Author: Emily Pechar (Page 1 of 2)

We’ve wrapped up our penultimate day at the COP for the Week 1 crew, and it was a packed one. The day started out in the Green Zone, which is the zone next to the accredited zone that is (more or less) open to the public. I barely got to explore it, but it’s huge and there are tons of art exhibits, companies displaying their sustainability accomplishments, and several talks open to the public. One of those was given by a Duke PhD alum, Kyle Van Houtan, who is now the director of science at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. The event mixed a focus on the impacts of climate change on oceans with the role of faith-based communities, which was an insightful combination.

Right after that, we had a sit-down meeting with Nathan Hultman, Associate Professor at University of Maryland, a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and formerly of the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality. This was an incredible and nourishing conversation about the outlook for climate change policy in the US after this week’s election outcome. While so many of the facts are sobering, Nate gave us a few reasons to look for a silver lining (most of those reasons have to do with the fact that Trump doesn’t actually seem that motivated to do much on climate change, or potentially that his innate desire to “win” at everything could help spur us into a “renewable energy technology arms race” with China). It’s far too early to be able to make any conclusions, but it was helpful to hear an insider’s perspective.

We split up the rest of the day to follow the remaining negotiating sessions for our particular issues. I met again with Kyle Van Houtan and then the delegation from the University of Michigan before ending the day at the APA Contact Meeting, where the APA co-chairs presented for the first time the “Draft conclusion” for Parties to react to. It seems that more consultations are needed, particularly on the issue of the Global Stocktake, but Parties seem ready to finish the conclusions by the closing of the APA on Monday evening. Conversations are set to continue in Bonn in May, with a number of technical workshops and papers being convened in the meantime to better inform Parties about the options (great call to action for other RINGO researchers!)

For dinner, I finally got to try the food stalls in the Jemaa el Fna square. This is the center of Morocco, and is the busiest and most active square I’ve every seen. There are tons of food stalls with amazing food for very cheap (you just have to be careful to go to the right one!). I got most of the food below for the equivalent of about $6 — great end to the day!

Tanya: This morning, we started the day by attending a side event organised by a Duke alum on the value of oceans, where the conversation was framed in the intersection of faith and science, and the panel pointed out examples of religious leaders championing the cause of climate change and the impact this could have within their community. We followed this up with an informal conversation with Nate Hultman from UMD’s Centre for Global Sustainability which focused on the potential impacts of a Trump administration – more in a blog post on this later!

This afternoon, I attended a second “semi-closed” meeting of the AOSIS Mitigation team, where they had made little progress on deciding upon essential features of NDCs. I spent the early evening figuring out a food vendor for my client’s events tomorrow morning, before attending a side event on NAPs and community engagement which highlighted joint principles of adaptation put together by Southern Voices, and how these translate in Kenyan, Sri Lankan and Nicaraguan contexts.

Megan: Today started off attending a panel titled ‘The Consequences of Climate Change to the Ocean and the Implications of Human Abuse’ featuring Duke alum, Kyle Van Houtan. It was inspiring to see someone going on to do great things with their Duke degree and to think that maybe one day some of us will be here presenting our important climate work and meeting with future students. I’ve found that several of the side events so far are not necessarily what their title implies, and it was interesting and unexpected that his event featured the role of religion in environmental protection. After the panel I chatted with Kyle for a bit and then with rest of the panel for quite a while as all their work and presentations were so different that any angle I have heard on climate here so far (and seemed potentially questionable). They were all extremely fascinating and one put me on to further events to attend later in the year in Raleigh. After this I took the afternoon a little bit slow and did some work on a paper for my client before attending an event on avoiding irreversible polar threshold, which was largely not about the poles but still interesting.

Jade: My last day at the COP was, again, busy but full of insight and thought-provoking conversations (although not altogether positive in nature). Members of the RINGO constituency met with Nate Hultman, who gave great insider insight on what a Trump presidency could mean for the U.S and the world. Although not exactly uplifting, I left the conversation feeling just a bit more reassured than I had been before. I spent the rest of my day in informal agriculture negotiations (pictured). To be able to be in the room, watching the process of actual draft text being negotiated by parties, was simultaneously fascinating and frustrating. In the final consultation with SBSTA, no substantive agreement was reached at all and the text they were working on was subsequently thrown out (a couple parties objected to its status as an annexed non-paper). This was truly a frustrating result and difficult for me, as a first COP-goer, to understand. I hope to see track this in future negotiations (the closest being SBSTA workshop 46 in Bonn) and see more progress (or at least potential for progress).

Delfina: My day started at side event where Kyle Van Houtan was a panelist.  They addressed topics on the consequences of climate change and human abuse on ocean ecosystems.   It was a very interesting talk as I got to listen to the effects of climate change from a religious perspective.

After I attended a press briefing hosted by the Climate Action Network.  There, Mr. Singh, Global Lead on Climate Change, ActionAid International gave updates on the discussion around Loss and Damage and the Warsaw International Mechanism for Review and Adaptation.

After I headed to the AILAC pavilion where I spend most of the afternoon speaking and interviewing multiple negotiators and persons of interest.  Some of the interviews and press releases I have collaborated with can be found at www.conexioncop.com

My time in the AILAC office was followed by a side event on business planes, NDCs and transforming the power paradigm.  It was a great experience to listen to such a great panel: representatives from Philips Lighting, Business Council for Sustainable Energy, WRI, amongst other.

Close to the end of the day, I attended the meeting where they discussed the APA general conclusions of article 3-8. I ended my evening with a very pleasant and insightful talk with Rosa Morales, head of the climate division and head negotiator for the Peruvian delegation.

Today started with an excellent meeting with Brian Flannery of Resources for the Future (RFF). After spending most of his career as a scientist at Exxon, he now works to lobby for more business presence and involvement in the UNFCCC negotiations. We learned a lot about the business perspective on the negotiations, and how implementation of NDCs could be improved if businesses were part of the commitment development process.

The afternoon consisted mostly of a series of briefings for observer organizations by both the APA co-chairs and the COP President. There was significant pushback on the APA about closing the sessions to all but 2 observer delegates from each constituency, but the co-chairs seemed unwilling to budge on that detail. We also heard messages from the COP president about Morocco’s dedication to energy efficiency, which can be seen through the solar panels that have been installed on many of the mosques around town. We also got to skype with the rest of the class in Durham, who will be arriving in just a few days.

Tanya: The day started off with a meeting with my client IUCN to help them organize logistics for their side event this evening, and coordinating with food vendors to work out the details. I then attended two events on finance – the COP contact groups on the GEF and GCF which briefed the COP on the state of climate finance today. This was followed up with unexpected access to APA consultations on “further matters relating to the implementation of the Paris agreement”.

This was the first time I was able to observe closed proceedings, and the divide between the stances of the US, EU and Australia on the one hand and developing countries representatives couldn’t have been more clear. The issue focused on access to funding under the Adaptation Fund set up in 2001 under Kyoto, and whether those states that are signatories to Paris but not Kyoto would necessarily be excluded. Northern representatives made the important point that the Adaptation Fund mechanism could not be substituted wholesale (from Kyoto to Paris) and that further discussion would be required on the issue, while developing countries reiterated their position that this was a procedural/legal wrinkle that didn’t need much further study since the modalities had been brought up multiple times (even if in different contexts).

After being turned away from a closed APA meeting in the afternoon, I returned to the green zone to view their innovations’ exhibits –  the green cars and planes were very cool! I also attended an Adaptation Committee and LEG committee side event on the progress made so far on the Paris mandate. We rounded out the evening by attending the co-chairs and COP president’s briefings to observers on progress made so far, before I got into the thick of helping IUCN set up for their evening event on ecosystem based approaches to adaptation!

Jade: It’s hard to believe only Thursday and that it’s already Thursday. Today was another long but engaging and diverse day – kicking off with a fascinating meeting with Brian Flannery, who shared a big business perspective of the negotiations. He emphasized the necessity of a defined channel for the business sector to give input to the negotiations. My client coalition met to discuss ongoing work on agriculture, with informal consultations occurring throughout the day. Later, I attended some observer briefings to get a big picture overview of what was going on in the negotiations. Perhaps my favorite part of the day was getting a chance to tour the country pavilions – great way to see how countries portray their “personalities” with their pavilions.

Megan: Already day 4! The morning started off with attending the Climate Analytics daily briefing. Most of their people have been inside the APA and CMA meetings that I cannot get into, so it is interesting to hear what is happening there and what they are taking from it. Following this, we had a lovely meeting with Brian Flannery, former Science, Strategy and Programs Manager at Exxon Mobil and now collaborator with Resources for the Future. Having no business background myself and seeing very little of it in events here, it was great to be exposed to that perspective. Most of my afternoon was spent in various side events related to human mobility, cultural heritage and climate change. Studying oceans and being very aware that people from small island developing states and coastal areas are being displaced by rising sea levels, storm surges, salt water intrusion, flooding, etc., it was a surprise to learn that one of the largest groups of people displaced by climate change are actually farmers. Next, I headed over to the Nordic Pavilion for a press conference with WWF on banning heavy fuel oil in the Arctic, where I met Lars-Otto Reiersen, executive secretary of AMAP (one of the six working groups if the Arctic Council), which was really awesome even though our chat was brief. He is the first Arctic focused person I have met at COP 22. On the way over to skype with class I ran into this strange but joyous shark at the Malaysia both (insert pic)and caught the sun setting over the tents with the Jurassic Park theme playing in the background, so a quirky end to the day.

Delfina: This morning we met with Brian Flannery from RFF.  After the meeting, I spend half the day in the AILAC office, where I got to interview negotiators from Paraguay, Guatemala and Costa Rica.  Additionally, I got the chance to speak with Guatemala’s Vice Minister of Resource Management and Climate Change for an extended period of time.   The interview mainly focused on the main challenges that Guatemala faces in terms of climate change and how they plan to interfere in this COP in order to counter these effects.

Fernando Coronado Castillo, Vice Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change for Guatemala

After, I attended the SBA meeting for a while and then met with a member of the Peruvian delegation where we spoke about the future of Peru’s NDCs, the ambition of the commitment and its future development and influence in Peru’s economy, governance and policy environment.

We’re a bit delayed on this update, but yesterday was nowhere near normal at the COP or at home, so I’m sure you can understand & forgive.

We woke up in the Riad to the news of the outcome of  the US election, quite shocked (as I’m sure many of you were at home). Without getting political, this outcome has severe impacts on the United States’ climate change policy going forward, and the shockwaves reverberated throughout the COP. The tone was somber, with the YOUNGOs leading a moving demonstration emphasizing how the shift in focus for climate change advocates must now move to the people. It’s still very unclear what the long-term impacts of this will be for the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. Negotiations continued yesterday as did the various side events planned. I was shocked at how little anyone mentioned the election in official events and negotiations, but it absolutely dominated every informal conversation. In the negotiations themselves, the US took a step back, making a short statement about their desire for a strong effort and agreement over the next two weeks but otherwise keeping quiet the rest of the day. We have heard that the US negotiators are on lockdown as well, not able to speak to anyone outside of the delegation or go anywhere besides the COP and their hotel rooms until an official position can be formed (bad news for the various meetings with US delegates I had planned for this week!).

On the brighter side, a strong sense of community seems to be forming here at the COP. Everyone is very supportive, concerned, but resilient. Three of us were able to join a group of over 60 other students and faculty from universities around the world at a get-together of Young RINGOs (Research and Independent NGOs) hosted by Vermont Law School and Washington University at their Riad (Moroccan apartment) last night. It was a wonderful chance to get to know all the other students here at the COP doing similar work that we are doing. We were also able to bolster each other up and be reminded that no matter what happens in Washington, there are still so many motivated and brilliant young people dedicated to making sure climate change never falls off the agenda.

Below are our student updates for Day 3 – despite the setbacks, we are still doing incredible things!

YOUNGOs lead a demonstration motivating the work that needs to shift to sub-national, private and individual levels

Delfina: My day started at the BINGO (Business and Industry NGOs) meeting where the updates on business and COP negations of day 2 were addressed.  Following that, I spend the rest of the morning with some representatives of COICA, the Peruvian organization that represents indigenous communities in the Amazon Basin.  I performed multiple interviews, which where later derived to my client.

After mid day, I attended a side event in the EU pavilion that talked about Global Supply chain transparency and how to harness the power of data for deforestation free economy.  The conversation mainly talked about unlocking supply chain data to reduce deforestation through a new online platform under the TRASE Initiative which will be publicly launched this Friday.

I also attended a very interesting side event in the Brazil pavilion that touched on ways to engage the corporate and financial sector into quantifying ecosystem services into their business strategy.  It was a great presentation and I look forward to some more side events they will be hosting on similar topics. I ended my day at the AILAC office where I performed some more interviews to LatAm negotiators as well as helping to plan a small media conference panel that will be held tomorrow with some Latin negotiators and their take on the first couple of days of at the COP.

Jade: Today started out on a shocking and disheartening note for me, as I’m sure it did for many. However, business as (more or less) usual continued at the COP and we all pushed on with our days. Today was Farmer’s Day – a key day for my focus area of agriculture. I attended many side events dealing with different facets of agriculture – ranging from large scale commercial agriculture to indigenous and smallholder agriculture. It’s eye-opening to see the diversity of issues within this topic and perhaps easier to see why work on agriculture has been so difficult in these negotiations. I found the events on indigenous peoples to be particularly thought-provoking. The idea of private sector involvement was rejected in these events and smallholder action and conservation was celebrated.

Megan: 

Today we woke up to the tragic results of yesterday’s election and the knowledge that we would now have to literally go face the world as a members of a country that feels it’s ok to promote misogyny and racism, to mock the disabled, to spread intolerance and most relevantly here, to move backwards on so many issues, including climate change. As Trump has announced during the election his plans to “cancel the Paris climate agreement and stop all payments of US tax dollars to UN global warming programs”, there is serious concern for what that means for COP and climate negotiations going forward.

 Nevertheless, the world keeps going and, although there is a sense of shock here, so does the COP. I started off the morning with the RINGO meeting to get some updates on yesterday’s major meetings. Next caught a bit of an event on changing oceans and seas put on by the EU before heading off to the daily update meeting with Climate Analytics. Most of the team is from Germany or Africa, but there was also a member of the Seychelles delegation present today. They all continued to hold on to optimism about the outcomes of the Paris Agreement despite this new turn of events which was encouraging to hear, particularly after attending yesterday’s talk on equity which confirmed that international agreements with fair effort sharing are more likely to be agreed upon and successfully implemented.

 In the afternoon, I attended an event on sustainable development goal 14, related to oceans and science based solutions for adaptation and mitigation in the oceans. As is emerging as a theme in all of the oceans meetings I have attended, there is a push to include oceans directly in the UNFCCC as they are only specifically addressed by certain countries, often the most vulnerable, and a bit neglected by annex 1 states.  Following this, I made my way over to the Green Zone for the first time to check it out. Endlessly during this week, I have wished that I would have kept up with my French better and never more so than in the Green Zone where communication and events occur primarily in that language. Despite not understanding everything, it was enjoyable to walk around seeing all the booths, and I even found an art exhibit which I spent some time exploring. Heading over to young RINGO event soon to cap off another busy day here in Marrakech.

Tanya: 

Today was a difficult day. After waking to the news of President-elect Trump, I found the COP venue and participants a little less invigorated than the previous couple of days – maybe it was just me! Through the first half, we found ourselves breaking into smaller groups to discuss the results – with fellow students from the states, Prof. Tracy Bach from Vermont Law, even joining an impromptu circle started by indigenous org activists calling for solidarity – and wondered what the results would mean for climate change, in as much shock as everyone back in America.

In the afternoon, I attended one of the first AOSIS consultations open to observers on mitigation, where they discussed the features of NDCs and what they considered essential to these submissions. I followed this up with meeting with my client (IUCN) and discussing the work plan for three events, planned on Thursday and Saturday this week. I then attended a side event on how water resources and cultural heritage tie together, and the importance of bringing youth on board to protect and conserve our natural and cultural heritage. We rounded out the day by heading to the Young RINGOs informal breakout at our host’s nearby riad, where we met students, researchers and faculty attending COP this year, and learned about their specific areas of interest within climate change.

Today was a bit slower on the negotiations front, since both the APA and the COP are in informal consultations with the chairs, and attendance is limited for observer organizations. Looking forward to seeing the Earth Negotiations Bulletin updates from inside the closed meetings! (If you’re not familiar with the ENB, it is by far my favorite way to track the negotiations, as they have reporters that gain access to the closed meetings and write up daily briefings published each morning about the day before).

We were able to make the most of some interesting side events to dive deeper into some of the issues today. I attended one of particular interest on the outlook for the new market mechanism for the Paris Agreement – the Sustainable Development Mechanism. With the troubles we have had with the CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) under the Kyoto Protocol, it looks like the board of the SDM has their work cut out for them! Read on for our updates from the day:

Delfina: 

Today was a busy day. It started at 10am in a side event on the challenges and prospects of indigenous people in accessing funds from the GCF. This was a great discussion and I was particularly proud and engaged by one of the panelists, Tarcila Rivera, a major Peruvian indigenous and human rights activist from Peru. Her intervention was on the importance of enhancing traditional knowledge systems for indigenous communities.

Following the panel, I got the chance to interview Pascal Girot, spokesperson from the AILAC Bloc. The interview touched on topics such as AILACs main negotiating topics as well as challenges the Bloc will face through out the COP. It was a great experience.

Following the interview with Mr. Girot, in the afternoon, I attended a very compelling panel on Peru’s NDCs and indigenous alternatives about Megadrivers, Redd+, MRV, Zero Net deforestation. Additionally, I participated in a side event lead by Former Peruvian Minister of the Environment, COP20 President and now current leader of the WWF Global Climate and Energy Practice. The Panel included high- level representatives of Sweden Ministry of the Environment as well as Supply Chain Director of the Carbon Disclosure Project. The panel gave insight details and proposition on the role of non-state actors in enhancing near-term ambition and promoting the implementation of the Paris Agreement. My day ended with an informative talk by Mr. Lorenzo Gavilli from the UN on sustainable industrialization and international transport under SDG9.

Jade: The second day of the COP was equally exciting and chaotic. I attended an informal consultation on agriculture issues during which countries and negotiations blocs presented their varying positions on ag. issues. It was fascinating to hear country delegates speak after reading so many written submissions from these countries. It was especially great to hear a representative from the US delegation intervene with comments that I had part in through providing background for with my client.  I went to various side events and talked with speakers and fellow participants. I met a man who was an indigenous representative from Morocco. After we chatted, he kindly gave me a bracelet with the flag of the indigenous peoples of Morocco.

Megan: COP Day 2 was bit slow in terms of things happening. My first two engagements of the day, a meeting with my client and a promising event on global stock take, fell through, so my day really got rolling with an event at the US pavilion on Ocean Circulation and Climate. Even for someone studying marine resource management, it was very educational (not to mention that the US pavilion is super cool since NASA has decorated with moving world maps of all sorts looping through in the background). Next, I attended another ocean themed event focused on the role of marine ecosystem in nationally determined contributions before meeting up with Emily and a student delegation from Mexico interested in energy. It was great to meet other students and hear about their engagement at the conference and in these pressing climate issues that truly are global. Finally, I will be rounding the day out with a talk on the role of non-state actors and then another on equity, differentiation and ambition post-Paris.

Tanya:

Seeing as I spent all my time in the blue (official) zone yesterday, I decided to explore the green zone of the COP this morning. Funnily, without the blue zone’s “translator headphones” I could not completely follow the event I attended which was titled “Water and climate in the French island territories”! So instead, I made my way through the Adaptation of African Agriculture initiative’s exhibition, also in the green zone. I particularly enjoyed how they used interactive technology to engage their audience, and bring problems, challenges and solutions to light – from holographic beneficiaries who talked to you about how AAA is helping them, and an interactive display room with all the information needed on issues relating to adaptation in agriculture, on soil, water, risk, financing, to hearing from government officials and researchers across the globe, via pre-recorded video, who have pledged their time, knowledge and energies to the initiative.

I spent the afternoon attending the Forest Day’s showcase event, where there were panels of government and regional leaders, researchers and scientists and civil society, including representatives of the indigenous peoples. The panels discussed the progress made on forests, how to engage public and private sectors, and how to unlock further financing.

In the early evening, I attended two events relating to adaptation – the first was on how to move forward with providing the most vulnerable communities access to climate risk insurance, and the second on the least developed countries expert group (LEG) work on supporting the LDCs on adaptation. At the first, several foundational pro-poor principles were discussed, and the difficult issues of affordability of premiums for vulnerable island states was raised (if not resolved). Several examples of success were provided – farmers’ insurance in Tanzania, and disaster/livelihoods insurance in St. Lucia, and I took these photos of the slides in question so I can follow up and learn a little more about how these policies work!

Finally, a provocative question without any real answers, rounded out the discussion on adaptation – how does a needs-based approach to climate insurance take into account  those “needs” that cannot be quantified such as social cohesion and identity?

Today marked the opening of COP-22 in Marrakech, the start of the “Implementation COP”. Things got rolling (delayed by an hour, in true UNFCCC form) with the COP opening plenary, featuring welcome statements from COP leadership including the COP 21 President, COP 22 President, and mayor of Marrakech, among others. There was a bit of a hold-up when Turkey, with the support of France and others, wanted to add an agenda item to the COP to allow discussion of its ability to receive climate finance (currently, Turkey is listed as a “developed” country, and the Paris Agreement states that climate finance is meant to support developing countries). The session was paused to allow for the COP President to confer with the related parties, and eventually Turkey was promised further consultations and the agenda was approved.

The first APA meeting was also held today, which is a continuation of the negotiating meetings that led to the Paris Agreement last December. During the APA plenary we heard updates from each negotiating block hinting at their priorities for the rest of the APA negotiations this week. The APA is tasked with specifying the “Paris Agreement Rulebook” which will clarify the specific details of how the Paris Agreement will move forward. Specifically, the APA is tasked with determining the form of future NDCs (country mitigation commitments), Adaptation Communications, the Compliance Mechanisms, a Transparency Framework, and specifying the details of the Global Stocktake. There was a strong sentiment among parties that the co-chairs should continue APA negotiations into next week, instead of shifting the discussion to the CMA as planned. The CMA represents all of the parties that have ratified the Paris Agreement thus far, and its first session needs to be during this COP because the Paris Agreement came into force last Friday. However, its very quick entry into force happened before several countries could complete their domestic ratification processes, so they will not be able to participate in CMA 1 here at COP-22. Because it is desirable for all parties to be involved in the negotiations on the Paris Rulebook, it is preferrable that CMA 1 be mostly just ceremonial, with the real negotiations continuing in the APA.

We’ll see how all that jargon plays out over the course of the week. But for now, here are your Day 1 updates from our excellent Week 1 crew!

(From L-R) Tanya, Delfina, Emily, Jade, and Megan waiting for our badges on Day 1

Megan: Opening day of COP 22 was a bit of a chaotic flurry. I started the morning off at the opening plenary session before heading to a side event and then meeting with my client, Climate Analytics, for the first time. The side event addressed loss and damage and brought up the interesting idea of forecast based financing- to allow at risk populations access to funding before a climate event to minimize damage. Following this, we attended the APA plenary session (and so did this lovely kitten who boosted everyone’s spirit after a long day).

Jade: Today, I attended a side event for my focus area, agriculture. Five country perspectives were given on monitoring, reporting, and verifying (MRV) emissions for the livestock sector and how mitigation efforts have been measured through this effort.

Tanya:  On the first day of COP22, I started the day by watching the COP plenary via live stream, where the interesting issue of amending the agenda was raised by Turkey, due to their special circumstances in regards to a need for climate finance. This lead to the first informal break-out to discuss whether the COP could be opened until this issue was resolved. Thankfully, Turkey accepted that this be discussed tomorrow (Nov 8, 2016) and the COP was officially declared open!

After lunch, I attended three different side events – the first focused on the Philippines’ vision for integrating their mitigation and adaptation plans over the next 25 years, the second on inclusive loss and damage frameworks and its different conceptions and the last on INDC implementation and how to bridge the gap between research and practice.

At the L&D event, I noticed a shift away from a focus on attribution and towards a “humanitarian” perspective – for example, the very real existential threat to low-lying islands and coastal nations like Bangladesh was recognized as a serious issue, no matter who was responsible, and whether or not all of the damage could be attributed to climate change. At the INDC event I attended, two interesting issues were raised –  what “ambition” means (and should mean) for different countries, and how to reconcile the need for informed policy with the pushback from national governments, due to a lack of political will. All in all, it was a super-informative day where I got to deep dive into these issues, even if some of the technical aspects of the discussions did go over my head!

Delfina: I started my morning by working with my client, ConexionCOP in the COP22 Plenary Opening Session.  It was somewhat of a hectic process but with the help of the Duke team I was able to complete the task with no problem.  Part of my client agenda was to attend the Opening Plenary Session for the APA.  There I paid close attention to the LatAm perspective of the Implementation of APA.   Following Plenary Session, I was able to catch the last part of a side event about Financing adaptation and risk modelling from a private actor perspective.  Mr. Tippmann from the German Emissions Trading Association gave a very interesting pitch on commercial attractiveness of adaptation mechanisms for the private sector.