Author: Forrest Robinette

I must open this blog by saying I’m positively green with envy! Amid the chaos of finals, I have found a few moments to read the blog posts of my classmates who are attending Week 2 of the COP. So far, I’ve seen on-site photos of John Kerry, Al Gore, Antonio Guterres (UN Secretary General), and Greta Thunberg herself! Now that is what I would call a star line-up. I only got to see Greta in a cocoon of cameras. My classmates saw her speak at multiple events! I suppose I am realizing that many of the most prominent guests save their appearances for Week 2. (Note: I would never mean to downplay the great speakers we were able to see during Week 1!)

Jealously aside, it has been very meaningful (and downright gripping!) to read my classmates’ descriptions of the second and final week of the Conference. In reflecting on their last day (Friday), many said there was an air of general disappointment that permeated the proceedings. Last week, I described the tenor of the negotiations I followed. They were slow, seemingly pointless, seemingly devoid of urgency, and mired in squabbles that seemed unlikely to be resolved. On my last day at the COP during Week 1, one of the YOUNGO (youth NGO) representatives I met told me that negotiations in Week 1 are all about laying the groundwork for true progress to be made in Week 2. In other words, Week 1 was meant to get the little stuff out of the way so that a faster pace and increased urgency in the 2^nd Week could deliver an agreement before the Conference ended. With this information in mind, I was so surprised to read that the negotiations were largely unchanged from Week 1 to Week 2 and that many of the most important aspects of the Convention that were being debated were left unagreed upon.

This idea, that the next step in the process will actually be the step that delivers results, is one I heard repeatedly at the COP. Delegates and observers alike said that this COP was just about setting the groundwork for COP26. Next year’s COP was the REALLY big one, they said, since 2020 is the year when progress towards the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement will be assessed. The progress countries have made towards their NDCs will be measured, and all Parties will be expected to ratchet up the ambition of the climate action commitments they made through Paris. When someone told me COP25 was really all about COP26, it didn’t sit well with me. For one, I didn’t want to think my first COP was a waiting year! Aside from these selfish concerns, I thought about how we don’t have a year to wait! Most experts agree we have until 2030 to undertake ambitious and sweeping climate action if we are to have any hope of keeping global temperature rise below catastrophic levels. If that is true, we can’t wait a year, a month, or a week. Today is the time for action.

How could I describe this week in 500 words? I couldn’t even do it in 500! (I tried to do it in ~40…) I am so excited to read the entries of my classmates who will are currently en route to Madrid to attend the 2^nd and final week of the COP. How will their experiences differ from ours? What conclusions will they draw from what I’ve heard some attendees call “crunch week”?

In my most recent short reflection, I expressed my concern about the pace and scale at which the United Nations is capable of delivering climate action. This week was an extraordinary opportunity for me to encounter a massive community of some of the most devoted climate activists across the world. I was exposed to technological solutions that, at scale, could begin to address the climate crisis. I saw expressions of high-level political support from the United States, India, China, and Western European nations, some of the largest emitters on the planet.

Despite these promising and inspiring moments from the COP, I’m left with deep worry that those working on climate action at the highest level are still working within a timeframe that is much too generous. I repeatedly heard people say this COP was not a particularly important one in negotiations. Apparently, all eyes are trained on COP26 which will be held in Glasgow. This Conference will coincide with the very consequential year of 2020.

In this year, progress towards the goals set out in the Paris Agreement in 2015 will be assessed. (Spoiler: we’re not on track.) Countries will also be required (read: kindly asked) to ratchet up the ambition of their NDCs, or nationally determined contributions. The NDCs set out in the Paris Agreement, even though they are voluntary and suggest no legally binding commitments for their respective nations, are not, in their current form, ambitious enough to limit global temperature rise to non-catastrophic levels.

We can’t afford to describe COP25 as a foundational COP. We also can’t hope that countries will adequately increase the ambition of their NDCs in 2020. A winning strategy on climate action is not one defined by complacency or unrealistic expectations.

Throughout this week, I have been inspired by the youth protesters who are demanding more immediate action than the UN system has been willing to provide. One of their oft-repeated refrains is: “What do we want? Climate Justice! When do we want it? Now!” Let’s linger on that last word: now. Any delegate who treats the COP25 as a waiting year, a foundational year to prepare for future climate action, is ignoring a clock that seems to keep ticking faster and faster.

Watching the pace and focus on the Week 1 negotiations in the COP this year, I’m not filled with hope that these delegates will deliver immediate and meaningful climate action. On Friday evening, half a million people marched in Madrid to demand action from world leaders on the climate crisis. Their message is simple: we cannot afford to spend any more time conducting business as usual.