Author: Galen Hiltbrand (Page 1 of 2)

Dieynabou Barry

Today is the last day of COP24. Party delegates have been running on little to no sleep to submit the Paris rulebook that will hopefully raise ambition. A draft of the text was released after 12 am this morning and with it came much protest. Twitter has been abuzz, students staged a walkout and protested at the COP, and the world’s least developed nations sent an open letter to Patricia Espinosa, the UNFCCC Executive Secretary, and António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, voicing their disappointed that the CMP (Parties of the Paris Agreement) did not welcome the IPCC Special Report on 1.5 C. The tone of the overall COP is one of disappointment that the objectives of COP24 will not be achieved. With one more day to come to an agreement, everyone is pushing the parties to make the necessary comprises to vote on strong climate action.

Twitter Post

Open Letter

Student Protest

Emily Millar

Today was a quiet day at the COP with many non-party actors fleeing town last night. The wrap up of the conference has been surprising to me—I had expected events to get more and more hyped throughout the week but attendance really seemed to dwindle. I have really enjoyed being here in Poland and getting to witness the proceedings of the COP. My favorite moments over the week were Al Gore’s lecture and the UN Secretary General’s statements to observers. Finally, I would like to thank Galen Hiltbrand and Tasfia Nayem for sharing their insights, organizing our lodgings, and a wonderful semester.

Molly Bruce

This past week, and presumably the preceding week, was a giant game of Mario Cart.  People rushed through the halls of the conference facilities, working to dodge the many thousands of people and find the fastest path from one place to another.

However, as Wednesday melted into Thursday, and Thursday faded into Friday, there were notably fewer people littering the conference facilities.  The likely culprit: fatigue.  By the end of Week 2, members of the delegations and civil society representatives alike were visibly exhausted.  Folks were fueling late nights with liters of caffeine.  Negotiators were locked in rooms until 2 a.m., 3 a.m., even 5 a.m., only to return early the next day and continue working to build consensus.  Here in Dąbrowa Górnicza, the Duke team is staying in the same place as the Angolan delegation.  Our Angolan bunkmate, António Armando, confirmed that he is quite ready for a much-deserved good night’s sleep.

However, exhaustion is also a negotiating tactic.  Many of the most crucial pieces of the larger climate negotiations puzzle are delayed until the final days and hours of the COP in the hopes that the sheer lack of time will ensure less opposition.  Likewise, negotiators continue to obstinately stand being their initiatives in a game of sleep-deprived chicken, each party waiting for the other negotiators to subordinate their stance to their desire for sleep.

International climate negotiations are a fickle, artful, endurance sport.

Aashna Aggarwal

As the COP approaches it’s close, I am feeling a whirlwind of emotions. Some hard goodbyes and some unmet expectations from the political body, but most importantly the intent to make most of this wonderful opportunity of being able to be physically present at the 24th Conference of the Parties. My favorite part about the whole week was to be able to hear honorable Secretary General of the United Nations address the observer parties and engage in dialogue. With prolonged negotiations and concern about the level of ambition coming out of the conference, the political will seems to be dying down after the Paris agreement. However, it is refreshing to see the Secretary General pushing for concrete actions, higher ambition and urgency. Along with him I too am optimistic given the rise in civic engagement, particularly by the private sector and the youth.

Jacob Glasser

When my badge was scanned as I left the venue today, I couldn’t help but feel sad to be leaving COP24 for the last time. I also couldn’t help but feel happy to have experienced it all.

Today I attended one of my favorite events. It was about the intersection of climate and national security at the German Pavilion. I learned about how the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) needs better in-house experts on the issue, and how climate change should better be built into peacebuilding operations. When listening to the passionate Permanent UN Representative from Nauru—a small island country of 11,000 people in the Pacific Ocean—it was made very real how detrimental to global security climate change can be. Their entire sovereign nation may need to move to another sovereign nation. She said, “We won’t have a country to go to. This isn’t a sad story, it’s a reality.”

Today wrapped up my experience and I couldn’t possibly be more grateful for this opportunity.  Thank you, Duke for providing me with this fantastic week, and I hope to be at COPs in the future.

Youngwoo Kim

Today, December 14, is the last day of the COP24. Most of events and sessions were wrapped up today, but negotiations of parties are still going on. I have been waiting for the 8th plenary meeting of the COP, which is the last event at 7pm, but the time was changed to 10pm and again to 4am on December 15. As we know, it has been a long journey not only for 2 weeks in Katowice, but also for the last 26 years since 1992 or shortly since Paris Agreement in 2015. The issues, usually discussed in the UN, are complicated due to mixed interests and tangled relationship between stakeholders. I think climate change is the most intricate issue because of the broad scope of problems and different priorities from each country. Today, we have expected to hear some progressive results, but it did not happen yet.

Rosanne Lam

The fifth day of COP, aka. the “last” day of week 2, was greeted with both excitement and sadness. Excitement because, much like the rest of the world keeping up with COP24, Friday of Week 2 means the Paris Rulebook must be finalized soon. I put quotation marks around last because I’ve learned over the short few days I’ve been in attendance at the COP that the negotiations almost always go over the officially scheduled days. This year in Katowice, the pressure is even greater on the delegates and lawyers as the Paris Rulebook, the tangible rulebook of how to implement the Paris Agreement is the deliverable item of the conference. While the Paris Agreement was a momentous item since the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Rulebook is arguably even more important. While the parties who have signed on to the Paris Agreement have all agreed upon the articles of the Paris Agreement, this year’s negotiations work on the logistical definitions and detailed workings of how this would work for different countries. As I, and everyone in the Spodek arena where the Cop is hosted, continue to watch the monitor for updates on the COP and CMP closing plenaries, we continued to watch the starting time pushed further and further back. Last night, the COP was scheduled to begin at 3pm, earlier this afternoon it was set at 7pm, and most recently I heard it would begin at 4am…

Jacob Glasser

Today was a day mostly about coal for me at the COP. I attended four coal events with NRDC, and learned a lot about the climate, health, economic, and social arguments against burning coal. Most interesting was the presentation in the Great Britain pavilion by the Carbon Tracker Initiative. They have worked for years to gather data on every coal plant in the world and have determined that its profitability is declining rapidly over time, it’s struggling to compete with renewables, and that investing in it includes a large risk of negative stranded assets. I believe that the other arguments—including the moral imperative—against coal are strong, but the economic one is the icing on the cake. Many people arguing against climate change action do so for economic reasons, so this is the perfect counterargument.

As long as coal is phased out with a just transition for the workers losing their jobs (see my 12.10 blog update), it is a win-win. The first step in reaching the inflection points where coal becomes economically unviable is to stop investing in new plants, which is a challenge in markets where coal receives strong protection. Today’s events gave me hope that we will soon live in a world without coal. As Canadian Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Catherin McKenna said, “We didn’t get out of the stone age because we ran out of stones, but because we got smarter.”

Dieynabou Barry

The COP is more than just high-level meetings and party delegates negotiating the terms of international climate agreements. While party delegates are busy, COP participants hop between multiple events hosted by organizations, country representatives, researchers, and other stakeholders in the climate change negotiation process. Today, I spent most of my day attending events organized by country representatives. The country pavilions provide a great learning opportunity to learn more about real and practical actions and initiatives that countries, development banks, NGOs, and more are taking to tackle the large issues posed by climate change. There are a diversity of topics ranging from climate finance, gender mainstreaming, loss and damage, ocean and coastal protection, and civilization and cultural preservation. One of the talks I attended today was hosted by the German pavilion and spoke to the issue of loss and damage at the Negotiations. I have not followed the topic a lot and this was a great learning opportunity for me. The speakers were from the German government, civil society, and academic institutions. I learned about the complexity of the issue especially as it relates to liability and insurance.

Loss and damage concerns compensation for nations that are hit by large, climate events by nations who are responsible for climate change. It has been a sensitive topic at the COP because large, polluting nations do not want to officially declare that climate change is causing specific weather events in different nations and do not want to take responsibility for causing climate change. However, for many small, less developed economies that are most vulnerable to climate change, the burden of paying for insurance and rebuilding their nations after climate disasters is not fair. The language and financial mechanisms around loss and damage is under heavy dispute at the COP. This event was a good introduction to the issue as it addressed the complexities and nuances of loss and damage in the Paris Agreement.

(Image caption: Free coffee at the German Pavillion!)

Molly Bruce

For the 15+ days of each COP, tens of thousands of individuals from all around the world coalesce in one city to agree on how the world will govern itself in order to avoid tragic environmental degradation.  Politicians, CEOs, lawyers, scientists, indigenous representatives, children, heads of state, academics, engineers…the list goes on.

As a student whose academic realm is poised at the overlap between several different fields, the COP is an exciting place to be.  My current studies and past experiences cover law, science, geography, development, environmental justice, and affordable housing.  I’ve had the great fortune to hear speakers discuss each of these topics throughout the COP.  In fact, I’ve often heard speakers bring up several of these topics together within the same conversations.

For example, earlier today, I attend an Indonesia side event that discussed the resiliency of its mangrove forests and the importance of these mangroves for carbon sequestration.  I’ve been able to study the value of mangroves for coastal resilience, for biodiversity, and for carbon uptake.  As such, it was fascinating to hear about how these science-based concepts are being incorporated into policy and economic arguments.

Also today, I attended an event at the Germany pavilion on loss and damage.  Again, the speakers brought up issues relating to environmental justice, a topic I’ve researched at length.  They talked about the geographic underpinnings of countries who emit greenhouse gasses most heavily versus countries who are most impacted by climate change—again, something I spent most of my undergrad studying—before transitioning again into policy analysis.

Ultimately, these conversations that cut across several different disciplines enable a more fruitful product.

Emily Millar

Today has been one of my favorites at the COP. It has been my most spontaneous day (not a word I usually identify with) and it’s been really fun to just stumble upon some wonderful

events. The first event I attended was sponsored by the German Pavilion and featured a discussion on loss and damage. In this discussion, issues such as finance and valuation of noneconomic losses were covered by a wonderful panel. I also attended a second event at the German Pavilion on behalf of Climate Analytics (the NGO I have been working with throughout the week) which discussed Germany’s Coal Commission and climate migrants. After leaving this event I stopped off at the bathroom and when I walked back out I immediately heard a familiar voice: Al Gore. Gore was giving an interview in the middle of the venue and I was able to get very close and listen to his statements on empowering youth. I capped off my day by attending the COP and CMP closing plenaries, which lacked excitement, but did allow me to witness the moment the text is officially agreed upon by all parties.

Rosanne Lam

Today, the WWF pavilion, previously the #WeAreStillIn pavilion, hosted an event on showing the state of climate action in Hong Kong. I was interested in seeing how subnational action in a special administrative region that very much lives in the grey area between part of China and full autonomy would fare in increasing climate action (also, I’m from Hong Kong, so it’s definitely close to heart). City-level climate action is important as most of the world’s population currently lives in cities. Evaluation of city-level climate action is difficult in similar ways to evaluation of national climate action, even more difficult in other respects. Semi-autonomous regions like Hong Kong are given the flexibility of its own government, finance, and policies so it allows for more streamlined mobility given sufficient political will. However, because it is a semi-autonomous region and not fully autonomous, Hong Kong is still subject some Chinese policies and contribute to Chinese NDCs. Despite HK’s high potential for climate action, they are severely lacking in their emissions reductions. As an international port city and financial hub, HK falls into the high

emissions, high GDP category. This lack of climate action, despite pollution being a visible problem, is likely due to the absence of a strong top-level leadership to drive and coordinate climate action and decarbonization of the building and transport sector (which take up 86% of HK’s emissions, without inclusion of the emissions associated with aviation and food production emissions). Sharing of best practices between parties, cities, regions, and organizations is key to tracking climate progress towards net zero carbon emissions and decarbonization of the energy sector.

Aashna Aggarwal

Whenever I engage in discussions about Climate Change, certain buzzwords always pop up. The most common of them all is Capacity Building. As the COP nears it’s close, its the second last day and all countries are talking about education as a means of capacity building. I spent the Education Day at India, UNFCCC, IPCC, Indonesia and Fiji Pavilions. I got to be a part of discussions that we miss out on daily life, ‘how are organizations building capacity and raising awareness in the most impressionable minds of school going children and how they are reaching the remote areas of developing countries through various programs’. The talks involved not only government led initiatives but also impact-oriented corporate social responsibility initiatives. It was a depressing evening seeing the host country, Poland win the Colossal Fossil of the year award as they seemed to have disappointed many with their coal run economy.

Youngwoo Kim

Cooperation and mutual learning are important.

Today, I visited to the Korean Pavilion for the session “KOICA* Project: Strengthening the capacity to address climate change on forestry sector in Ethiopia”. I was happy to see my organization’s project in COP24. As a governmental aid agency, KOICA has supported the project, and Korea University has been implementing it. Korea University has cooperated with Ethiopian Hawassa University to disseminate knowledge to manage forestry resources. The main expected outcomes are improvement of university curriculum and teaching materials, establishment of a management system of laboratory for forest ecology, and strengthening the government officials’ capacity. One of the activities of this project is hosting this side event in the COP24 – to share their experiences. Of course, this makes me proud, but one of the main benefits is that the Ethiopian participants in this project are able to both share and learn from the international community during the COP. For the last days, I have realized the COP is important not only for negotiations among governments but also for knowledge sharing with different stakeholders such as universities, corporations, international organizations, and NGOs.

*KOICA: Korea International Cooperation Agency

Jacob Glasser

Of course, today was another great day at the COP! I had many highlights, including Al Gore’s presentation and my off-the-record meetings with both the US and Korean delegations.

Former Vice President Al Gore’s talk was incredibly uplifting, but also heartbreaking. There was no shortage of horror stories many around the globe are already experiencing because of climate change. It was nice to see someone of Gore’s stature talk about environmental racism and justice, as this is not typically spoken about on such a high level. It was reassuring to hear this on the big stage. Gore ended the talk by saying that, “Political will itself is a renewable resource,” as a hopeful way of looking towards the 2020 US presidential election.

Emily Millar

The highlight of the day, and of the COP so far for me, was Al Gore’s presentation on the necessity to act on climate change. We lined up early to ensure a front row seat and were rewarded with a great view of Gore and the presentation. During the hour and a half talk, he gave an overview of the classic markers of climate change and then delved into more recent and specific examples of how we are being affected today such as the heat waves that stretched across Europe this summer. What I found most enlightening about his presentation was the discussion of how drought led to the Syrian civil war and eventually the current resurgence of populism across the globe. I also spent much of my day attending the closing remarks of the Talanoa Dialogue. This Dialogue, which has been going on for the past year and was meant to facilitate communication and trust between parties, was introduced at COP23. The outcome was viewed quite favorably by parties and many noted how important it is to turn the talks into a substantial agreement. The dialogue was concluded by a Polish and a Fijian child begging the world to act now to protect their future. It was a great reminder of who are truly effected by today’s actions and a great juxtaposition to the average age in the room.

Dieynabou Barry

Today, I got a glimpse into the world of international climate politics at the diplomacy level. Unlike the past days, I attended meetings with only high officials as they presented their views and summaries of their Parties’ stance at the COP. At the closing of the Talanoa Dialogue, many Parties expressed their desire to welcome the IPCC Special Report on 1.5 C and work to increase ambition to reach this temperature goal. Moreover, they emphasized that time is not on anyone’s side and steps must be taken sooner rather than later to move away from the use of fossil fuels. There was a sense of urgency and humanitarian obligation to raise ambition, which is one of the goals of this COP. Parties also voiced their desire to adopt a Paris Agreement rulebook that is substantive to move these goals forward. Not only did the Parties speak on these issues, but we also heard from Business and Industry, youth, indigenous peoples, and women and gender advocates who expressed similar sentiments. With only 2 days left at the COP, the pressure is on to solidify the rulebook, raise ambition, and seriously commit to climate finance. Party delegates are hard at work negotiating and reviewing document text to make sure that their interests are protected and represented. There is also more pressure on the COP24 President to ensure that this COP is a success.

Aashna Aggarwal

A day filled with cool people, great experiences, some alarming statistics but also inspiration. It was great to spend most of the day together with the Duke delegation attending high level meetings and having a conversation with the US delegation about their standing at the COP24 and how it has changed from the previous years. It was interesting to watch the American climate hero, Al Gore, give a ted style presentation about the alarming state of global warming around the world and the need to act right away. I reached my peak moment being in the same room with  Patricia Espinoza (Executive Secretary of UNFCCC), António Guterres (Secretary-General of the United Nations), Michał Kurtyka (President COP24) and Jean-Michael Cousteau (President COP23)  at the same time. All of these dignitaries addressed the state of emergency our planet was in if we did not take action at an appropriate timing. To quote Antonio Guterres, “Not addressing climate change is not only moral but also suicidal. You might be thinking I am being dramatic but that is exactly what is needed now.” 

Rosanne Lam

Day 3. Yet another day that just flew by. Today, I had the opportunity to listen to the famous Al Gore deliver an inspiring, heart-wrangling speech showcasing the detrimental effects of natural disasters. It was particularly reassuring to hear his beliefs and encouraging words that the US has a high likelihood of rejoining the Paris Agreement since its official withdrawal doesn’t occur until after the 2020 elections, on 4^th November 2020. Afterwards, the Ministerial Talanoa Closing Meeting

showcased the results of the closed ministerial multilateral discussions. At the closing session of the Talanoa Dialogue, the Presidents of COP23 (last year) and COP24 (this year) presented the ministerial report of the dialogues together. The theme of empathy, unity, and just transition continued to permeate throughout this year’s COP. The Talanoa Dialogue, a program that was launched at COP23 last year, was a program established by the Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama and carried forward by this year’s COP president, Michał Kurtya. The conclusion of theMinisterial Talanoa observed the need for increased multilateral cooperation and climate resilient growth. Both the Fijian and Polish parties emphasized the need for intergeneration equity, sustainable development, and a just transition to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and to heed the warnings of the IPCC’s Special Report on 1.5oC. Tonight was the Polish Reception, which was incredible! We were welcomed into Spodek (the UFO-like building) with amazing traditional Polish dancing, delicacies, and great ambiance. The reception was, particularly for the delegates, a great way to decompress from a long week and a half of negotiations with local music, food, and drinks. Particularly touching was the international X’mas tree, where everyone at the COP was invited to sign an ornament and collectively decorate a then-entirely bare evergreen. As week 2 begins to come to a close, the delegates continue tirelessly at the negotiations, some topics achieving more progress than others. The entire day, ministers and prime ministers of each party gave their National Statements calling upon the parties to act. There is talk that, as every year, the negotiations will likely go overtime and continue on over the weekend.

Youngwoo Kim

Time to act

“The Climate-Growth Nexus” organized by the OECD and The New Climate Economy was one of the most impressive sessions in my third day of COP24. Professor Lord Nicholas Stern and Angel Gurria, Secretary-General of OECD, jointly shared their ideas as panelists. Professor Stern pointed out there are huge changes in terms of cost and technology since he published Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change in 2006.

In principle, the cost of inaction about climate change has always been bigger than the cost of action. And now the cost of inaction has dramatically increased – from damages of historical heat-waves, hurricanes, and floods. On the other hand, the cost of action for climate change – such as using renewable energy – has plunged for the last decade. Actually, the current price of electricity from solar energy is cheaper than burning coal in the US.

Angel Gurria criticized contradictory policies of governments. Governments mention the importance of responding to climate change in the international community, but, at the same time, governments subsidize local companies to construct coal thermal power plants. Mr. Gurria said that Laurent Fabius, president of COP21 in Paris, was creative to make countries sign the Paris Agreement, but we made a target that we do not really want. Furthermore, he emphasized policy implementation to tackle climate change. He talked about how we now have many types of evidence from science and even face huge changes in our lives, but we still do not act consistently.

Molly Bruce

Coffee helps international diplomacy go round.  For students, conversations over coffee are a helpful way to get a glimpse into interesting perspectives on the progress of the negotiations.  I was able to catch up with an old college friend who has come to COP as a member of the Seychelles delegation, of course, over coffee.  While chatting, he and I ran into another delegate.  For the next half hour, I had the great pleasure to hear their takeaways from the various negotiating sessions they had attended and to also ask them questions.

One small chunk of this larger conversation centered around the dystopian alliance between the United States, Kuwait, Russia, and Saudi Arabia as well as the rejection of these countries’ approaches.  During the weekend between weeks 1 and 2 of the COP, these four climate change boogiemen would not “welcome” the IPCC 1.5^oC report.  Though obviously a procedural move, this decision stymies the effectiveness and utility of this report to the negotiations.  Furthermore, it insulates these four major greenhouse gas (GHG) producing countries from taking responsibility for their role in our world’s projected warming.

For most participants affiliated with the COP and passionate about the need for more aggressive action to mitigate climate change, the United States’ decision to announce its intention to leave the Paris Agreement was devastating.  Yet, during last year’s COP in Bonn, Germany, this announcement was merely lingering in the air and implicating a forlorn future.  This year, it appears the US has moved from passively opposing many aspects of the climate change negotiations to actively opposing the efforts of other countries to save our planet.

I hope for all our sakes that we can come together as a global community to agree on an effective Paris Agreement Rulebook that takes seriously the dangers indicated by the IPCC 1.5^o C report.

Dieynabou Barry

Today, I attended events that focused more on local and marginalized perspectives. I started the day at the plenary session of the Talanoa Dialogue. COP23 president, Frank Bainimarama, hosted a Talanoa story-telling panel, which featured the voices not only of Party officials, but amplified those of non-Party actors such as an indigenous woman from Chad and a female representative of civil society from Iceland. The panel was meant to set the tone for the all-day Talanoa Dialogue, in which Parties would share their progress and efforts in working towards the Paris Agreement temperature goal. The woman from Chad spoke of the importance of involving indigenous and local people in climate change policy, technology, and innovation efforts because they hold knowledge that many people do not have because they do not have as strong relationships to nature. The representative from Iceland shed insight into how Iceland was able to transition to 100 percent renewable energy and simultaneously boost the economy and improve livelihoods. The shift was led by the local farmers and entrepreneurs. The opening event of the day set the tone for the rest of my day as I attended multiple events on the inclusion of women and gender in multiple aspects of climate policy, bringing the local and indigenous knowledge to the center of climate discussions, and discussing the issue of climate-induced migration at the Negotiations.

Emily Millar

Today we arrived at the COP as seasoned veterans, and by that I mean we knew where the bathrooms and coat check were located. I started my day by assisting the Climate Analytics team with their Climate Action Tracker press conference. It was great to interact with the press and see the genuine interest in a tool we have found incredibly useful for measuring the climate policy efforts of countries around the world. After working on this, I attended the Elaborating and Implementing Article 6 of the Paris Agreement side event which featured an economist, a lawyer, a member of the private sector, and a member of the Chile delegation. It was really interesting to first listen to the technical discussion of different mechanisms that could be used to implement Article 6.2 and then hear the opinions on the feasibility of those mechanisms from the Chile delegation. When I left this event, I moved on to the second part of the High-Level Segment where most countries highlighted the IPCC 1.5 degree special report and the need for significant action now. Aside from all the exciting events happening, we also got to experience Katowice snow!

Molly Bruce

While at COP24, I’ve been working with a think tank: International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). Though the organization has offices all over the world, it is headquartered out of Canada.  IISD is primarily interested in promoting renewable energy transition by utilizing certain economic tools.  As such, the organization has dedicated much of its energy at the COP to follow Canada’s energy sector actions.

I’ve attended two press conferences with IISD, one on the country’s coal and fossil fuel industries, the other on its involvement with Friend’s Network which works to eliminate the country’s fossil fuel subsidies in favor of more equitable and environmentally-sound subsidy programs.  In both press conferences, the speakers were fairly critical of Canada’s oil policies. Namely, the speakers admitted that Canada’s Trans-Mountain Pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia could present catastrophic environmental risks if any sort of failure occurs.  The speakers also condemned what they defined as Canada’s over-extraction of oil and coal, arguing that the country would be better-served to invest in renewables because the long-term viability of coal and oil is bleak; by leaning so much of its economy on these two sectors, the crutch will eventually crumble.

However, I also independently attended an evening Global Climate Action Awards session that celebrated different projects countries have taken to promote climate change action.  At the event, Canada was given an award for its carbon neutrality government program.  Specifically, British Columbia was the first North American sub-national government to take 100% responsibility for its greenhouse gas pollution.

In lieu of these two windows into Canadian climate action, it’s interesting to see how different actors view the same country’s actions on climate change.  This instance of differing impressions of one country’s actions implicates broader conversations about climate action progression being in the eye of the beholder.

Aashna Aggarwal

It’s Gender Day at the COP and high energies talking about the importance of acting on the Gender Action Plan. Got the chance to hear the queen of climate change, Patricia Espinosa (Executive Secretary, UNFCCC) speak about women and climate change. Enjoy my gallery of quotes from today by some extraordinary minds in the field!

Rosanne Lam

Second day at the COP! At the Talanoa Dialogue, a platform created by Fiji the previous COP’s presidency to increase inclusivity and trust between parties through storytelling, Iceland inspired the entire plenary with its successful transition to 100% renewables (combination of geothermal and hydropower) in its energy sector telling an incredible tale of the feasibility of decarbonizing the energy sector. Also at the Talanoa Dialogue, a wonderful speaker (pictured) emphasized the need for gender inclusivity and called for the necessity of equity in climate action. Appropriately scheduled, the Talanoa Dialogue broke off into small closed ministerial meetings, after the plenary discussion, and was a great and inspiring morning kickoff event to Gender Day at COP24.

Jacob Glasser

Today was another whirlwind of a day in Katowice. I enjoyed an event on climate finance at the World Wildlife Fund Pavilion, where I was inspired by the good that can be done if finance is aligned with climate ambition. Philip Owen, from the European Commission’s Environment Programme, delivered good news that the EU has increased investor confidence by meeting 2020 climate targets, passing legislation to implement the Paris Agreement, and by publishing a 2050 vision. I would love to see the US take similar action that would induce further investment in renewables. You can’t leave a climate finance event without having heard about the billions—even trillions—of dollars that the US is losing out on by not investing in green energy.  Today in a discussion with someone opposed to financing renewables I said, “Would you invest in a business that is guaranteed to go under one day instead of the business that is guaranteed to take its place?” My key takeaway from the day is that it’s important to frame arguments with people in a way that matters to them. If I just talked about the IPCC Special Report with this person, I would have gotten nowhere.

Youngwoo Kim

Setting climate goals is easy. Paying for them is not.

In my second day of COP 24, I explored the relationship between climate finance and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). In the event “Financing the NDCs in Asia and the Pacific”, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) emphasized the importance of financial support to developing countries related to NDCs. This support can help developing countries meet their NDC goals and build capacity to manage it comprehensively.

A panelist from NDC Partnership said there are challenges in terms of convergence when developing countries manage the target of NDCs. First, a country’s path of macroeconomic growth is not always in line with a path to meet target of mitigation. Second, in many countries, there is lack of integrated approach in terms of planning and costing. For example, the Ministry of Finance of a country doesn’t usually have the same kind of care about environment issue in the planning stage as the Ministry of Environment. Also, in most countries, there is no consensus for costing to reduce emissions in the society. So, the panelist argued that country-level legal frameworks should be reformulated including voices of people and civil society organizations (CSOs), including environmental groups. Furthermore, leveraging private sources with public fund, the government should communicate in understandable language with private company for bankable projects.

Jacob Glasser

My first day at the COP was both fantastic and overwhelming. Walking into the UFO-shaped venue to thousands of people all convening to work on climate change was incredibly inspiring. I heard languages from all across the globe as I navigated my way through an unbelievable number of events, meetings, and booths.

Today I focused mostly on “just transition,” which is all about the necessary transition to a clean carbon economy and how we can protect those who lose their livelihood in the process. After listening to the COP21 Paris President, former World Bank Chief Economist, the head of the Indonesian delegation, and Ministers of Environment from South Africa, Spain, and Scotland, I have realized there are many points everyone agrees on. If you understand the challenges and the opportunities, a just transition can be incredibly rewarding. Hundreds of thousands of premature deaths can be prevented, trillions of dollars are available, and tens of millions of jobs can be created. It was interesting to hear a diverse array of people all voice their concerns, but the solutions I heard today left me feeling optimistic.

I was also present for the US side-event promoting fossil fuels. I still haven’t fully processed what I witnessed, but it is extremely disheartening to watch my country be literally laughed at on the global stage. I was embarrassed to be American, and I am sporting my “We are Still In” pin proudly.

Molly Bruce

Dear Costa Rica and New Zealand,

This is a story about why I love you both.

Of all the countries I became more familiar with today, you were both by far the best.  Your representatives, Monica Araya—Founder and Executive Director of Costa Rica Limpia—and Stephanie Lee—the New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs & Trade—were beacons of hope for a world that needs more ambitious national commitments to minimize greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

Costa Rica, you’ve pushed forward morally sound environmental initiatives in the face of a world filled with climate-action fossils.  You’ve announced plans to ban fossil fuels, have committed to being carbon neutral by 2021, and already you source 99% of your energy from renewables. You’ve imposed a moratorium on oil extraction that persists through 2021, and most of your energy grid is sourced from hydropower.  If more global actors adopted your level of ambition, our NDPs would get us much closer to our 1.5-2.0 degree goal rather than our current trajectory of global warming in the 2.6-3.2 neighborhood.

And New Zealand, you’re an inspiring example of a country working toward a carbon-neutral future despite a resilient and powerful domestic oil industry.  As of 2016, only 40% of your energy was sourced from renewables, as opposed to Costa Rica’s 99%.  Furthermore, you currently accrue $2.5 billion or 1% of your economy annually from the oil industry.  However, in May 2018, you took the bold step of banning new deep-sea oil and gas development permits.  This also means that the 22 permits already in existence will expire in 2030, with the caveat that these permits could be extended an additional 40 years under certain circumstances.  Though there is much work left to be done, you are an example to the rest of the world for why we should not put off the inevitable need to act more aggressively to mitigate climate change.

XOXO,

Molly

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/costa-ricas-new-president-banned-fossil-fuels/

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/12/new-zealand-set-to-ban-oil-and-gas-drilling.html

Rosanne Lam

First day of week 2 was an absolute blur. Since I purchased 5 CERs (Certified Emission Reductions), aka 5 tonnes CO2e, towards a methane capture and combustion from swine manure treatment project through the UN carbon offset platform, I received a fun white lanyard at registration. Today was the final day of the #WeAreStillIn pavilion, the first day of week 2, as well as the apparent difference in size and grandiose compared to COP23 and years before. At #WeAreStillIn’s event on what US Intent to Withdraw Means to The Paris Agreement, Sue Biniaz (lead climate lawyer of US State Dept for more than 25yrs) and Todd Stern (US Special Envoy for Climate Change) engaged in a dialogue with each other and speculated that while the finalization of the Paris Rulebook is critical, a separate signal to the public of mutual trust between countries would highly increase climate ambition. Additionally, they mentioned the highly technical, difficult, and wide array of issues necessary to be negotiated was a major source of challenges that ministries, delegates, countries are facing on the communication front.

An optimistic point of my day was the successful launch of the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, the official charter can be accessed here. The 21 founding signatories, including Burberry, Hugo Boss, Adidas, H&M, and Target, amongst other companies and organizations, have committed to the goal of 30% aggregate GHG emissions reduction by 2030 as a starting point, with a goal of complete decarbonization pathway for the entire fashion sector. This was a highly interesting special event to attend, especially considering my interest in the fashion industry and its alignment with the SDGs/social, ethical, and environmentally sustainable growth. Seeing Patricia Espinosa, the Secretary General UNFCCC, give a speech at the end congratulating the signatories was the icing on top. The charter decided to use the Higg Index, a tool for transparency in sustainability reporting provided by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, to track its progress.

Emily Millar

Today I got to meet the Climate Analytics team, who I will be working with all week, become VERY familiar with the printing room, attend the U.S. side event on fossil fuels and nuclear energy, attend the Climate Finance Plenary, and try a rose jelly filled donut. The U.S. side event was a surreal experience. Hosted by Wells Griffith, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of International Affairs, this event which featured Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steve Winberg, Australian Ambassador for the Environment Patrick Suckling, Executive director of ClearPath Rich Powell, and Director of Commercial and Development at Sempra LNG & Midstream Asfaha Tesfai focused on natural gas and coal innovation in the U.S. and Australia. Not long after Griffith began his opening statement, the event was punctuated by a protest demanding they “keep it in the ground!” After the protest, the room—which had been so full in the beginning that many people had to be turned away—cleared out. The panel continued on, mostly discussing all the new technologies being used to uncover fossil fuel reserves. While the event was definitely discouraging from a climate perspective, my peers were reminded today at an even featuring Todd Stern that the actions and motivations of the U.S. negotiators are not aligned with these anti-environment attitudes being spotlighted at side events.

Youngwoo Kim

Today, I have been in three climate sessions. First, the World Bank Group organized “Scaling-Up Climate Action in Europe and Central Asia”. Panelists from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB), the World Bank emphasized integrated approach between economy and environment issues. On the other hand, the Minister of Nature Protection of Armenia agreed to not only enlarging investment, but he also stressed out capacity building of people is very critical in developing countries to keep the resilience to climate change.

In the high-level climate finance dialogue, I could listen to many leaders’ opinions. Several ministers from developing and developed countries, leaders in international organizations, and experts from private sector shared their ideas. Some developed countries’ national leaders from Swiss and Sweden pledged their new supports to Adaptation Fund and Least Developed Countries Fund. In the dialogue, especially, I was impressed that the comment from the Executive Director ad interim at GCF, Javier Manzanares, “Capacity, Capacity, Capacity”. This is voice from the developing countries, which was overlapped with the Armenian minister’s comment.

At the end of the day, I also have been in the Multilateral Development Bank (MDB)s’ Talk “$200 Billion From 2021-2025: The World Bank Group and Climate Action”. Professor Nicholas Stern mentioned about the importance of role of public finance, which can mobilize private finance, above its volume itself. For the first day of COP 24 in the second week, I could reconfirm two important things about public climate finance as a mobilizer for private finance and a source of developing human capacity.

Aashna Aggarwal

While the world celebrates Human Rights Day, the theme for COP24 today was Climate Finance. What’s my dream for Human Rights if you may ask, would where people have the right to a clean, climate change free future.

Climate finance is super important because you need expenditure decisions in almost everything you do. The Plenary Session on climate finance reinforced the need for a long-term plan and strategy while rebuilding infrastructure for cities being affected by severe weather conditions in the short term. It is important to have clarity and predictability of available financial resources and sustainable implementation of policies.

The rest of the day I navigated the country pavilions and attended some side events. The US climate action center “#WeAreStillIn” had panel discussions throughout the day talking about non-state actors and role of cities and their commitments in resolving climate change. California plans to be more involved in linkages on oceans and climate change and also have a state determined contribution of California in the next few years.

As a part of my work with the US Green Building Council I attended events at the US and Indian Pavilions about Energy Efficiency in Buildings through innovations in cooling technologies, new building codes for residential housing and mitigation of super potent gases like HFCs. It was really interesting to see the difference in priorities between the two countries. The equity issues in India makes the government think more about the issue of providing thermal comfort to citizens while keeping the houses affordable. The US panel discussed more about the different building standards and the role of technology and science to find an alternative for HFC’s. The audience brought up discussions about energy efficiency vs sufficiency.

The day ended with spectating the delegate of Austria receive the “Fossil of the Day” award. He proudly gave a thank you speech with a smile on his face while he said they would forever remember this December gathering where they supported fossil fuel subsidies until 2035. Well, you could have done better @Austria.

Dieynabou Barry

Today’s theme for the COP was “Just Transition and SDG 8”. (SDG 8 is decent work and economic growth). I attended a few events wherein panelists spoke about what it means to ensure a just transition as it relates to economic development and jobs. The panelists all emphasized that when it comes to creating climate change policy, governments should be aware of how workers and jobs will be impacted. Aligning with the theme of the day, the panelists put jobs and economic development first and seemingly pushed aside the climate change policy. I was a bit surprised by the wording used during these panels because it seemed that the panelists were suggesting that climate change policy should only be implemented if it does not interfere with economic development. I only heard from one panelist who said that when using the Just Transition approach, governments should not be afraid to risk jobs if it means addressing a much bigger problem; governments should strategize on how to minimize the impacts of job loss instead.