Notes and Observations from the May-June 2021 UN Climate Change Conference

I greatly appreciated the opportunity to attend the UN Climate Change Conference, Sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies, as an Observer through Moravian College. As an alumna of the College, I am thankful for the times I have been able to attend in person to interact with the current professors and students and to participate as part of the delegation. Many thanks to Dr. Diane Husic and Dr. Hilde Binford for enabling me to participate in and observe these critical global negotiations.

The May-June Sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies included meetings of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI; of the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement). Productive formal and informal sessions were held to advance work through and related to the Nairobi Work Programme, Koronivia joint work on agriculture, Adaption Fund, Clean Development Mechanism transition, capacity building, and common reporting. As usual, there was a lot to take in and many concurrent sessions, so the following notes are by no means exhaustive. I am reporting on the sessions I followed, and at the end provide some general observations and thoughts on the virtual conference platform.

Opening Plenaries

Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, emphasized that Parties must arrive in Glasgow ready to take action. She reminded us that the Paris Agreement is five years old already and that we can’t continue to delay action.

Marianne Karlsen (Norway), SBI Chair - Recognized the challenges of a virtual environment but expressed the importance of convening and that she intends for no issue to be left behind.

Nairobi Work Programme (NWP)

The NWP aims to identify and close knowledge gaps to advance adaptation and resilience. Thematic areas include biodiversity, ecosystems and water resources, human settlements, oceans, human health, gender sensitive approaches, and local, indigenous, and traditional knowledge.

One goal through the biodiversity thematic area is the integration of forests and grasslands biodiversity and ecosystems into adaptation strategies so that multiple benefits are achieved.

The group requested nominations of national adaptation contact points to ensure global and regional efforts are aligned with national agendas and to communicate knowledge gaps.

They plan to collaborate with the Lima Work Programme on gender as well as with the Facilitative Working Group of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform.

They are working with the IPCC to incorporate recommendations from IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land and the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.

They are also developing partnerships with universities to address knowledge gaps.

A report was proposed to focus on lessons learned to date and gaps and challenges identified.

Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA)

The KJWA was established in 2017 to facilitate joint work between the SBSTA and SBI to consider 1) the vulnerabilities of agriculture to climate change and 2) approaches to addressing food security.

Countries can integrate these concepts into their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of the Paris Agreement.

Three major topics were discussed:

Improved nutrient use and manure management

·       Nutrient circularity is key to reducing nutrient loss and waste.

·       Agricultural systems should be designed to optimize carbon and nutrient cycles.

·       Systemic changes are needed and must be country-driven and follow science-based approaches. They should also involve locally appropriate innovation and traditional knowledge.

·       They discussed agroecological practices, using legumes to organically add nitrogen to the soil, integrating crops and livestock, and using manure as organic fertilizer.

·       It was noted that the overuse of fossil-fuel derived fertilizers contributes to emissions, disrupts the nitrogen cycle, and affects surface and ground waters.

·       The soil microbiome was recognized as important for soil health.

·       Nutrient data collection, analysis, and development of decision-making tools were identified needs.

·       They are considering development of an information exchange platform.

 Improved livestock management

·       Livestock are vulnerable to climate change impacts such as drought, floods, heat stress, water availability, low-quality forage, pests, and diseases.

·       There is a need to increase resiliency and adaptive capacity, considering diversity of agricultural practices and systems, local populations, and climate variation.

·       Sustainable consumption, reduction of food waste, and reduction in deforestation should be promoted.

·       Goals include reducing global livestock numbers and emissions, promoting best management practices, and improving pasture management.

·       Action under the KJWA will help achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the global goal of zero hunger.

 Socioeconomic and food security concerns

·       Food systems need to be reconfigured to include circular economy principles and resource efficiency.

·       Benefits of traditional and small farming were acknowledged.

·       Addressing food loss and waste is a major opportunity to reduce GHG emissions and improve food security.

·       The potential of large-scale dietary changes in reducing emissions and other negative externalities was noted.

·       Flexible options are needed to ensure emissions reductions are lasting.

·       All phases of agricultural production need to be considered, including planting, harvesting, storage, transport, sales, consumption, supply chains, and loss/waste.

·       Long-term projects should be favored to provide predictability and enable long-term investments.

·       There is an identified need for climate risk management tools such as livestock and crop insurance, early warning systems, and contingency planning.

Cooperation with other international organizations

Cooperating with other international organizations, particularly other UN bodies, is mandated under Article 7 of the UNFCCC. The SBSTA Chair held an information event to discuss progress and summarize cooperative efforts.

Cooperation with the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Food and Agriculture Organization, Convention to Combat Desertification, Environment Programme, and the World Bank was discussed and summarized.

Common initiatives that support increased climate ambition and advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals were highlighted.

A need to enhance cooperation was noted.

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) transition

The CDM was used and developed under the Kyoto Protocol to allow countries to offset emissions by investing in emissions reduction projects. There is considerable discussion about whether and how to transition CDM projects and/or credits to NDCs under the Paris Agreement.

Some Parties expressed that CDM projects should not be abandoned, while others expressed that not all projects may be appropriate because the Paris Agreement is different and more ambitious than the Kyoto Protocol.

Transition proposals may be accepted so that projects may be reviewed and those appropriate to the Paris Agreement goals and ambition may be transferred. It was discussed that there should be a deadline for such proposals.

Some Parties support including appropriate projects in NDCs and moving remaining CDM funds to the Adaptation Fund.

Thoughts on the Virtual Platform

In general, I thought it was fantastic and, of course, critically important that the Parties to the UNFCCC were able to meet again. Progress was made but there is still a lot of work to be done before Glasgow in November.

The Conference’s virtual platform worked well and was well-suited for organizing concurrent sessions with multiple agendas and session notes. The Chairs acknowledged the limitations of meeting virtually but emphasized the importance of convening before Glasgow.

I was disappointed that less sessions seemed to be open to Observers and was unpleasantly surprised that the Conference platform was shut down so soon after the Conference ended. I had been planning to catch up on the weekend after the Conference but could no longer access the virtual conference platform. However, I do note that public webcasts and session notes were still available.

I unfortunately found navigating the poster session to be awkward through an avatar-based platform. I personally would have preferred a list of hyperlinked poster titles with chat features enabled for Q&A and discussions (i.e., a low-tech option). I did not try to speak to poster presenters live and doing so may have changed my opinion of the setup.

Overall benefits of a virtual platform include: convening a conference at all during a difficult time period, more people being able to participate (reportedly 5,800 participants versus 3,400 in the past), ease of participating from home or work, a well-organized virtual platform, on demand and recorded sessions available for later viewing during the conference, considerably less (actually no) expense, and notably a much lower carbon footprint. 

Downsides of a virtual Conference include a lack of informal interactions, limited sessions for Observers, and a feeling of disconnect due to lack of interactions among Observers. Additionally, though I appreciate the inclusive nature of varying the time zones of the sessions each week and wouldn't suggest it any other way, I had some difficulty navigating the different time zones, particularly while working. If I participate virtually in the future, I will take time off work so that I can observe the sessions live. It proved difficult to catch up later due to the time zone differences and the early shut down of the participant platform.

Future hopes: use of a hybrid virtual format with greater quotas for online access as well as quotas for in-person Observer participation, more sessions open to Observers, an option to enable communication among Observers, and an opportunity to submit comments at set times during the Conference.

Despite frustrations noted, progress on Paris Agreement goals is far more important than my ease of access. I am hopeful that the negotiations seemed to be constructive and productive and look forward to continual progress leading up to and during COP26 in Glasgow.