.

It is well accepted that for global temperature increases to remain below 2 degrees Celsius the major GHG emitting countries must significantly increase the ambition of their NDCs. Keeping the international momentum going for increased national action on climate change mitigation is the best way to see the goals of the Paris Agreement met.

Looking back on the COP, after the brief period of shock after the US presidential election, there was a feeling of optimism that meaningful change was occurring. Attending the various side events and hearing countries official statements it was clear that the majority understand the pressing nature of the problem. The mood surrounding the end of the COP felt like there was a plan developing with clear momentum moving in the right direction despite what might happen at the US federal level domestically.