tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34422240546279824722024-03-13T07:28:42.915-07:00Moravian University at the UNFCCCCorey Husichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16177050888208299819noreply@blogger.comBlogger310125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-37202765074187929682023-12-08T23:46:00.000-08:002023-12-08T23:46:55.903-08:00Key COP28 Issues - Part 2: Loss <p>The second main issue raised as key to COP28 by the U.S. negotiations team during an <a href="https://moraviancollegeatunfccc.blogspot.com/2023/12/key-cop28-issues-part-1-global-stocktake.html" target="_blank">October 2023 briefing</a> was Loss and Damage.</p><p>For many years, developing countries (the Global South) have argued that developed or industrialized countries (i.e., those that have contributed greenhouse gases to the atmosphere for decades) should provide compensation for the negative impacts that climate change is having on them. <b>Countries that have contributed the least to this global problem are often experiencing serious impacts</b>, yet they have the least resources to deal with the damage. </p><p>This carbon inequality has been addressed by <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/5-things-you-need-know-about-carbon-inequality" target="_blank">Oxfam International</a>, including the most recent information shared (2023):</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>The world's richest 10% of people were responsible for more than half of the carbon added to the atmosphere between 1990 and 2105.</i></li><li><i>In those 25 years alone, they blew one third of our remaining global 1.5C carbon budget, compared to just 4 percent for the poorest half of the population.</i></li><li><i>The richest 1% of the world's population were responsible for more than twice as much carbon pollution as the 3.1 billion people who made up the poorest half of humani</i><i>ty.</i></li><li><i>It took about 140 years to use 750G of the global carbon budget, and just 25 years from 1990 to 2015 to use about the same again -- over half of which is linked to the consumption of just the richest 10% of the people.</i></li><li><i>The per capita consumption footprints of the richest 1% are currently around 35 times higher than the target for 2030 and more than 100 times higher than the poorest 50%.</i></li></ul><div>If you are a visual learner:</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmbIdXSr7ckjyCRyW2NQ2NMx_vXH8zbsxiDSGW3A7DttNRHAi10N65AmW1U0r2sc1XoZ_ugDDeLnjSowpbFrbu7AZ3LtstuDG6_psA63HkgV44ajFyTtwuYkFi3Gsf82BFhQbQmZAe23ao61OLZytXRemH6mN_dV1mXmke_llpskiPYP-zvj1QSpBVT4/s923/inequity.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="923" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmbIdXSr7ckjyCRyW2NQ2NMx_vXH8zbsxiDSGW3A7DttNRHAi10N65AmW1U0r2sc1XoZ_ugDDeLnjSowpbFrbu7AZ3LtstuDG6_psA63HkgV44ajFyTtwuYkFi3Gsf82BFhQbQmZAe23ao61OLZytXRemH6mN_dV1mXmke_llpskiPYP-zvj1QSpBVT4/w400-h260/inequity.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">From Oxfam International, 2023</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Another way to illustrate the inequalities and social justice issues related to climate change is through maps referred to as griddled cartograms. Here is one example in which the size of the country is drawn in proportion to either the cumulative carbon dioxide gas emissions or the severity of certain climaet change health consequences: </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcsVSty14mSEYZplwaB6Xd0qLiZtnzEsOPPP3y6Cnl4VJ_gn4krM9XCJ349ZwUKaYP-NyoiQXv722FrtogZD-8J3424Aa5ZuLwvQ5x0cdyb1N9obCnDO0GHCjMzjBOD7JynhyphenhyphenAOaQUw9A3wooVbdZf-BBIoiPZqGv9eIOKlJUikut9oQxcnm2iSRH41kI/s1425/inequities.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1298" data-original-width="1425" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcsVSty14mSEYZplwaB6Xd0qLiZtnzEsOPPP3y6Cnl4VJ_gn4krM9XCJ349ZwUKaYP-NyoiQXv722FrtogZD-8J3424Aa5ZuLwvQ5x0cdyb1N9obCnDO0GHCjMzjBOD7JynhyphenhyphenAOaQUw9A3wooVbdZf-BBIoiPZqGv9eIOKlJUikut9oQxcnm2iSRH41kI/w400-h364/inequities.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Data-driven cartogram maps demonstrating (A) relative proportions of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions, by country, and (B) magnitude and severity of the consequences of climate change for malaria, malnutrition, diarrhea, and drownings, by country. <br />(From Patz JA, Gibbs HK, Foley JA, et al. Climate change and global health: quantifying a growing ethical crisis. EcoHealth. 2007; doi.10.1007/s10393-007-0141-1. See <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Data-driven-cartogram-maps-demonstrating-A-relative-proportions-of-cumulative-carbon_fig2_284913620" target="_blank">here</a>.)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
Please stop to think about these statistics related to fossil fuel use and who has/hasn't benefitted from this resource. Also think about the disparate negative impacts of that use in terms of air pollution and climate change impacts that go far beyond health.</p><p>Pardon a diversion as I provide some historical context:</p><p>In the 1700's, the English realized that coal burned hotter than wood charcoal. The U.S. has a significant amount of the world reserves of coal, and this fuel played a significant role in launching the Industrial Revolution in our country. The first oil well in North America was drilled in Ontario Canada in 1858, and in 1859, oil was discovered near Titusville, Pennsylvania. Crude oil was known long before, but discoveries of large oil reserves in the U.S. and the introduction of the internal combustion engine (and use in automobiles) in the early twentieth century led to a rapid growth of the petroleum industry. The idea of fracturing (fracking) to release gas from geological formations also dates back to the mid 1800's, but the technologies developed by Halliburton revolutionized the industry for natural gas extraction.</p><p>As a resident of Pennsylvania, I think about its history of fossil fuels. The Commonwealth has abundant sources of high quality coal, oil and natural gas, so there is a <i>long</i> history of mining, refining, and fracking. In fact, Pennsylvania is the leading East Coast supplier of fossil fuels, refined petroleum products, and electricity to the nation. (See <a href="https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=PA" target="_blank">here</a>.) As noted in that reference, "the state is among the top 10 consumers of natural gas, coal, petroleum products, and electricity" and is "the second-largest net supplier of energy to other states, after Texas." There is also a long legacy of steel production in Pennsylvania and a significant cement industry (another major source of carbon dioxide release). In other words, my home state has a very high carbon footprint and has contributed to global greenhouse gases for a very long time. </p><p>So back to the idea of Loss and Damage:</p><p>Article 8 of the 2015 <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement" target="_blank">Paris Agreement</a> recognized the issue of loss and damage but did't require or even compel countries to pay for it. Debates have centered on whether countries in the Global North that have long prospered from the use of fossil fuels (which, when burned, produce carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas) are liable for damage elsewhere in the world, and if so, what is the best way to provide retribution. Should a country like the United States pay into a fund that is used to cover loss and damage? If so, what is an appropriate amount to pay? What are the criteria for accessing this fund, who should manage the fund and decision making, and how much due developed nations owe? Alternatively, should a global insurance plan or risk-sharing approach (mentioned in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninaseega/2023/12/08/rich-nations-700-million-cop28-pledges-cover-2-of-climate-change-costs/?sh=143a1d1a6a66" target="_blank">this article from Forbes</a>) be developed? This alternative model doesn’t necessary focus on reparations (i.e., doesn’t place blame), but helps to cover loss and damage.</p><p>You can find a good guide to Loss and Damage <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Online_guide_on_loss_and_damage-May_2018.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><div>The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage was launched under the UNFCCC at COP19 in 2013. At COP27 in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt in 2022, Parties finally agreed to set up a fund. Ambitious pre-COP28 negotiations building on a decade of work and advocacy led to a surprising decision (agreement) on this agenda item (a Loss and Damage Fund) on day 1 of COP28. On that day, wealthy nations pledged to contribute at least $260 million to the fund, surpassing the minimum threshold of $200 million required to launch the fund. At the end of week 1 of COP28, the fund had reached US $700 million, but this is less than 0.2% of the economic and non-economic losses that developing countries face annual from climate change.</div><div><br /></div><div>The climate change impacts are not just being experienced by developing countries. A <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2023/03/14/the-importance-of-measuring-the-fiscal-and-economic-costs-of-climate-change/#:~:text=Climate%20change%20impacts%20our%20economy,most%20costly%20year%20on%20record." target="_blank">March 14, 2023 briefing from the White House </a>noted the following economic impact of climate and weather disasters from 2022: </div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), "the cost of climate and weather disasters in the United States last year totaled more than $165 billion—the third most costly year on record" and "this cost fails to capture the devastation from lives lost, the toll on our healthcare, and the impacts on American families and communities upended and displaced by increasing climate crises."</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Severe heat waves, coastal flooding and other sea-level rise damage such as salt water intrusion into fresh water supplies, wildfires, crop loss, and natural disasters (think stronger hurricanes) are all exacerbated by climate change. Continued warming will lead to further increases in disaster risk and rising costs of the associated damage. </div><div><br /></div><div>Once the Loss and Damage fund agenda item was approved at COP28, country pledges were quickly announced. Here are some pledges to date (<a href="https://earth.org/loss-and-damage-fund-contributions-at-cop28-so-far-cover-less-than-0-2-of-climate-related-losses-in-developing-countries/#:~:text=Policy%20%26%20Economics-,Loss%20and%20Damage%20Fund%20Contributions%20at%20COP28%20So%20Far%20Cover,Related%20Losses%20in%20Developing%20Countries&text=Countries%20in%20Dubai%20have%20so,hosted%20loss%20and%20damage%20fund." target="_blank">from Earth.org</a>): </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li> United Arab Emirates: $100 million</li><li>Germany: $100 million</li><li>United Kingdom: $50 million</li><li>Japan: $10 million</li><li>United States: $17.5 million*</li><li>Denmark: $50 million</li><li>Ireland: $27 million</li><li>European Union: $27 million</li><li>Norway: $25 million</li><li>Canada: $12 million</li><li>Slovenia: $1.5 million</li></ul></div><div>*The U.S. historically has emitted the highest amount of greenhouse gases.</div><div><br /></div><div>This fund is separate from other funds under the UNFCCC that help developing nations tackle climate-related challenges. It is estimated that at least $400 billion per year is needed -- a number far greater than public funding from developed nations could ever provide. </div><div><br /></div><div>There are still logistical details associated with the Loss and Damage fund to be worked out such as what will be the scope of the loss or damage covered, who will be the beneficiaries (i.e., who are the particularly vulnerable countries to prioritize), and how can you attribute an event to climate change? For a provisional period, this will be overseen by the World Bank but there will be a dedicated board for decision making and other measures that helped to appease countries from the Global South that didn’t want this fund administered by either the IMF or the World Bank. Ultimately, the details of who funds this long-term will need to be determined. </div>D. Husichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918907411597547421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-680257206147638352023-12-08T19:12:00.000-08:002023-12-08T19:12:39.624-08:00Week 1 Conclusion<p> By now, I am back in Bethlehem, but I wanted to create a follow-up blog post to reflect on the rest of my experience during the first week of COP28 in Dubai! The past week included tons of pin collecting at several pavilions, sightseeing across the city, and events where important discussions were taking place.</p><p>Most notably, there were two particular COP28 side events that I enjoyed. The first side event, titled "Buildings and Construction for Sustainable Cities: New Key Partnerships for Decarbonisation, Adaptation and Resilience," began by noting that every country tends to have regulations in place for building fires and other emergencies. Why, though, doesn't every country have net-zero and climate-friendly building regulations? Sustainable construction needs to begin with renovating and repurposing, rather than rebuilding. Moreover, there must be a greater shift to green building materials and an emphasis on passive cooling rather than using electric cooling methods. To the finance community that remains skeptical about transitioning to green building materials and repurposing projects, green materials enhance the longevity of a building, and repurposing projects produce 9-30 jobs per project and the industry represents 70% of global employment. While I was at COP28, Ghana signed on as the 28th country to join the initiative known as Buildings Breakthrough, which aims to ensure that "worldwide near-zero emission and resilient buildings are the new normal by 2030." In the United States, electricity-based heating is out-pacing fossil-based heating in new building constructions for the first time. It is claimed that a fully effective transition in the US needs to be people-based.</p><p>Another interesting side event that I attended was on green chemistry. This was the first time I had heard about green chemistry, which was defined as "the design of chemical product and processes to reduce or eliminate the use of and generation of hazardous substances." More than 40 countries have active green chemistry networks such as the ACS Green Chemistry Institute and the Green Chemistry Network. The reason why green chemistry is so valuable is because it aligns environmental and economic values. It was noted in the presentation that one challenge for green chemistry involves changing the energy basis of economies. This is a problem because while scientists may know how to solve this challenge, the general public needs to learn the potential of green chemistry. This is where the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health comes in with the goals of advancing the science, catalyzing implementation, preparing the next generation, and raising awareness. Products produced by Air Company serve as interesting innovations due to green chemistry. For example, the company produces the world's carbon-negative vodka, known as AIR Vodka. All Air Company products aim to generate imagination of what is possible in terms of carbon-negative products. Furthermore, if the Air Company process was adopted by all industries worldwide, more than 10% of emissions would be reduced.</p><p>While much of our time was dedicated to COP during the day, we did get the opportunity to go sightseeing and visit some popular Dubai attractions and landmarks. One day, we got to visit Marina Beach, where we swam in the Persian Gulf with views of the Ain Dubai (Dubai Eye) in the distance. Another day, we visited the Dubai Mall and got to view the Burj Khalifa at night from along the Dubai Fountain. Additionally, we ate at a variety of restaurants throughout our stay, ranging from Russian to Georgian, and Mexican to authentic Emirati cuisines. Oftentimes, the food within COP28 at Expo City did not compare to food found elsewhere throughout Dubai, however, it was mutually agreed upon that we hadn't had one bad meal during our trip.</p><p>On the final day, we left the Airbnb by 9:30PM and boarded the Dubai Metro for the airport since our flight was scheduled to depart at around 2AM. Many of our housemates had yet to arrive for the night when we left, so it was difficult to say goodbye to many people. It is most likely that they were enjoying a night out ahead of the upcoming day of rest scheduled for December 7th.</p><p>It was a bittersweet feeling to leave Dubai and COP28, but I was ready to return home and see my family. My experience at COP28 has been something that I wouldn't change for the world. I feel as though I have learned so much relevant information to my field of study, and I feel very appreciative to be one of four Moravian students who got the opportunity to attend. I hope those who are remaining at COP28 for the second week, as well as those who are just now starting their COP28 journey, finish the week with similar feelings!</p>Zachary Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06133182883100562213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-37452924832655614342023-12-08T05:55:00.000-08:002023-12-08T05:55:12.502-08:00Key COP28 Issues - Part 1: The Global Stocktake<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7mgPohz8NMLStr1nPfp328p784ugnX4iteHBnDJxD0K9kAx705tXPf2UYc8oVCSUdwlZefgEGU0dqQ-ycqHIMi1H1A0WFI8SbowRQsr-ILxN0vCnSb8HGk0HORxKCEaTwQKrFSFTlwuNhXkQRKh4JMLmRHvGVglZLloeNw9GHzJlFVJrQHqMhv3KNuo/s350/Screenshot%202023-12-07%20at%204.50.06%E2%80%AFPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="190" data-original-width="350" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7mgPohz8NMLStr1nPfp328p784ugnX4iteHBnDJxD0K9kAx705tXPf2UYc8oVCSUdwlZefgEGU0dqQ-ycqHIMi1H1A0WFI8SbowRQsr-ILxN0vCnSb8HGk0HORxKCEaTwQKrFSFTlwuNhXkQRKh4JMLmRHvGVglZLloeNw9GHzJlFVJrQHqMhv3KNuo/w400-h217/Screenshot%202023-12-07%20at%204.50.06%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Back in October, I had the opportunity to attend a virtual briefing with members of the U.S. negotiating team. They discussed three main topics that they believed would be the core decision areas to pay attention to at COP28. The briefing was “off the record” and was not open to the press. I will provide a summary of these topics, along with a few other observations that were made during that briefing, through a series of blog posts. I will start with perhaps the main issue of COP28: the Global Stocktake (GST).<p></p><p>This will be the first global stocktake – a midpoint “check-in” between 2015 when the Paris Agreement was adopted to the 2030 timeline of that accord. This reporting is mandated by the Paris Agreement. Parties need to determine how well the current country pledges for reducing greenhouse gas emissions align with the goal of keeping global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celcius (above the pre-Industrial period) and what further actions are still needed. <br /><br />Analyses of the publicly available Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs (the individual country plans on how they will reduce emissions) have been done and suggest that in their totality, only get us to limiting warming to about 2.7 degrees C of planetary warming (see <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org" target="_blank">Climate Action Tracker</a>). More ambitious climate action is certainly needed.</p><p>Under the Biden Administration, the U.S. is facilitating an energy transition to clean renewables as evident in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. This legislation, despite the name, has been billed as the most significant climate policy in U.S. history.
<br /><br />From the briefing, I learned that the U.S. will continue to push for reduction of non-carbon dioxide gases that contribute to warming (e.g. methane). Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide in its ability to absorb and trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere (and thus, contributing to climate change).
I find this focus on non-carbon dioxide gases interesting. I am not sure if it is intentional or not, but it seems to take some of the focus away from phasing out fossil fuels, which, when combusted, produce carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. Including any reference about phasing out fossil fuels in any decision coming out of COP28 is, of course, controversial. It doesn’t help when the COP28 President, Sultan Al Jaber, claims that “there is ‘no science’ indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to restrict global heating to 1.5 degrees C.” (See Dec 3rd <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/03/back-into-caves-cop28-president-dismisses-phase-out-of-fossil-fuels " target="_blank">article from The Guardian.</a>).</p><p>The headline from the December 6th <a href="https://climatenetwork.org/resource/eco-7-cop28/" target="_blank">ECO Newsletter </a>(Climate Action Network) speaks to the significance of this issue: “1st Global Stocktake Will Make or Break 1.5 C.” This really is not hyperbole.</p><p>We keep hearing that the presidency is “laser focused on 1.5” but have yet to see the details of the roadmap to this goal.
<br /><br />As part of this global stocktake, adaptation plans and finance issues should also be assessed. Somewhat analogous to the NDCs, countries are supposed to have National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). These plans outline what steps a country is taking to adapt to a changing climate and its impacts, actions that will make cities, agriculture and food systems, ecosystems, and other sectors more resilient. From everything I am hearing, Parties are divided on all these issues. It should not be surprising that financial mechanisms are controversial. About the only thing that almost everyone agrees on is that there will never be enough public funding to properly address climate solutions, adaptation, and “loss and damage” (to be discussed in my next post). </p>D. Husichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918907411597547421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-84994657202808619552023-12-07T19:10:00.000-08:002023-12-07T19:10:35.912-08:00COP28 Overview & Thoughts!<p> Just one year ago, I was reading posts on this blog as a homework assignment while Dr. Husic was at COP27. Now, I am writing my own post on this blog after attending COP28! I want to start by saying how incredibly lucky and grateful I feel to have had the opportunity to attend COP28. I have learned and gained so much from this experience. </p><p>The first couple of days at COP28 were spent exploring the venue, figuring out how COP works, and getting adjusted. During this time, we went to a few pavilions and attended the opening ceremony, where the gavel was handed over from the President of COP27 to the new President of COP28. As we got more comfortable, we started attending more talks, panels, and pavilions! From hearing Madagascar talk about their early warning systems to a film screening about the ocean, we really saw it all. My favorite talk was about Green Chemistry put on by Yale University. I had never heard of the field of green chemistry prior to this, so I feel like I learned a lot. For example, they talked about Air Company, which is a company that developed technology to turn carbon dioxide into jet fuel. If all jet fuel companies adapted this technology, it would bring about a 10.8% reduction in emissions! Talks like this and many others proved to be valuable learning opportunities. </p><p>On Sunday, we had the privilege of seeing Hillary Clinton talk about women and climate resilience. We did not catch the whole talk, but what we heard was great! It was awesome to see such a recognizable figure talking about something I am passionate about. This was definitely a trip highlight! Other notable highlights from this trip were the amazing food, making memories with friends, and sightseeing. We were able to go to the Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa one evening after the conference and it was amazing! Being able to see things in person that I had only previously seen in photos was unbelievable.</p><p>Overall, this trip was surreal and went by entirely too fast. From sightseeing to attending talks to collecting pins at pavilions, I think I speak for myself and my friends when I say we had an unforgettable time. I experienced so many different cultures, languages, and opinions, which was really eye-opening. I feel hopeful for the future of climate action, especially after seeing almost 100,000 people gathered together for the cause! I hope to be able to attend more COPs in the future to keep expanding my horizons and learning more!</p>Madalyn Stoltzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08166725858163351317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-54718728980578332662023-12-04T00:21:00.000-08:002023-12-04T00:21:35.684-08:00A UNFCCC Primer or Reminder<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdS0ZpW8-zygXkHB25xwDzCWUWIN19tmSjy2D8fmTvHbMVeTl5fglURfxEZRMd7kRXd7-vCi0ExhbNj7CPBrG8htQTg1XAO-R3qrvNQNDjJFMMU7Ej5-A8bqesEMfaX465TP-5Ugprbdwsuqytsfdc7Jmo235t1xDJR8XaK22ITkpJh1caOulrrI3wM8/s4032/IMG_9325.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdS0ZpW8-zygXkHB25xwDzCWUWIN19tmSjy2D8fmTvHbMVeTl5fglURfxEZRMd7kRXd7-vCi0ExhbNj7CPBrG8htQTg1XAO-R3qrvNQNDjJFMMU7Ej5-A8bqesEMfaX465TP-5Ugprbdwsuqytsfdc7Jmo235t1xDJR8XaK22ITkpJh1caOulrrI3wM8/w300-h400/IMG_9325.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Expo 2020 - the Dubai venue for COP28</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Greetings from Dubai and COP28. For anyone reading this blog for the first time (or the first time in a long time), I will provide a bit of background before I post on some of the issues that are being discussed, debated, and negotiated here in 2023.
<br /><br />The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (or <a href="https://unfccc.int%20" target="_blank">UNFCCC</a>) is an international agreement or treaty that was adopted at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. In that original Convention, key principles for the future work were established:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Decisions for action are to be <u>based on science</u>. For example, any goals towards mitigating the causes of, or impacts stemming from, climate change should be based on scientific evidence. By the time of the Rio Earth Summit, the first report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) had been released (1990). These periodic reports review, analyze, and synthesize relevant published scientific data from around the world to theoretically guide the negotiations surrounding climate change.</li><li>There was an early recognition of the <u>need for adaptation</u> – planning for the adaptation of natural and human systems to the unavoidable impacts of a warming climate. In other words, policymakers recognized over 30 years ago that there were already enough greenhouse gas pollutants in the atmosphere to set into motion some degree of climate disruption.</li><li>The Convention recognized <u>common but differentiated responsibilities</u>. Each country that is a signatory to the UNFCCC (198 of them) has a responsibility to address this global environmental challenge. However, because of both different histories of emitting greenhouse gases (those pollutants responsible for holding excess heat in the atmosphere and leading to planetary warming) and different abilities to finance appropriate responses, there was recognition that countries had different degrees of responsibility or ability for addressing the issues. </li><li>All decisions under the UNFCCC must be made by <u>consensus</u>. It is often difficult to get a small group of people to agree on simple issues. Imagine trying to get almost 200 countries with different needs, priorities, levels of resources, etc. to agree on every single word of a legally binding agreement!
<br /><br />The UNFCCC Secretariat was established in conjunction with the adoption of the global treaty and is tasked with supported the global response to the threats of climate change and serves as an impartial administrator of the processes associated with the Convention. Like any UN component, there is a complexity to the organization with many diverse functions.
<br /><br />The schematic below is adapted from the UNFCCC website and shows the organization and main functions of the Secretariat. It is led by an Executive Secretary, who is currently Mr. Simon Stiell from Granada who has been in the role since August 2022. In the opening plenary for COP28 in Dubai, he noted that the Secretariat serves as the “custodian of the process.” Since I have been attending COPs (2009), there have been three other individuals in this role:
Patricia Espinosa, Christiana Figueres, and Yvo de Boer. There are also ~ 450 staff employed within the Secretariat.
</li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXqQetL2z72Pq3jS3tM5LkMmseYZw_jSpNYPQWKiHXcRRdzUYe_k1MwSlZcMtdLXn8vPybgq4yBBAoodM_ItPC5Id_RSG2PA61-P5xgH8dqTMg6k3JBCpCIPXSlngVqpuRxinerBUgEcie-auRT1-Yp0d-ED2A-_yALHOM7DhTMhQbvMr0ttv2GHUFGs/s1330/Screenshot%202023-11-27%20at%2011.56.08%E2%80%AFAM.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="1330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXqQetL2z72Pq3jS3tM5LkMmseYZw_jSpNYPQWKiHXcRRdzUYe_k1MwSlZcMtdLXn8vPybgq4yBBAoodM_ItPC5Id_RSG2PA61-P5xgH8dqTMg6k3JBCpCIPXSlngVqpuRxinerBUgEcie-auRT1-Yp0d-ED2A-_yALHOM7DhTMhQbvMr0ttv2GHUFGs/s400/Screenshot%202023-11-27%20at%2011.56.08%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>
The Secretariat organizes the meetings of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and various bodies or work groups under the UNFCCC and supplemental agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol (adopted at COP3 in 1997 and entered into force in 2005) and the Paris Accord or Agreement (a 2015 agreement from COP15 which went into effect in 2020). So COP28 is the 28th consecutive meeting of the Conference of the Parties (the signatories to the original Convention from 1992). During the annual COP meetings, there is also CMP18 (the 18th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol) and CMA5 (the 5th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement). If you haven’t noticed yet, there are many acronyms in this process or what is sometimes referred to as the alphabet soup of the UNFCCC! <br /><br />The fact that we are over 30 years out from the original Convention agreement reflects how slowly the process moves, in part due to the difficulty in trying to solve a complex global problem, and partially due to the requirement for consensus for any decision or action. This causes great frustration for many people who know that the negative consequences of climate change that put human lives, livelihoods, and biodiversity at risk are accelerating. At this point, the IPCC has compiled and released 6 global assessment reports and several special reports, for example <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/" target="_blank">Global Warming of 1.5 ºC</a> and the Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (<a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/SREX_Full_Report-1.pdf" target="_blank">SREX</a>) reports.
<br /><br />The role of Secretariat has expanded over the years as decisions and new mandates are agreed to by the Parties at the COPs. For instance, as a result of provisions in the Paris Agreement, the Secretariat maintains the registry for the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), official commitments of countries that describe their plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (by how much, by what means, and in what timeframe). The Secretariat also works with non-Party stakeholders such as cities, businesses, investors, civil society (see below), and other divisions of the United Nations.
<br /><br /><div>I won’t get into the details in this post, but under the Secretariat, there are two main subsidiary bodes carrying out key work throughout the year: the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA). There are also about 16 Constituted Bodies all of which have very specific charges. A few that will have key roles at this COP include:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>the Adaptation Committee and the Adaptation Fund Board</li><li>the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage</li><li>the Standing Committee on Finance</li><li>the Technology Executive Committee.</li></ul>These different subsidiary and constituted bodies (working groups) meet in between the annual COPs and hold negotiation sessions (consultations, informals, contact groups, and a number of other interestingly named events) during a COP on a variety of detailed issues. This work typically results in documents with recommended language for high level ministers to consider and hopefully adopt before the end of a COP. The totality of the language adopted on the different workstreams are the outcomes of these annual meetings -- the Decision document(s). Some of these formal decisions are limited to a specific issue (e.g. the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage COP 19 in 2013 or the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan of COP27 from last year). Others, like the Paris Agreement from COP21 in 2015, are more far-reaching in their scope.
<br /><br />If it isn’t obvious by now, it is almost impossible for any individual to keep track of all the moving parts or have in depth knowledge of all the issues unless this is their full-time job. That is rarely the case for Parties or the Observers (discussed below).
<br /><br />The location of the COPs rotates among different regions of the world. Each host country selects someone to serve in the role of COP President. This individual works with Parties to set the agenda for the COP, presides over the formal negotiations process, helps to draft and facilitating agreements, represents the COP at various international forums, etc. – essentially serving as the public face of the process for a year. The COP president often pleads with Parties to be more ambitious in defining goals to address climate change and to work cooperatively and efficiently. There is a lot at stake for the host country each year to deliver on more than promises. At the opening plenary at COP28, His Excellency Sameh Shoukry, President of COP 27 turned the gavel over to His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, President of COP28 who pledged to
roll up his sleeves and work alongside the Parties. I won’t elaborate, but there are controversies about Al Jaber serving in this role given his deep ties with the oil industry in the United Arab Emirates.
<br /><br />The Party countries identify a delegation of negotiators or decision-makers to participate in the UNFCCC processes. The Party countries are also responsible for implementing the commitments made under the Convention or related agreements, financial contributions, completing mandatory reporting requirements, etc.
<br /><br />So, what about Moravian University’s role in all of this? We are an accredited Observer organization under the UNFCCC. Observers include non-governmental organizations, (NGOs), intergovernmental organizations (e.g. other United Nation units), businesses, universities, businesses, etc. (The press is a separate category and have different color badges than Parties or Observers for the COP.) NGOs make up what is more broadly known as civil society and help to ensure that diverse voices and perspectives are reflected in a range of dialogues and negotiations, and these organizations play an important role in grounding multilateral discussions in the everyday realities of people. <br /><br /></div><div>Observers can attend the official meetings, submit written statements prior to sessions, make oral statements, meet official government delegations, UN officers and other NGO representatives, and organize and attend parallel events that take place during the session (e.g. side events, pavilion programming, etc.). They participate in debates, interactive dialogues, and panel discussions, typically advocating for strong climate action or some related cause. Each observer organization aligns with one of nine constituency groups such as the environmental NGOs (ENGOs), business and industry (BINGOs), women and gender or the indigenous peoples’ organizations. Moravian University is affiliated with the research and independent NGOs or RINGOs along with other institutions of higher education, research organizations, think tanks, etc. This constituency doesn’t advocate for any specific position on an issue, but can provide expertise on key issues and expects that research evidence is used for decision making by the Parties.
<br /><br /></div><div>Observers are part of civil society – the totality of voluntary civic and social institutions that has shared purposes (e.g., solving the climate challenge, sustainable development, etc.). A healthy civil society comprised of NGOs, unions, academia, human rights organizations, etc.) is important for a democratic process and to hold governments accountable. Under the UNFCCC, this would include member nations or Parties and the Secretariat.
<br /><br />In the next post, I will provide an overview of some of the key issues being considered at COP28.</div>D. Husichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918907411597547421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-27648176341546525622023-12-01T21:13:00.000-08:002023-12-01T21:13:52.286-08:00Day 1: "Sitting on the Fence"<p> <span> My name is Zach Phillips, and I am currently a senior studying Environmental Policy & Economics at Moravian. I first learned about the UNFCCC conferences through a course titled "Climate Negotiations on the International Stage," which I had taken about a year ago during the fall semester of my junior year. Taught jointly by Dr. Husic and Dr. Binford, they introduced me to the concept of annual COP gatherings and allowed me to familiarize myself with what these meetings were all about. As I delved into relevant coursework, it became clear that the COP essentially serves as an opportunity for countries around the world to discuss, review, and take action in terms of their progress in achieving climate change mitigation goals. Presently, the COP remains a relevant subject in my coursework and studies, especially since I am currently enrolled in the Environmental Policy course taught by Dr. Husic.</span></p><p><span><span> I have the honor of spending my first international trip attending COP28 in Dubai, UAE. I specifically applied for my first passport to take advantage of this great opportunity. This year's conference is particularly important because it marks the halfway point between the Paris Agreement, which was introduced at COP21 in 2015 in Paris, France. For those who may not be familiar with the Paris Agreement, it is a treaty enacted with the goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celcius, and, even more ideal, to 1.5 degrees Celcius above pre-industrial temperatures.</span><br /></span></p><p><span><span><span> Upon arrival to the Dubai Expo City, where COP28 is being held, we checked in to receive our observer badges. It was a hot and sunny 85 degree day in Dubai, so waiting in line was a struggle as much of the venue is outdoors. Once we received our badges, we proceeded to the Blue Zone, where much of the negotiating action, side events, and panel discussions happen. As recommended to us, we stopped by a "pavilion" session hosted by Michigan Technological University where the topic of the day was centered around an environmental justice project that the university was involved with, known as "JUSTNORTH." The project asks the question, "how do we negotiate an equitable transition in the Arctic and beyond" when it comes to clean energy. As noted by one speaker, one of the goals of the project was to avoid the word "justice" from becoming a buzzword such as how the word "sustainability" has become. A point was also made on how academia can provide a framework in which governments can build upon policies and approaches to regulation. There is often a divide between what policymakers are doing, what governments are doing, and the expectations of local communities, hence the phrase of communities "sitting on the fence" of what's happening has been coined. One of the primary outcomes is a tool known as the Value Equity Analysis (VEA), which aims to bring stakeholders and rightholders together to a solution.</span><br /></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span> Later on, we attended the COP28 opening ceremony. This event included a concluding speech by the COP27 president, </span></span></span></span>Sameh Shoukry, where he addressed progress made toward COP27 goals since the end of the conference last year. After these remarks, we witnessed the passing of the gavel from the COP27 president to the new COP28 president, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, and finished our first day at COP28 by listening to some introductory remarks and pledges made by the new COP28 president before heading back on the Dubai Metro.</p><p>While the first day at my first COP initially feels overwhelming, I am excited for what is to come and to draw connections between what is being discussed at COP28 and what I am studying at Moravian. I hope to become more well-rounded throughout this journey in terms of the information that I absorb.</p>Zachary Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06133182883100562213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-67431205174603681452023-12-01T00:11:00.000-08:002023-12-01T00:11:54.918-08:00COP28: Day 1<p> Waking up on the first day was a bit of a challenge. The thirteen-hour flight did us no favors, but we woke up ready for the conference. Getting there took about a twenty-minute walk, followed by a forty-five-minute train ride on the metro. Once we arrived, we walked into the massive entrance to Expo-City. The venue for this year's COP is massive and requires plenty of walking. First, we needed to get our badges, which we needed our passports and our acknowledgment letter. From leaving Airbnb to getting to the entrance of the COP, it took nearly two and a half hours. Our first stop was heading over to the Michigan Tech University Pavillion.</p><p>The first discussion we went to was led by Roman Sidortsov, a research fellow at Sussex University and now an associate professor at MTU. Roman is a project leader for the project JUSTNORTH, whose main focus was to assist with the decision-making process between rightsholders and stakeholders in the Arctic. This project was created to help build a foundation for future sustainable energy sources in the Arctic (ex: hydroelectric, windmills, etc.). A big issue that lies between the rightholders vs. the stakeholders is that there isn't a way to quantify the importance of certain things. This is where JUSTNORTH has created a tool called JUSTscore to help with the negotiation processes. </p><p>The JUSTscore tool was made to help bridge ethics and personal value to a quantifiable value system. With the help of this tool, it can help certain activities that go on in the Arctic be an ethic-based decision rather than just an economical-based decision. </p><p>This dialogue was very interesting since it's something that I haven't had an initial interest in. Seeing that there was a way to bridge a connection between rights and stakeholders rather than just making an economic decision was something that I wasn't sure existed. This presentation was definitely more on the policy end of the spectrum of environmental science, but learning about this will help me be a more well-rounded individual once I enter the workforce. </p><p>We ended the day going to the Plenary, where the previous president of COP27 handed the torch to the new president, Sultan Al Jaber. I found a few things intriguing about his initial speech that will make the negotiations for this upcoming week interesting. One of the things that really stuck out was that Sultan Al Jaber emphasized the importance of fossil fuels when making a green transition. Sultan Al Jaber's case for oil and gas makes me concerned about the progress of this COP, especially considering that this conference is in a country that is heavily reliant on both of those fossil fuels for its economy. </p><p>After a long day, we headed back to the Airbnb, worked on some homework, got dinner, and went to bed. I'm looking forward to spending the week here and learning about the different branches of environmentalism and the different perspectives of people all over the world. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFUL3eHr553zO7zSrB3oIbr6-RcL96dol_EBELhDw-vDyEiObShzq7psYh5rT5rRymXR0vt3riBK52SLf24pOsdFccN-KqBi47O8xflySHQbTuFD7jmBcyrRnnLglLe4_9CjUMoC91mMMXcnVpXFzgHl6iJBKkjXoE0XMfyym3Pi2PaI_Y-vIDKkx21I/s4032/IMG_1234.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFUL3eHr553zO7zSrB3oIbr6-RcL96dol_EBELhDw-vDyEiObShzq7psYh5rT5rRymXR0vt3riBK52SLf24pOsdFccN-KqBi47O8xflySHQbTuFD7jmBcyrRnnLglLe4_9CjUMoC91mMMXcnVpXFzgHl6iJBKkjXoE0XMfyym3Pi2PaI_Y-vIDKkx21I/s320/IMG_1234.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2zZmLgVFNOO2Ket2woCxD8hQjvN1Pgl51lKIcL68MRBgZDnhGYKX9fXR_4u7XmhF3JcmAHO5cTLgOopq0lds1jT8qF5_-ZEgNn08BSvmNsjx_MV1JBuxN7UdyJ17egFuqRSN0Nw3nYL0MaAS1xPXKEzen7u2MnfE_LG1i69jK9MOCKxXBrsaBWgHTKI/s4032/IMG_1226.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2zZmLgVFNOO2Ket2woCxD8hQjvN1Pgl51lKIcL68MRBgZDnhGYKX9fXR_4u7XmhF3JcmAHO5cTLgOopq0lds1jT8qF5_-ZEgNn08BSvmNsjx_MV1JBuxN7UdyJ17egFuqRSN0Nw3nYL0MaAS1xPXKEzen7u2MnfE_LG1i69jK9MOCKxXBrsaBWgHTKI/s320/IMG_1226.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1y6aC-OjkKOlrIuQny55JSzwGYMxMkOxASI1KD9golUPxkREeRxcLMvguOhRmMYi3bR1mfXMLzOnk3n4SsqTtluTvXbkK28Oz3dOveHlm3IxPbMU852FUDMFyb6q609OiY2STkqNoWeYD4GUnlMqCKHzjbvEn-EDqI3rdO6C1xozmeRaLCEAu-7KLDs/s4032/IMG_1224.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1y6aC-OjkKOlrIuQny55JSzwGYMxMkOxASI1KD9golUPxkREeRxcLMvguOhRmMYi3bR1mfXMLzOnk3n4SsqTtluTvXbkK28Oz3dOveHlm3IxPbMU852FUDMFyb6q609OiY2STkqNoWeYD4GUnlMqCKHzjbvEn-EDqI3rdO6C1xozmeRaLCEAu-7KLDs/s320/IMG_1224.HEIC" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Jacob Donmoyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17348064253736282404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-28955515505895333432023-11-27T10:08:00.000-08:002023-11-27T10:08:45.466-08:00COP28: Jacob Donmoyer Pre-Conference<p> My name is Jacob Donmoyer, and I'm a Junior at Moravian University studying Environmental Science and Chemistry. I'll attend this year's COP in Dubai this upcoming week from November 28th to December 6th. I'll be using this platform to record my daily experiences of this event, and I'm excited to be a part of this historical moment in climate policy history. </p><p>Last year, I was fortunate to take a course at my University where we heavily discussed the topics regarding COP27. Since then, I've been fascinated with someday being a part of this experience. I got an email this past summer granting me the opportunity to participate in COP28, and I hopped on the opportunity. Even though I took a course where we discussed what happened during the COP, I really am going into this conference blind. There are some things that I'm really looking forward to seeing, such as climate finance, transformative technologies for climate action, and finding how governments can adjust to become more climate-capable. </p><p>I plan on going to graduate school for forestry, so learning about the government processes regarding climate change and the technology for climate mitigation has a lot to do with the field I'm pursuing. I hope to gain somewhat of an understanding of how the process of creating policies and international agreements is made. Gaining this understanding of how these processes go will help me be more well-rounded in the field I'm pursuing. </p><p>There are also a lot of speakers that I would like to see at some point, such as Clover Hogan, Jane Goodall, Mike Berners-Lee, and Hamza Yassin. I know I won't be in Dubai for some of their talks, but I plan to keep up with all their presentations and contribute my perspective. I'm particularly excited to hear about Clover Hogan's presentation, considering she is a young activist and a majority of her work is about eco-anxiety. </p><p>This is also my first time going overseas, so I'm sure there will be more cultural differences than what I'm used to. As of right now, I'm a solid 75% excited and 25% nervous, but I can't wait to be a part of this piece of history and keep the readers in the loop about my experiences. </p>Jacob Donmoyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17348064253736282404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-31703937092176343462022-11-16T07:50:00.002-08:002022-11-16T08:39:56.886-08:00A New Strategy to Build Sustained Peace?<p>Earlier this week (week #2 of COP27), I attended an event at the U.S. Center entitled <i>Fragility, Conflict, and Climate Change: A New Strategy to Build Sustained Peace</i>. Not only did the session title catch my attention, but also, in the introduction to the session, it was mentioned that our Department of Defense had its first ever delegation at a COP and their representative in the session was the <u>sustainability director</u> for the DOD. Last year, during a stakeholder roundtable with Gina McCarthy (then first White House National Climate Advisor for President Biden), the mandate requiring all agencies within the federal government to consider climate change in terms of solutions, national strategies, and efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of the U.S. government was discussed at length. (See a <a href="http://moraviancollegeatunfccc.blogspot.com/2021/11/anger-activism-action-and-oh-yes-us-is.html">previous post</a> about this event.) It appears that some of this is happening!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1dK2Lmj5kME7gTDXUTff3Y1S4H6ue2Xcx57cQfkosAltUWwovnJL89F4WEoivs1GwiRiOwDLyuwXHNeb2JDxi04-64qfyffBZaqD2RO7b6IBaaxQQBIyyCBsKdTXoPfWCaPv8FTSLqyD3-eZ7FAR2rxqGFZV5dYkSvhBl8HmDz_Q1C_INTDJFLIh/s4032/US%20center%20conflict_climate%20change.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1dK2Lmj5kME7gTDXUTff3Y1S4H6ue2Xcx57cQfkosAltUWwovnJL89F4WEoivs1GwiRiOwDLyuwXHNeb2JDxi04-64qfyffBZaqD2RO7b6IBaaxQQBIyyCBsKdTXoPfWCaPv8FTSLqyD3-eZ7FAR2rxqGFZV5dYkSvhBl8HmDz_Q1C_INTDJFLIh/w400-h300/US%20center%20conflict_climate%20change.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>As with every session at a COP, several sound-bytes and a lot of jargon and acronyms were used: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>HDP nexus (HDP = Humanitarian Development and Peace)</li><li>DRR (Disaster Risk and Reduction) </li><li>PREPARE </li><li>Emergency Adaptation and Resilience</li><li>Feed the Future </li><li>Global Fragility Act (I hadn’t heard of this before) </li><li>3D (Defense, Diplomacy, Development) or 5D (adding Defining Decade before the three previous terms)</li></ul>Instead of talking about the details of each of these, I have included some references at the end of the post. The "cliff notes" version is that to achieve peace, we need to provide development aid in conflict-prone regions, address food and water insecurity to prevent new conflict and displacement (or "human mobility" as is the phrase at COP27), and address climate change – <u>in an integrated fashion</u>. Apparently, there is now a commitment to interagency cooperation within the U.S. government representing a degree of collaboration that hasn’t happened in the past.<div><div><br /></div><div>One might ask whether it takes threats of war to move us to action on other fronts such as humanitarian aid or climate change. And for some reason, having representatives from US Agency for International Development and the DOD (aka Pentagon) on the stage together oddly reminded me of the very unsettling book by Dave Eggers, <u>The Parade</u>. (A partial description of this book from Amazon.com: <i>An unnamed country is leaving the darkness of a decade at war, and to commemorate the armistice the government commissions a new road connecting two halves of the state. Two men, foreign contractors from the same company, are sent to finish the highway.</i>) </div><div><br /></div><div>Setting aside the cynicism and looking at global problem-solving through the lens of a scientist, the idea of having science and foreign aid as arms of diplomacy and peacekeeping isn’t inherently a bad idea. The prestigious organization, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), even has a <a href="https://www.aaas.org/programs/center-science-diplomacy ">Center for Science Diplomacy</a>. Scientific discoveries can lead to clean energy technologies, carbon removal mechanisms, and climate-resilient agriculture as well as provide the data and monitoring for early warning systems. If we can overcome barriers such as intellectual property and technology transfer, innovative technologies arising from science <i>might </i>help address climate change mitigation and adaptation, protect livelihoods and lives, and enhance food security. Can sharing innovations from research and development be considered foreign aid? </div><div><br /></div><div>The U.S. Center panel discussion and these random post-session reflections have me thinking about how we, as educators, might prepare future diplomats and agency staffers who can work across agencies, national boundaries, and disciplinary specializations. Alas, too often, those of us in higher education still work in silos (disciplinary-specific departments). Distinct packets of information are taught through these departments, sometimes even more finely subdivided (e.g., biochemistry vs. ecology as opposed to thinking about "life sciences" holistically). There are, of course, examples of campus interdisciplinary centers developed around key themes, and some academic programs are, by nature, dependent on interdisciplinary collaborations, including the environmental sciences and studies. But in such programs, do we have students work at the interface of policymaking, consider transnational-boundary issues, or evaluate the ethical dilemmas of technological “solutions” especially if they are implemented and impact people who have had no say in the decision to deploy? In higher education speak, if a program like environmental studies includes an array of requirements across disciplines, are these requirements integrated in intentional ways? Do students understand why they are taking the different requirements and the interrelationships between what they are learning in different courses? Do they realize that the information can and should be applied to solve complex global problems? Do students (and faculty) feel comfortable working across language and cultural differences – both across disciplines and national borders? </div><div><br /></div><div>The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) are advocates of liberal education and a 2020 publication entitled “What Liberal Education Looks Like” which is described as: </div><div><blockquote>In distilling the principles, practices, and contemporary challenges of liberal education, this signature AAC&U publication presents a clear vision of the learning all students need for success in an uncertain future and for addressing the compelling issues we face as a democracy and as a global community – regardless of where they study, what they major in, or what their career goals are. </blockquote></div><div>The American Council on Education, in discussing their global learning outcomes, refers to international education and <u>education diplomacy</u>. </div><div><br /></div><div>At Moravian University, we have had a unique cross-cutting academic program known as InFocus that had its roots in discussions going back to 2010. In my opinion, it was a rare example of interdisciplinary teaching, scholarship, debate, collaboration, problem-solving, service, and advocacy. The program focused on 4 key thematic areas reflecting grand challenges of the 21st century:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Poverty and Inequality</li><li>Sustainability and Eliminating Environmental Degradation</li><li>Health and Justice</li><li>War and Peace </li></ul>This program was named to the Phi Kappa Phi Honorable Mention list for the 2020 Excellence in Innovation Award which, according to the <a href="https://www.phikappaphi.org/about/news/2020/05/11/phi-kappa-phi-announces-finalists-for-excellence-in-innovation-award#commentsWidget">Phi Kappa Phi website</a> is “given once per biennium, recognizes one institution of higher learning for achievement in finding powerful answers to important local, regional, national or global challenges.” In the portfolio submitted for this recognition (<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">CONFRONTING GLOBAL CHALLENGES: 2020 Phi Kappa Phi Excellence in Innovation Award Portfolio)</span>, the program was described as follows: </div><div><blockquote>InFocus grew from a 2010 series of dialogues held by small groups of faculty at Moravian College who pondered the question how can we better link our educational mission with the real problems and needs that face all of us, both locally and globally? We deliberated about the most pressing sets of problems facing humanity, and how to shift our common educational life to seriously address them. We questioned how to link research, advocacy, and action; increase multidisciplinarity; and multiply alliances between our college, the local community, and the wider world. We stressed the need for students to envision their education in accordance with their lives beyond the college campus. This critical dialogue led to the eventual spearheading of an open-ended, ambitious cross-college initiative, InFocus at Moravian College, that would be organized around four yearly rotating “Centers of Investigation.” Each year the Moravian College community dedicates itself to one “challenge area” facing humanity that demands greater investigation, understanding, imagination, collaboration, and advocacy if we are to build toward a more sustainable, just, and democratic society. </blockquote></div><div>For reasons many of us cannot understand, the upper administration recently announced that this would be the last year for InFocus. The stated reasons were that this program it is not something that attracts students to the institution or retains them (although I have no idea how they know that), and it wasn't included in the institutional strategic plan. (For that matter, neither are most of the existing academic programs.) What those of us who have participated in the program know, through program assessments as well as student testimonials, is that students demonstrate intellectual growth and have a greatly expanded view of the world and a sense that they <i>can</i> make a difference in that world. It is more difficult to measure or even articulate what value this has had for faculty, but, personally, the impact has been profound.</div><div><br /></div><div>Given the theme of the event I attended at the U.S. Center, it is perhaps ironic that the InFocus theme this final year is "War and Peace". In an InFocus event earlier this year, one of the faculty co-directors handed me a pin that says
“The more you sweat for peace, the less you bleed in war.”</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAVAuC1UEsopz0iCkBJg7G4-oZfPA3S7EkYWc7ey15dFx_v30EtzTqlw6vW_5HlnrQxEfbVPdFOHaL3n35tECR7natFNO0AaQLHmA_RBvXGOkWt-IjNIN94DDwAfXdsckQUzzEk1a7A99_qJwGyLtFG4mMVYc50Q9BPoevGOVQ-QX_5wLucNcyZw7S/s2770/war%20and%20peace%20pin.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2509" data-original-width="2770" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAVAuC1UEsopz0iCkBJg7G4-oZfPA3S7EkYWc7ey15dFx_v30EtzTqlw6vW_5HlnrQxEfbVPdFOHaL3n35tECR7natFNO0AaQLHmA_RBvXGOkWt-IjNIN94DDwAfXdsckQUzzEk1a7A99_qJwGyLtFG4mMVYc50Q9BPoevGOVQ-QX_5wLucNcyZw7S/w400-h363/war%20and%20peace%20pin.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I am wearing this pin here at COP27<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div>I doubt that whoever created this slogan was linking climate change (global warming) and peace. However, perhaps some of that sweat equity needs to be directed towards addressing climate change which, in turn, will reduce conflict and come with many other co-benefits (food and water insecurity, better health, sustainable development, etc.) </div><div><br /></div><div>[An interesting note: 5-5 ½ % of global greenhouse gas emissions are from war and military action. I don't have a source, but this was mentioned in the Emissions Gap 2022 report launch here at COP27 when someone asked about the consequences of the Russian - Ukrainian war on climate action. My friend Heidi Svestre, a glaciologist, noted that one consequence -- largely because Russia is currently chairing the Arctic Council -- is that the work of the council has been suspended, including critical polar research in the Arctic.]</div><div><br /></div><u>
Some sources for further reading</u><div><br /></div><div>On the humanitarian-development-peace nexus:<div><br /></div></div>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">A <a href="https://www.fsnnetwork.org/resource/humanitarian-development-peace-hdp-nexus-challenges-implementation">short brief</a> entitled The Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus: Challenges in implementation</blockquote><div><br /></div>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">A <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/world/humanitarian-development-peace-nexus-what-does-it-mean-multi-mandated-organizations">report</a> entitled The Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus: What does it mean for multi-mandated organizations? </blockquote><div><br /></div><div>On PREPARE:</div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">The <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/PREPARE-Action-Plan.pdf">PREPARE action plan</a> (a U.S. initiative)</div></blockquote><div><br /></div>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/sep-15-2022-action-plan-released-presidents-emergency-plan-adaptation">Action Plan Released</a> for the President's Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE)</blockquote><p><a href="https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/oct-12-2022-statement-administrator-power-launch-national-security-strategy">National Security Strategy</a> (interagency cooperation)</p><p>On the Global Fragility Act</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">The 3 D's <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2020/05/diplomacy-development-and-defense-officials-pledge-advance-us-fragility">publication</a> </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.state.gov/2022-prologue-to-the-united-states-strategy-to-prevent-conflict-and-promote-stability/">2022 Prologue</a> to the United States Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">The <a href="https://www.allianceforpeacebuilding.org/globalfragilityact">Global Fragility Act</a> </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">A <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/us-announces-global-fragility-act-countries-and-region-finally-102986">press release</a> on this act </p></blockquote></div>D. Husichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918907411597547421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-46558326428776138622022-11-10T08:32:00.000-08:002022-11-10T08:32:32.313-08:00Hotel Prices and the Local Economy<p> This year, one of the early concerns for attendees was finding affordable lodging. Many booked hotel rooms months ago, only to find that the reservations were cancelled and they were rebooked at much higher prices. Rooms booked for $100 are now booking for $500 or more. The ECO-NGO Newsletter writes that "COP observers have the right to a safe, secure and accessible accommodation, at the prices agreed to when reservations were confirmed, and not to be left out on the streets." To me, that seems like a common-sense request ... especially since I had booked a year ago and was afraid until the moment we checked in that I would be one of the people on the street! </p><p>However, today I took a taxi to another part of town for a sponsored panel discussion. I ended up at a hotel that had only a skeleton security staff in what looked like a once-thriving but now abandoned part of the city. There were no residents at the hotel -- they were renting out a couple of meeting rooms to an organization for meetings. This is the other story of Sharm el-Sheikh. Many of us are staying at the (mostly newer) hotels that have managed to stay open. But daily we pass dozens of abandoned construction sites left undone. Other hotels and venues are simply boarded up. Other than the construction of the COP facilities, there is no current construction. </p><p>According to my taxi driver, Sharm el-Sheikh was booming in 2015. Resorts were being built, and the infrastructure was updated. The first blow was when the Islamic State claimed responsibility for downing a Russian plane, which caused a six-year moratorium on direct flights. Then, COVID hit tourism hard, and everything was put on hold. Just as tourism started up again, with Russians and Ukrainians representing the bulk of the tourists, Russia invaded Ukraine. I remember reading <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/world/middleeast/ukraine-russia-egypt-tourists.html?searchResultPosition=21" target="_blank">an article</a> at the time talking about how the resorts were beginning to recommend different restaurants to the tourists, in an effort to keep the peace. So now, there are no Ukrainian tourists, and the Russians are much fewer in number. There are some tourists from other countries, but not as many.</p><p>In addition to the severe reduction in tourists for Sharm, Egypt is also facing its own financial concerns. Six years ago, Egypt was forced to devalue its currency and take out a loan from the International Monetary Fund. Like much of the world, they are experiencing inflation, reaching 18% in September. It is estimated that the Egyptian pound has lost up to 25% of its value against the US dollar in 2022 alone, and foreign investments are dwindling. </p><p>With this backdrop, I am just a bit more understanding about the letter from the Egyptian Hotel Association to the Sharm-el-Sheik hotels describing the UNFCCC as a "unique tourism opportunity." This letter, as reported in the <a href="https://climatenetwork.org/resource/eco-3-cop27/" target="_blank">ECO-NGO Newsletter</a>, suggested the higher pricing models, with five-star hotels charging at least $500/night. With much of the pricing from taxis to meals stated in US dollars, the COP must have been seen as a temporary relief from a dismal outlook. </p><p>Unfortunately, there have not been appropriate alternatives for the young activists or others for whom even $120/night is out of reach, and suggestions like camping venues were turned down by the Egyptian organizers. While I understand the price gouging a bit from the local perspective, there must be more done to be inclusive and inviting to the civil society observers. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnvE4KSRJ6IBlUXzQoubJjvIIcsogyqvsxOHa45HCFnBigRcG2Foj39vve2jE8wLLsh8T-fd7TVmAmzKyNPTM1ZqfDzKXEiFXMB4aAbdXActuAEE6fplfXgQa2dTIXGVU9ImQtvc_OMlb1jNJje9q0kp1g_5C28mOHom3XoPMY36Dy8tgjqIMv-Xfi/s4032/abandoned%20hotel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnvE4KSRJ6IBlUXzQoubJjvIIcsogyqvsxOHa45HCFnBigRcG2Foj39vve2jE8wLLsh8T-fd7TVmAmzKyNPTM1ZqfDzKXEiFXMB4aAbdXActuAEE6fplfXgQa2dTIXGVU9ImQtvc_OMlb1jNJje9q0kp1g_5C28mOHom3XoPMY36Dy8tgjqIMv-Xfi/s320/abandoned%20hotel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ389aHzeX56UDS60l4qUmAVncLsw3c6wvcg-mP9JUVQJPpAy_UX034CIXnhLLq-gJ3u2m_9I5bajcGe9uGkQU-2QRDNXXn4HC4B86S5zQ9H4qjHCaQCx4mZxtJckldYFCQp7kXfd2cKUPQbJ1jJqOmlqJPa3krRaVnEwArnKFjPskVSwlOGkuLjGT/s4032/abandoned%20town.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ389aHzeX56UDS60l4qUmAVncLsw3c6wvcg-mP9JUVQJPpAy_UX034CIXnhLLq-gJ3u2m_9I5bajcGe9uGkQU-2QRDNXXn4HC4B86S5zQ9H4qjHCaQCx4mZxtJckldYFCQp7kXfd2cKUPQbJ1jJqOmlqJPa3krRaVnEwArnKFjPskVSwlOGkuLjGT/s320/abandoned%20town.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Hilde Binfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11562011178759048726noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-23014741323515358762022-11-09T06:36:00.000-08:002022-11-09T06:36:23.229-08:00Will We Be Drawn to Action With Art?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Most years, Diane Husic and I teach a course about climate change and negotiations, and we have always discussed the importance of art for communicating climate change. In this blog, we have highlighted art installations at the COPs over the past decade. This year, I was happy to see that art was highlighted at the Egyptian pavilion. As the host country, Egypt has one of the most prominent and largest pavilions at the COP. This year, they have chosen to exhibit the "natural heritage, biodiversity, and Egyptian culture linking humanity to nature through the expression of art." There are four or five large areas in the pavilion, and walking through them is much like strolling through a museum. Check out the "Pava Bean Bronze Sculpture" or the lovable "Garden Creatures" at the base of the "Tree of Mary." <p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihMS2CdECmFvKH0bIoRwzfUTo9-d6nae5r7QaYkzaKiRBSmaKFh0AcJXl0g30B_uofccU-u-z-N4eTnmnKB1wzYFntKXAKcJn8Sxc1fe8LvKsYonOrjJFlKBMGw8AlbDhQmiVcVnL3Bcv0DVDoVRx4E65tj2zc4GvVDIGiHG8dlIIO3wfj8KL-5Otg/s4032/fava%20beans%20jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihMS2CdECmFvKH0bIoRwzfUTo9-d6nae5r7QaYkzaKiRBSmaKFh0AcJXl0g30B_uofccU-u-z-N4eTnmnKB1wzYFntKXAKcJn8Sxc1fe8LvKsYonOrjJFlKBMGw8AlbDhQmiVcVnL3Bcv0DVDoVRx4E65tj2zc4GvVDIGiHG8dlIIO3wfj8KL-5Otg/s320/fava%20beans%20jpg.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1_1HJMCzCAF61i_Q6EdKuqQmVq8SXeT_WDh4Kxtkqm2lPnxL1Xswp20cJEF3H05v7LQT2IpLqhwNpKQOv4YIZ2Q-XnNzQerdIXU-Ghz0-L2xQA-7bnfXyLylPsH7UiWbNrlkrISl78clEOvmtafHkspUASZ0QZDMtE9WRV9WqaLC9wQnnFEYw3E7/s4032/garden%20creatures%20jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1_1HJMCzCAF61i_Q6EdKuqQmVq8SXeT_WDh4Kxtkqm2lPnxL1Xswp20cJEF3H05v7LQT2IpLqhwNpKQOv4YIZ2Q-XnNzQerdIXU-Ghz0-L2xQA-7bnfXyLylPsH7UiWbNrlkrISl78clEOvmtafHkspUASZ0QZDMtE9WRV9WqaLC9wQnnFEYw3E7/w240-h320/garden%20creatures%20jpg.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />So, yes, despite my love and support for the arts, and my genuine belief that arts have an important role in communicating climate change, I'm a bit puzzled. At the nearby pavilions for UK/Scotland (COP 26 host) and United Arab Emirates (future COP 28 host), the exhibits are about education and solutions. Scotland shows off a virtual reality platform, with its awe-inspiring "Space Safari," while UAE features interactive exhibits on solutions ranging from mangroves to hydrogen. For COP 27, however, Egypt is not using their platform to tout their achievements. I appreciate that there is a lot of discussion about "nature-based solutions," but these artworks are more of a celebration of nature. So is that the message? We need to celebrate and preserve our natural world? It may be. The artwork is beautiful, and hopefully it will inspire the parties to increase their ambition to "keep 1.5 degrees alive."<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjel3wyC7PdthwOK6xnv9hg77eJFo-AJrMDN9xuudVHaWv-NOp9MhnE6Nt5QjkNkjCy9co1rExwfxA7tUpyPPTUiHwvRn6f0z0yzNvhul1BGGVb-a7tnh25n03h3qazdYVPqGNwVQ1S4_H-KpNGPdyFPQVFQ0rFes9tQPyBqEbzKfyPJFUB_fTgTUBm/s4032/virtual%20reality%20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjel3wyC7PdthwOK6xnv9hg77eJFo-AJrMDN9xuudVHaWv-NOp9MhnE6Nt5QjkNkjCy9co1rExwfxA7tUpyPPTUiHwvRn6f0z0yzNvhul1BGGVb-a7tnh25n03h3qazdYVPqGNwVQ1S4_H-KpNGPdyFPQVFQ0rFes9tQPyBqEbzKfyPJFUB_fTgTUBm/w150-h200/virtual%20reality%20.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9chtDc6JrrnuJbvWdhsuk5uLZsodcTQtEAMpKnIE8OLtjy8O4jFMHZ9ZDTooDj5HVe0wyRBa5NIvQvMXgC9K2MK0St3qUpxyVOfDz5JCaIvHcXlpAd6ADMrp27jVhpiM2WAdLKbD7d7UU47xOO2a700yrozEdA7aqSkQdJWjD3pQc3mAoDoljNWEH/s4032/UAE%20hydrogen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9chtDc6JrrnuJbvWdhsuk5uLZsodcTQtEAMpKnIE8OLtjy8O4jFMHZ9ZDTooDj5HVe0wyRBa5NIvQvMXgC9K2MK0St3qUpxyVOfDz5JCaIvHcXlpAd6ADMrp27jVhpiM2WAdLKbD7d7UU47xOO2a700yrozEdA7aqSkQdJWjD3pQc3mAoDoljNWEH/w150-h200/UAE%20hydrogen.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgREZ9icdVGUoq4jK7oH433yx_cV719iw1UYCdrUo9s1vv4ir17WRqRqhmvAJCicOfyAbcF9UXWg3MJY1xCjLcOnp5UyUqkTXpDw91JpF6fV9mdxM3d8ra5np67xZ9kBFVFKbsthjPUZ1OxEa5IHPE7OXpbHnE-oUBDJp0ex-g9LUeNGlvVbd5Z3x7E/s4032/UAE%20mangroves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgREZ9icdVGUoq4jK7oH433yx_cV719iw1UYCdrUo9s1vv4ir17WRqRqhmvAJCicOfyAbcF9UXWg3MJY1xCjLcOnp5UyUqkTXpDw91JpF6fV9mdxM3d8ra5np67xZ9kBFVFKbsthjPUZ1OxEa5IHPE7OXpbHnE-oUBDJp0ex-g9LUeNGlvVbd5Z3x7E/w150-h200/UAE%20mangroves.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div>Hilde Binfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11562011178759048726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-49949571339399897952022-11-08T12:24:00.000-08:002022-11-08T12:24:15.310-08:00Welcome to COP27: Another year, another COP<p> </p>
<div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiorBn7LeraTeEftJP9mHSoMx0pmZpLNjLX6muEK1J2uLme9kZ-RwQvmyHYvsvZ41spRgeoFPK6xkTxtpow5XXsHUne5fmP3QQTMWoXaAUjdA5H9SfRVR8PIlcACwtfNCp3O2yhOynrzD5avfNTVLltHkkEYIPd_vIwNoEXbP86j-WIif1NqpYWJXJFCA/s1200/red%20sea_ENB_IISD.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiorBn7LeraTeEftJP9mHSoMx0pmZpLNjLX6muEK1J2uLme9kZ-RwQvmyHYvsvZ41spRgeoFPK6xkTxtpow5XXsHUne5fmP3QQTMWoXaAUjdA5H9SfRVR8PIlcACwtfNCp3O2yhOynrzD5avfNTVLltHkkEYIPd_vIwNoEXbP86j-WIif1NqpYWJXJFCA/w400-h266/red%20sea_ENB_IISD.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2QtpC__8aQpGYRR_Y7s2TCV82qY4l-b1HGnA5G5vrYVqyU5rf4zukgfGzU271ypKLjdQKqhcL6KtXT62LgV0OB1TSZnnQwQGLxPKx8Yy2aDkePwZaxNbXD5hTSUgz5NnDOs3Ro25umZK8FpckQl1h5LhuH83u02V97WNzc1P9tS3mOZLi_NOd8p4ftQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="62" data-original-width="936" height="21" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2QtpC__8aQpGYRR_Y7s2TCV82qY4l-b1HGnA5G5vrYVqyU5rf4zukgfGzU271ypKLjdQKqhcL6KtXT62LgV0OB1TSZnnQwQGLxPKx8Yy2aDkePwZaxNbXD5hTSUgz5NnDOs3Ro25umZK8FpckQl1h5LhuH83u02V97WNzc1P9tS3mOZLi_NOd8p4ftQ" width="320" /></a></div><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>Since 2009, Moravian University has sent a delegation of observers to the COPs (Conference of the Parties) – the annual meetings of the signatories (“Parties”) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or UNFCCC. In a <a href="https://cop27.eg/#/speeches/president-speech">welcome message</a> to COP27 attendees, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt said: </div><div><blockquote><i>COP27 in the green city of Sharm El-Sheikh this year marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In the thirty years since, the world has come a long way in the fight against climate change and its negative impacts on our planet; we are now able to better understand the science behind climate change, better assess its impacts, and better develop tools to address its causes and consequences. </i></blockquote></div><div>I couldn’t help but be reminded of a T-shirt that youth delegates were wearing at COP15 in Copenhagen – our first COP: </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30tzCszmsBMo-C6QU1vZ-CFi99nc2xImkk8QPwCLW9fzfns3YzLXNxC8JfUJ5f3xPiRBdbijgoHSGqHsZLcHpH4QaK29lphEQFv82gakeSRDApnM5GfBGMk9pUFBGKwbFvLpUUx8lJfT6c0QYAB3Wh8GitK05Gw34MRUP4eRFuppwf_iftIZMLdSrgg/s351/Tshirt.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="351" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30tzCszmsBMo-C6QU1vZ-CFi99nc2xImkk8QPwCLW9fzfns3YzLXNxC8JfUJ5f3xPiRBdbijgoHSGqHsZLcHpH4QaK29lphEQFv82gakeSRDApnM5GfBGMk9pUFBGKwbFvLpUUx8lJfT6c0QYAB3Wh8GitK05Gw34MRUP4eRFuppwf_iftIZMLdSrgg/w400-h266/Tshirt.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>And here we are, 13 years later, still negotiating. Those teenagers are now likely in their early 30’s debating if they should have families, how to work and live in a sustainable manner, and worried about not only their future and well-being (climate grief is high), but also the fate of future generations. </div><div><br /></div><div>President El-Sisi continued in his <a href="https://cop27.eg/#/speeches/president-speech">message</a>:</div><div><blockquote><i>Thirty years and twenty-six COPs later, we now have a much clearer understanding of the extent of the potential climate crisis and what needs to be done to address it effectively. The science is there and clearly shows the urgency with which we must act regarding rapidly reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, taking necessary steps to assist those in need of support to adapt to the negative impacts of climate change, and finding the appropriate formula that would ensure the availability of requisite means of implementation that are indispensable for developing countries in making their contributions to this global effort, especially in the midst of the successive international crises, including the ongoing food security crisis exacerbated by climate change, desertification and water scarcity, especially in Africa that suffers the most impacts. </i></blockquote></div><div>Indeed, there is clear science about what is changing and what the likely long-term impacts of climate change will be on human health, cities, infrastructure, biodiversity, and so on. The <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/what-is-the-united-nations-framework-convention-on-climate-change">UNFCCC</a>, one of three “conventions” or international agreements related to the environment that came out of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, bound member states to <i>act in the interests of human safety even in the face of scientific uncertainty</i>. At that time, the first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report had been published in 1990 and there was still much to understand about the science of climate change. Nonetheless, 198 countries (Parties) – including the United States – ratified the UNFCCC which was then enacted in 1994. It had as its ultimate aim to <i>prevent “dangerous” human interference with the climate system</i>. Now, three decades later, the three working groups of the IPCC have published the sixth assessment report (<a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/">AR6</a>, 2021 – 2022), and there is significantly better scientific information and strong consensus about the anthropogenic causes of climate change. </div><div><br /></div><div>There appear to be four main goals of COP27 related to mitigation, adaptation, finance, and collaboration.</div><div><br /></div><div>1. <b>Mitigation</b>: As always, mitigation is a key focus -- that is, the aim to limit global warming to below 2°C, relative to pre-industrial levels. Ideally, ambitious action by all countries in the world will keep the global temperature to no more than 1.5°C warmer. Throughout the airport and on the drive to the hotel, there were signs referring to <i>ambition to action</i> – an apparent rallying cry for COP27. The Mitigation Work Programme (paragraph 27 of decision 1/CMA.3 of the Paris Agreement) calls for an urgent scaling up for mitigation ambition and implementation. The aim is to have countries submit lower GHG emission development strategies than their original NDCs (nationally determined contributions) by COP27 – i.e., low-emission and long-term strategies. You can learn more about this through the <a href="https://secondnature.org/cop27-webinar-series/">third webinar in a series</a> that was developed by the Research and Independent NGOs (RINGOs), Second Nature, and the University Climate Change Coalition (UC3) from October 24, 2022. </div><div><br /></div><div>It should be noted that a <a href="https://unfccc.int/news/climate-plans-remain-insufficient-more-ambitious-action-needed-now ">report</a> published ahead of COP27 shows that while countries are “bending the curve of global greenhouse gas emissions downward,” efforts remain insufficient to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C by the end of the century. In other words, to avoid the worse impacts of climate change, more ambitious goals and action are needed. Interestingly, according to a <a href="https://enb.iisd.org/sharm-el-sheikh-climate-change-conference-cop27-06Nov2022? ">report</a> from the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (IISD), </div><div><blockquote><i>COP 26 President Alok Sharma reflected on achievements made at, and since, COP 26, noting that over 90% of the global economy is now covered by net-zero targets. </i></blockquote></div><div>In contrast, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Hoesung Lee, confirmed on November 6th that the world is not on track to meet the 1.5°C target. Alas, the political posturing and the science are at odds. Shocking.</div><div><br /></div><div>2. <b>Adaptation</b>: The <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5749132871690404128/3598436280622660580#">original framework</a> recognized that climate change impacts will be inevitable and thus there was a need for adaptation as well as mitigation: </div><div><blockquote><i>We must plan for the adaptation of natural and human systems to the unavoidable impacts of a warming climate. </i></blockquote></div><div>In an <a href="https://unfccc.int/event/ipcc-event-assessing-adaptation-needs-findings-from-the-ipcc-wgii-contribution-to-its-sixth">IPPC event</a> at COP27 entitled "Assessing adaptation needs: Findings from the IPCC Working Group II contribution to its
Sixth Assessment Report," adaptation needs were defined as "circumstances requiring action to ensure safety of population and security of assets in response to climate impacts." This includes adapting to extreme weather events and enhancing resilience of communities, including those most vulnerable to the impacts. Ideally, there should be a focus on disaster and risk reduction. Assessing adaptation needs is best done at the local and regional levels; for instance, what is needed to adapt to areas prone to flooding is quite different from what regions dealing with extreme drought should be doing. Coastal areas and small islands have unique challenges due to sea level rise, salinization, and storm surge damage. The process should be participatory in nature – utilizing <u>local</u> expertise and indigenous knowledge. This is not the stuff of academic, peer-reviewed publications. The need for a greater focus on adaptation has become more evident the longer we delay ambitious mitigation measures. In the 6th assessment report of the IPCC, there is increased attention on maladaptation – unintended negative impacts from adaptive responses such as having plantation forests (versus native forests) that are monocultures, absorb less carbon, and diminish biodiversity. Currently, there is very little evidence of implementation of truly transformative adaptation measures to date and there has been little monitoring and evaluation for accountability and learning on what works and what does not. </div><div><br /></div><div>In just two days, I have heard quite a bit about putting "people at the center" of negotiations and actions and "climate-resilient development." At the IPCC event, it was noted that adaptation cannot be addressed in isolation from mitigation and sustainable development; or in the words of one of the IPCC WG II authors, Siri Eriksen: “We cannot adapt our way out of climate change.” Eriksen went on to discuss the need for an integrated process across society. </div><div><br /></div><div>3. <b>Finance</b>: Countries have yet to achieve the finance goals of the Paris Agreement (2015) of annual contributions of USD 100 billion. There are existing (and sometimes unmet) pledges dating back to Copenhagen (COP15, 2009) and Cancun (COP16, 2010). Such finance is critical to meet the clean development needs of Africa, the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) – all being hit hard by climate change impacts despite having done little to contribute to historic greenhouse gas emissions. The often contentious debate over Loss and Damage (i.e., who pays for the consequences of climate change) also continues. Today, I bumped into a friend, Marlene Achoki, who I met at a Community Based Adaptation conference in Uganda many years ago. She is now a Party (official country negotiator). I asked her what her country's priorities are for COP27. The answer: finance and loss and damage.</div><div><br /></div><div>As I write about this particular COP27 goal, I can’t help but think of the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk and how that $44 billion could have been put to such better uses. </div><div><br /></div><div>4. <b>Collaboration</b>: There are many forms of collaboration: private and public partnerships, community stakeholders working together, global collaborations, scientists and decision-makers, etc. In other words, we need "one international community working for the common good of our shared planet and humanity." From <a href="https://unfccc.int/news/cop27-in-sharm-el-sheikh-to-focus-on-delivering-on-the-promises-of-paris ">UNFCCC COP27 news</a>:</div><div><blockquote><i>The advancement of partnership and collaboration will help deliver our four goals and ensure the world is adopting more a resilient, and sustainable economic model where humans are at the center of climate talks.
The UN negotiations are consensus-based, and reaching agreement will require inclusive and active participation from all stakeholders.
Governments, the private sector and civil society need to work, in tandem, to transform the way in which we interact with our planet. We must introduce new solutions and innovations that help alleviate the adverse impacts of climate change. We also need to replicate and rapidly upscale all other climate-friendly solutions towards implementation in developing countries. </i></blockquote></div><div><blockquote><i>The Egyptian COP27 Presidency has set out an ambitious vision for this COP that puts human needs at the heart of our global efforts to address climate change. The Presidency intends to focus the world’s attention on key elements that address some of the most fundamental needs of people everywhere, including water security, food security, health and energy security.
Sameh Shoukry, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and COP27 President said: “We’re gathering this year at a time when global climate action is at a watershed moment. Multilateralism is being challenged by geopolitics, spiraling prices, and growing financial crises, while several countries battered by the pandemic have barely recovered, and severe and depleting climate change-induced disasters are becoming more frequent. </i></blockquote></div><div>With that reference to geopolitics, I was reminded of both Christian Parenti's book: Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the Geography of Violence and the ongoing, senseless Russia – Ukraine war. Besides the unfathomable toll on human lives, infrastructure, and the environment, there has been a global focus on disruption to fossil fuel exports from Russia, the destruction of energy grid in Ukraine and threats to nuclear power plants, and loss of food security with critical shipments of grain from Ukraine being used as a political bargaining chip. </div><div><br /></div><div>The first part of the high-level segment of COP 27 (and CMP 17 and CMA 4 -- lots of UNFCCC jargon) is happening during the Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit from Monday, 7 November to Tuesday,
8 November 2022. Delegates in that plenary room or watching virtually will hear statements from Heads of State and Government or sometimes a Vice President designee.
The list of speakers includes the brand new prime minister of the UK Rishi Sunuk (interestingly, there were also sightings of Boris Johnson in the room) and there will even be a video message from Mr. Volodymyr Selenskyy, President of Ukraine. Noticeably absent from the list of speakers is the president (or VP) of the United States (perhaps due to campaigning for key elections). President Biden will, however, arrive later in the week. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today is election day back in the U.S. and it has been a contentious campaign season, even though it is for mid-term elections. This isn’t the first time we have been at a COP during election day (I voted by mail both times, for the record). The most notable was in 2016, the presidential election when we also were in northern Africa (Morocco that year) and we woke up to the news that Donald Trump had defeated Hilary Clinton. For several reasons, including ones related to climate change and global relations amidst a campaign season of xenophobic and deeply divisive comments, the mood was extremely dark. I was prompted to write three blog posts which spoke to the mood at the time:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://moraviancollegeatunfccc.blogspot.com/2016/11/an-accidental-ambassador.html">An Accidental Ambassador</a> (also published for Huffington Post)</li><li><a href="http://moraviancollegeatunfccc.blogspot.com/2016/11/day-3-at-cop22-part-ii-trying-to-make.html ">Day 3 at COP22 Part II</a>: Trying to make sense of it all</li><li><a href="http://moraviancollegeatunfccc.blogspot.com/2016/11/moral-courage_16.html">Moral Courage</a></li></ul>It remains to be seen what I will write in 2022 post-elections. </div>D. Husichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918907411597547421noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-75550701743475315172021-11-08T12:14:00.005-08:002021-11-08T12:18:44.175-08:00Anger, activism, action and oh yes, the U.S. is back!<p>I was involved in a lively discussion over the weekend with students and others about Greta and whether <a href="https://www.rsn.org/001/greta-thunberg-slams-cop26-as-a-failure-at-youth-protest-in-glasgow.html">her anger and negativism about the COP</a> is helping or hurting the climate movement. I totally understand the frustration and anger of the youth, but as someone who has been following climate change science for decades and attending the COPs since 2009, my perspective on progress is perhaps a bit different. The official deliberations that take place at the COPs send strong signals to markets and the private sector. Both innovative advancements in clean energy and the major drop in the pricing of solar and wind over the past decade have been remarkable. According to comments made by John Kerry and Al Gore here at the COP, in the past year, 90% of the electricity that came online globally was from clean, renewable sources. Numerous corporations publicly display sustainability and climate change goals on their websites, and most have hired a sustainability director and sometimes a full team within the organization. Pressure to do so has come from consumers and from the board room. While the political maneuvering and the slow pace of international decision-making can be frustrating, I sincerely believe that these COP sessions keep pressure on governments and the private sector to continue their work towards critical climate action.
<br /><br />After the absence of the U.S. from the Paris Agreement for a few years under the last administration, and therefore, our relative inaction in the climate sphere, including at the COPs, the proverbial eyes of the world are on us now. What is particularly obvious to those of us on the ground in Glasgow is that the U.S. is here in full force: in the negotiation sessions, at high level events, at the U.S. Pavilion (which didn’t exist for a few years), and at the U.S. Climate Action Center.
<br /><br />Gina McCarthy was the head of the EPA under the Obama Administration and now serves as the first White House National Climate Advisor under U.S. President Joe Biden. I had heard her speak at conferences in the past and was always impressed. So when I had the opportunity to participate in a small group roundtable discussion with her last week, I was pretty excited.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1x45vY3bDsXPqHb_kkxaQEf3T5_d3Xi-fOh_Nnr-MKKo0-OQN1DQM5GctOVeYhAxL8Pkb9Mme4GBC5BzA2s6IwjwaNgJJ-dNjTWkr5KDqbEaYuyllXmuhdWcMwth6RNLtub-tjpCnfo/s2048/Gina+and+Esther.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1x45vY3bDsXPqHb_kkxaQEf3T5_d3Xi-fOh_Nnr-MKKo0-OQN1DQM5GctOVeYhAxL8Pkb9Mme4GBC5BzA2s6IwjwaNgJJ-dNjTWkr5KDqbEaYuyllXmuhdWcMwth6RNLtub-tjpCnfo/w300-h400/Gina+and+Esther.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gina McCarthy at the U.S. Climate Action Center</td></tr></tbody></table><p>She began her comments by claiming how the U.S. is back in the Paris Agreement, noting that we are not yet back as the leaders we once were. She admitted that we need to demonstrate strong actions both domestically and here at the COP to rebuild trust after the last administration. She spoke of Biden’s commitment to the addressing climate change and to people; indeed, he “views the climate issue as a people issue.” The national climate task force was established Day 1 of the Biden administration and McCarthy chairs the monthly meetings. If you haven’t read it, the January 27th 2021 <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/">Executive Order</a> on tackling climate change provides detailed charges to the members of the cabinet. In fact, according to McCarthy, all cabinet members are charged to think about climate change "even if it is not in their job description." She stressed the new focus on both inter-agency cooperation and the need for intergovernmental work between the federal level and local and tribal governing bodies.
<br /><br />McCarthy and several other high-ranking officials from the U.S. have mentioned indigenous rights, human rights, and environmental justice. McCarthy even acknowledged concerns about the potential impact of Article 6 (of the Paris Agreement) on treaty lands of indigenous people. These topics have not been discussed by the U.S. officials so openly in the past. McCarthy also referred to a number of announcements that will be made at the COP, a forthcoming sustainability executive order from President Biden, and the opportunities for youth through the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2021/09/16/civilian-climate-corps-explained/">Climate Conservation Corps</a>.<br /><br />Besides McCarthy, there are a high number of cabinet level and other high-ranking officials from the U.S. here: </p><p>- John Kerry, former Secretary of State, now serving as the first United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, has been doing a number of talks and giving announcements about what the U.S. is doing and plans to do going forward. Last Friday, he held a press conference provide updates on the COP.<br /><br />See some coverage <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/11/first-movers-coalition-cop26-john-kerry-climate-change/">here</a> and <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/john-kerry-cop26-joe-biden-president-glasgow-b964666.html">here</a>.<br /></p><p>- Jennifer Granholm, former governor of Michigan, is now Secretary of Energy and a leader in the <a href="http://mission-innovation.net/">Mission Innovation </a>initiative. </p><p>See some coverage <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/us-secretary-energy-reinforces-americas-commitment-climate-action-cop26">here</a>.</p><p>- Deb Halland, Secretary of the Department of Interior, is getting a lot of coverage; see examples <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/haaland-makes-cop-26-pitch/">here</a>, <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-haaland-issues-global-offshore-wind-challenge-un-climate-change-conference">here</a> and <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-haaland-discusses-climate-impacts-indigenous-youth-cop26-event">here</a>. Given the strong focus of civil society on indigenous rights and traditional knowledge, this is not surprising.</p><p>- Samantha Power, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development
(joined virtually in week 1, coming for week 2).</p><p>- Rachel Levine, admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health participated in an all-day Global Climate and Health conference over the weekend that was held in Glasgow and virtually.
<br /><br />- Antony J. Blinken Secretary of State opened the U.S. Center in week 1 and it is worth reading his <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-at-the-cop26-u-s-center-opening-event/">comments from that ceremony</a>.</p><p>- Secretary of the Treasury, Janet L. Yellen provided <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0465">remarks</a> on “Delivering Finance for Emerging Markets and Developing Economies.” </p><p>In total, 8 cabinet members and 5 other senior administrative officials are scheduled to be in Glasgow. This is in addition to President Biden who was here for the first few days of week 1 to attend the World Leaders Summit and former President Obama who is “in the house” on day 1 of week 2. </p><p>Other officials scheduled to be at COP26 include: </p><p>- Pete Buttigieg, Transportation </p><p>- Michael Regan, EPA Administrator </p><p>- Tom Vilsack, Agriculture Secretary </p><p>- Rick Spinrad, NOAA Administrator </p><p>- Eric Lander, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director</p><p>- Brian Deese, the National Economic Council director</p><p>To date, announcements relating to methane reductions, reductions in GHG emissions from health care sector including hospitals and pharmaceutical and biomedical device industries, funds for adaptation and resilience, and international assistance have been made. There may be others, but it is difficult to keep up with all the activity with so many negotiation threads, side events, and off-site events occurring at any one time.</p><p>Immediately prior to the COP, G20 leaders <a href="https://www.power-technology.com/news/g20-overseas-coal-financing/">pledged to end financing for international coal plants</a> by the end of this year. However, there was no movement on ending the domestic use of coal power. It is worth noting, however, that<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-g20-energy-idUSTRE58O18U20090926"> back in 2019, the G20 agreed on the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies</a>, but later, <a href="https://odi.org/en/press/g20-fossil-fuel-subsidies-will-undermine-the-paris-climate-agreement/">backpedaled on this</a>. (See also <a href="https://www.edie.net/news/11/G20-nations-have-funnelled--3-3trn-into-fossil-fuel-subsidies-since-2015--BNEF-reveals/">here</a>.)</p><p>Given the data and language of urgency in the latest report of the IPCC (AR6), it is important to hold these officials accountable to the promises they are making on the international stage. At this point of the COP, unlike Greta, I am not ready to call this COP a failure. Rather, I am encouraged to see the strong U.S. presence and hear how articulate the officials are about the wide range of relevant issues, including pathways to a net-zero, or at least a low-carbon future.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />D. Husichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918907411597547421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-78820065667222141452021-11-07T07:30:00.004-08:002021-11-09T05:06:04.320-08:00Global Collaboration Leads to New Horizons<p><span style="font-family: times;"> </span><span style="font-family: times;">As I wrap up my week in Glasgow, I found myself reflecting back on my time spent at Moravian. Not really knowing where exactly I wanted my career to lead to, I found myself registering for my final semester at the end of the Fall 2020 semester. I was torn between really just being exhausted from having to make the abrupt adaptation to a whole new learning system and quite frankly just wanting to get the degree over with, or expanding my horizons in hopes of finding a better sense of direction. But we'll get back to that in just a second. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">That same semester [Fall 2020], I had decided to take the Climate Negotiations course that was offered, which is taught by both Dr. Husic and Dr. Binford, both of which are here with me at the COP26. The course taught quite literally what is in the name, negotiations about climate science and policy on different levels, along with additional topics. One week specifically, we had a guest speaker call-in to our class [via zoom] to speak about the cryosphere and how the specifics of the topic related to the class. Dr. Heïdi Sevestre,<span style="color: #202124;"> a French glaciologist who specializes in the dynamics of glaciers in the polar regions, while also spends time to focus on the interface of science-policy and communication. I was particularly looking forward to her talk, and I specifically remember being so intrigued by the topic that I went up to Dr. Husic after class ended to ask for her email. I was specifically interested in learning more about the mountain-building events in Antarctica. The rest sort of just fell into place from there; we contacted back and forth for quite some time after that, largely just sending scientific articles about Antarctica. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;">Backtracking to the first paragraph - when it came time to register for classes for my final semester at Moravian, I hit quite the roadblock after finding out that I could not get a seat in a geology course at one of the neighboring universities. Upon discussion with Dr. Husic, she asked if I would have interest in doing an independent study. Knowing that I had a particular interest in geology and really enjoyed Dr. Sevestre's talk about glaciology, she suggested that I reach out to her to see if she would be willing to facilitate an independent study. I remember feeling quite intimidated by the thought of it, but I took the shot and reached out. Shortly after, she responded quite enthusiastically and shared that she thought that was a fantastic idea, and wanted to set up a video conference to begin discussing the specifics. We chose the project to surround an introduction to glacial and geomorphological mapping [of Gandbreen, a surge-type glacier located on Edgeøya, one of the islands in Svalbard, Norway). This would involve both an introduction to glaciology, but also a concurrent introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies [I was taking the Moravian GIS course at the same time]. Going into the project, I knew very little on glaciology and absolutely nothing about GIS. So, I considered her to be my instructor in both glaciology and the geomorphological mapping aspects of GIS.</span></p><p><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;">Dr. Sevestre would give me a chapter to read a week and we would touch base [remotely via zoom] every Friday to go over any questions I had, and to instruct me on the specifics to get ball rolling on the mapping aspect of the project. The project took off quite quickly, and the mapping portion of the project was done by the midterm-point of the semester. At that point, I knew practically all there is to know about surge-type glaciers. It was also at that point that I knew that this was my calling; i.e. glaciology was the field for me. </span></p><p><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;">The way that the second half of the semester pertaining my independent study was structured was quite different than the first half, as Dr. Sevestre was actually going on the <b>first all-female AND first carbon neutral </b>research expedition in Svalbard (read more at <a href="https://www.climatesentinels.com">https://www.climatesentinels.com</a>). So, the remaining part of the semester consisted of putting together the research paper itself, and really tying everything together. I don't think I've ever been so motivated and enthralled to write a paper in my entire undergraduate career. In addition to that, I submitted an abstract to the Youth Environmental Alliance in Higher Education and proceeded to present about my research at their 3rd Global Virtual Conference. That abstract and presentation has since been officially published by the program. The rest of the semester flew by and soon enough, Dr. Sevestre touched back to mainland and we were able to conclude the independent study.</span></p><p><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;">During our "last" video chat of the semester, Dr. Husic, Dr. Sevestre, and I touched base to go over the overall progress and took some time to reflect. Reflections upon the limits that can be surpassed by remote learning; remote in more than one sense. Remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing the GIS lab to be closed, so I had to remotely connect to a GIS desktop through a VPN. Remote because I could not be in Dr. Sevestre's presence - there was a whole ocean between us. Remote because I could not go out into the field to observe Gandbreen, so the use of satellite imagery and remote sensing were put in place. During that last chat, Husic and Sevestre began a discussion about the COP26 at the end of the year, and I remember thinking how cool would it be to not only attend such an important event, but to also meet my mentor. </span></p><p><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;">Fast forward a few months [I graduated 😊], I found myself entering the world's largest climate summit. And with the heavy burden of knowing that this conference must be extremely proactive to minimize the devastating impacts that the climate crisis will continue to bring, I was also excited to network and explore new possibilities (and to meet Heïdi, of course). </span></p><p><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;">And that's exactly what the week persisted of. </span></p><p><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;">I had the absolute honor to meet my friend, inspiration, and mentor to all things glaciology, Dr. Heïdi Sevestre. I was able to network with scientists and other environmental professionals from all over the globe. I was able to hear the stories and perspectives from those who can't be heard from back home. All thanks to global collaboration. </span></p><p><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;">With exciting opportunities to follow and some very exciting news about where I should end up for graduate school, I can give myself a fair amount of credit for having a fiery passion for the planet, however I also wouldn't be where I am without Dr. Husic and Dr. Sevestre. </span></p><p><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;">Diane, Heïdi - if you're reading this, thank you.</span></p><p><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;">My advice to students is to <i>take your passion and run with it. Don't be afraid to take a leap, it may lead you to new horizons</i>. And most importantly something that a high school teacher once told me and is going to stick with me for the rest of my life, <i>no effort you make is ever wasted</i>. Cheers. </span></p><p><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 36);"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 36);"><br /></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7m2wKGVkTmEQocT1tLO2znJ8ZNBE59tXil3TNqPcxLY66O77HiAWYsPG5OFb3vCZfM3AFfYDsZYdMj8CH366pPd6zrtN0MST8vXBz2DBgTyYDddsZ7HU0CIbwCHsJxLBwbOHahIEFSfeGSJSGE4mq3-00fS-JQEoi7OaR2rXrKaPiwfzZ77izbA=s1332" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1332" data-original-width="1026" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7m2wKGVkTmEQocT1tLO2znJ8ZNBE59tXil3TNqPcxLY66O77HiAWYsPG5OFb3vCZfM3AFfYDsZYdMj8CH366pPd6zrtN0MST8vXBz2DBgTyYDddsZ7HU0CIbwCHsJxLBwbOHahIEFSfeGSJSGE4mq3-00fS-JQEoi7OaR2rXrKaPiwfzZ77izbA=w308-h400" width="308" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #202124; font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Chelsea Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05966971573623795147noreply@blogger.com0Glasgow, UK55.864237 -4.25180635.744579237068123 -39.408056000000016 75.983894762931882 30.904444000000012tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-31541868373810655032021-11-05T09:17:00.000-07:002021-11-05T09:17:04.720-07:00 "Vital Signs of the Planet"<p>Over 100 young musicians from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Juniors Conservatoire joined with international youth leaders to present "Vital Signs of the Planet" in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. With films and pictures from National Geographic and NASA, the backdrop to the orchestra was views of our planet on a large screen that were thematically selected to complement the music and to illustrate the impact of climate change.</p><p>After an opening traditional tune with bagpipes, the orchestra played excerpts from Vivaldi’s <i>Four Seasons</i>, Debussy’s <i>La Mer</i>, Vaughan Williams <i>Sinfonia Antarctica</i>, and Giacchino’s <i>Advent</i>. The finale was a clear favorite for the young performers, with a live performance of “Unwritten” by UK Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter, Natasha Bedingfield. Between the pieces, there were brief statements from youth leaders from around the world who are here for the COP, and a video statement from two of the astronauts on the International Space Station. The thematic program worked well, and the performers earned their standing ovation. </p><p>It is not just the concert hall where art is making an impact. There are exhibits in the Blue Zone (including at different country pavilions) and Green Zone, posters on the streets, and installations. There was an event at the Cryosphere Pavilion focussed on art and music, where Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat reminded us that art, music and culture can "inspire us to do more." We also heard from composer Lera Auerbach, who composed <i>Arctica, </i>her fourth symphony and watched <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2419537028291153" target="_blank">a film</a> about the creation of the work. Miranda Massie also presented some of the projects the <a href="https://climatemuseum.org/mission" target="_blank">Climate Museum</a> has sponsored. </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p></p></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDP6aNaqHS8VknIJCKRvRgzCIcEzDf9JR2lm-zqWUFdo3_HyJ1OSGy5U5CJbalTgL2YE4npPqr6FT6ej54MLa3kQoF9shSUajPzQCuRztHAwPVN0g-2MdbflXkOa8J0xfxC9Hvnxx-ao/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="463" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDP6aNaqHS8VknIJCKRvRgzCIcEzDf9JR2lm-zqWUFdo3_HyJ1OSGy5U5CJbalTgL2YE4npPqr6FT6ej54MLa3kQoF9shSUajPzQCuRztHAwPVN0g-2MdbflXkOa8J0xfxC9Hvnxx-ao/" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4TA1LVivDiNz-lH4Z0ggshsKAgqeWAqxWoiA6XV1F_L09RReSB1B8G3ITDUr5UQVxodzj9Dt9fQgJFMO15Cp0_NXGyoTPF7HJc2HnD-PlQ3JCt9Ie0xv2KGhsr8iqvHnP7UCN1ksAqMA/s2048/IMG_2830+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4TA1LVivDiNz-lH4Z0ggshsKAgqeWAqxWoiA6XV1F_L09RReSB1B8G3ITDUr5UQVxodzj9Dt9fQgJFMO15Cp0_NXGyoTPF7HJc2HnD-PlQ3JCt9Ie0xv2KGhsr8iqvHnP7UCN1ksAqMA/s320/IMG_2830+2.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Two memborable installations are the work of Vincent J. F. Huang, featuring polar bears with life jackets imitating famous artworks, on display at the Tuvalu pavilion, and Oliver Jeffers "The Celestial Census," on display outdoors in the Green Zone. "The Celestial Census" invites visitors to "put on your space helmet and float the dotted line between the Earth and the Moon, all the while considering our home from afar, along as aa single organism. ... Explore the 36 Meter expanse of space between Earth in which 'All People Live Here' and our Moon, on which 'No One Lives Here.'"<p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic8-JcbaOP9OIoCa4S27oJPi1R-M0-fInvL6Yyd9hwoVecprjbo7Fc8LkeGC5xSi18cqq6IDxQi2qQjxBSZB3f43LG48f2Kewv98_njqugClnpYh2JleZy466AqXPFMLNElZGprbrysz0/s2048/IMG_2904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic8-JcbaOP9OIoCa4S27oJPi1R-M0-fInvL6Yyd9hwoVecprjbo7Fc8LkeGC5xSi18cqq6IDxQi2qQjxBSZB3f43LG48f2Kewv98_njqugClnpYh2JleZy466AqXPFMLNElZGprbrysz0/w426-h319/IMG_2904.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><p></p>Hilde Binfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11562011178759048726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-77461414314793231902021-11-04T17:13:00.015-07:002021-11-05T04:46:31.326-07:00Significance and Uncertainty<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6w2Cit-VIoTvXKBvBL1yaWbdelMnmjwu75jgxPg1X1dY3UivO3XLfkz-J1XQBU5ZRWiKjoL-AS24BfPKFGSPWiR6kKmeTCHjs_PPFIn3FcvUDejrYL0_GGtRnngMVJF_0BQTnR2J3xhE/s2048/IMG-9795.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6w2Cit-VIoTvXKBvBL1yaWbdelMnmjwu75jgxPg1X1dY3UivO3XLfkz-J1XQBU5ZRWiKjoL-AS24BfPKFGSPWiR6kKmeTCHjs_PPFIn3FcvUDejrYL0_GGtRnngMVJF_0BQTnR2J3xhE/w400-h300/IMG-9795.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
Today, I sat in on a plenary session organized by the SBSTA and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) discussing the latest (6th) assessment report – the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/">AR6 Working Group on Physical Science</a>. Valérie Masson-Delmotte, the Working Group I co-chair, presented some highlights from this very technical report. This session was attended by Parties (government appointees who serve as negotiators) and the observers from civil society. My colleague, Hilde Binford, and I teach a climate science and negotiations course and use these IPCC reports as key resources, so we are quite familiar with the methodology and content. However, many in the audience probably have not waded through all of the technical details. I find the questions from the audience, especially the negotiators, interesting and believe that they illustrate the very different lenses used by scientists and policymakers when looking at such information. <div><div><br /></div><div>It has been clear to me for some time now, and reinforced in today’s session, that most people
do not understand how scientists deal with uncertainty (data gaps or what we don’t fully understand in complex systems). There is also confusion as to why climate models can be improved over time as new data is gathered and as scientists gain a better understanding of interactions of multiple variables, etc. I firmly believe that we, as scientists and educators, have a responsibility to help translate or explain this detailed information to various audiences both at the COP and back at home. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some of the negotiators raised questions (or objections) that were politically motivated, rather than out of a lack of understanding. For example, one particular representative from India was essentially asking for the highest risk scenario to be removed from the report claiming that *some* impacts are unlikely “doomsday scenarios”. This negotiator added that “COPs are supposed to deliver messages of hope and optimism” and the scientists who wrote the IPCC report were not doing that. (It was difficult at that moment for me <i>not</i> to ask what policymakers have done to increase hope and optimism since 1992 when the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change was originally established.) The Working Group co-chair reminded the audience about the charge to the IPCC from the Parties and about the importance of using the same five emission scenarios across all working groups to determine future possibilities of climate change impacts and risk. Understanding risk and the associated probabilities (e.g. high or low risk) is essential for making sound policy decisions, for the re-insurance industry, knowing were to make effective investments in disaster risk reduction, etc. </div><div><br /></div><div>Think about the “cone” of probability of where a hurricane that forms in the Atlantic might make landfall along the U.S. coastline. Early on, that cone is wide, as there is a lot of uncertainty about the track a storm might take or how strong the hurricane might get. With increased data and as the hurricane moves closer to the coastline, scientists are able to increase the accuracy of the model or decrease the uncertainty in predicting the behavior of the storm and the location of landfall. Early predictions alert people to the probability of danger, giving them time to prepare (evacuate, board up a dwelling, stock up on supplies, etc.). If forecasters waited until they had 100% certainty of the landfall site, it would be too late for people to reduce their risk of danger, damage to their property, or being left without food and water for an extended period of time. There are, of course, many analogies in modeling future climates.</div><div><br /></div><div>Much thought goes into the IPCC reports in terms of how to communicate both spatial and temporal uncertainty and risk. So, what would be the advantage of eliminating the low probability/high emissions scenario? I can’t speak for certain as to the motives of that negotiator, but if the impacts or risk in the report don’t look so bad, or if the serious problems look like they may not take hold for some time far into the future, is there not then a reason to delay the shift away from fossil fuels? Policy makers must consider many factors unique to their country, but scientists must maintain scientific and reporting integrity. </div><div><br /></div><div>As one colleague that I was talking with afterwards put it, the chances of crashing a car (or plane) are low, but we still wear our seatbelts. The chances of serious climate impacts are <i>not</i> low, so we really should be taking action to both mitigate the problem and adapt to the changes that are already locked in for our future. </div><div><br /></div><div>I learned later that this same negotiator has been criticizing the work of the IPCC for some time. And I was also reminded of a recent news report that aired before I left for Glasgow in which a number of high-level officials from India indicated that they plan to use coal for the foreseeable future as that country strives to improve its socio-economic status. India currently relies on coal for 70% of its power. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> ~~ </div><div><br /></div><div>Many researchers I have talked to this week are attending their first COP and feeling a) overwhelmed by all that happens at the conference (that is typical) and b) questioning the significance of their role here. This is my twelfth COP, so I reflected on this a bit today. Attending these conferences is a privilege that most people in the world never get to experience. My voice at “the table” may seem insignificant, but I am here, and I have a voice. So many people around the world – already impacted by climate change in severe ways – do not. I am exposed to the process and details of international negotiations. I am able to gain both a great deal of knowledge from global experts and new perspectives from talking to people who come from very different cultures and life circumstances than I do. </div><div><br /></div><div>With this privilege comes responsibility. One of our responsibilities is to seriously consider what we each do with this information when we go back home: </div><div>- Do we share it with the public, with local and regional decision makers, with our colleagues and institutions? If so, what is the best way to do so?</div><div>- How do we inform relevant people of the data gaps that would better inform policy at the local, national and international levels and advocate for research funding to support the needed work? </div><div>- How do we put all that science (from IPCC reports or regional data) to action to address this global challenge? How do we put the knowledge gained to positive action? </div><div><br /></div><div>I know that my attendance at these United Nation events has increased my credibility back home, and, as such, I have been asked over the years to provide input for policy development especially related to adaptation, risk reduction, and capacity building at the local and state levels. I am asked by a wide range of stakeholder groups to give talks about the status of climate change and climate policy or to write opinion pieces for the local papers. The knowledge gained has allowed me to redesign what and how I co-teach a course in climate science and negotiations. And I know how many former students who have taken that course and then attended one of the COPs on Moravian’s credentials have ended up having their career paths dramatically altered by the experience or a chance meeting with someone on this international stage. </div><div><br /></div><div>And that is far from insignificant.</div></div>D. Husichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918907411597547421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-16283880708194750432021-11-03T16:28:00.000-07:002021-11-03T16:28:28.494-07:00 “Biodiversity, not Bitcoin, is the new currency”<p><br />Today is “Finance” Day at COP26, and the US Center celebrated LEAF (Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance Coalition). The coalition includes the USA, UK and Norway, with support from large corporations, including Amazon, Airbnb, Blackrock, Walmart, and Nestle. In their first year, they have raised $1bn. Twenty-three countries have prepared proposals on how to prevent deforestation in their countries, in exchange for financial help. LEAF is hoping to increase the fund several fold in the next few years. </p><p>The Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, started off the discussion by reminding us that forests and other nature-based systems have the ability to provide 1/3 of total mitigation by 2030. This must be the “decade of decision, implementation and action …. Otherwise we blow through 1.5C.” The panel included leaders from Ecuador, Ghana, and Nepal, who are three of the first five countries who have signed Letters of Intent (LOI) with LEAF. All three leaders were positive about the new financing possibilities, and the Ecuadorian leader suggested that biodiversity is the new currency. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHKI0ehGFz-_R0aVHu3z2wrrNcKgwBJW6qltQFN4Fsl46sSgHvYhK1Pl5A41N_KIOSqHu6afCqnJdj0iiZsNaSkm7zil03D9vsBCNLAGmxTvixTTWZW5Vf-Ak-XKRevIPVkwxUFEiMUQw/s2048/IMG_2878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHKI0ehGFz-_R0aVHu3z2wrrNcKgwBJW6qltQFN4Fsl46sSgHvYhK1Pl5A41N_KIOSqHu6afCqnJdj0iiZsNaSkm7zil03D9vsBCNLAGmxTvixTTWZW5Vf-Ak-XKRevIPVkwxUFEiMUQw/s320/IMG_2878.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p>Related, in the first days of the COP, 110 leaders promised to end deforestation by 2030, and the represented countries cover 85% of the world’s forest. $14bn of funding has been secured. However, LEAF is poised to begin more immediate action, and emphasizes that the next decade is critical. </p><p>In other meetings with indigenous peoples, there was some skepticism towards the pledge to protect forests. Are companies simply paying for carbon credits and continuing with business as usual? Are the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands being upheld? At the COP Presidency Dialogue on the LCIPP, one of the audience members warned about the “commodification of Mother Earth and Father Sky.” If biodiversity is the “new currency,” it seems they have a point. </p>Hilde Binfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11562011178759048726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-48254169695739112242021-11-03T16:14:00.005-07:002021-11-03T16:19:04.856-07:00Catching up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDi565O5z5aKDmEzofVz8jLz_oS22gfbgPAv6hI7X2TGLipXhc-NOtbuTWFBXuukJJF4shzExZ4ckRc-0lSRtkH9jPKGJWNeB6EK3jWnSGufFss-gOdti0sw6Lek9owQXeY37O_TyeF48/s1600/COP26.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="1600" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDi565O5z5aKDmEzofVz8jLz_oS22gfbgPAv6hI7X2TGLipXhc-NOtbuTWFBXuukJJF4shzExZ4ckRc-0lSRtkH9jPKGJWNeB6EK3jWnSGufFss-gOdti0sw6Lek9owQXeY37O_TyeF48/w640-h230/COP26.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>I am juggling multiple roles at COP26 and it takes a bit of time to adjust to the new time zone, so I am slow to blogging so far this week. At most COPs, the “high level segment” (ministerial-level deliberations) begins in week #2. This year, however, the COP kicked off with a very high level <a href="https://unfccc.int/cop26/world-leaders-summit">World Leaders Summit</a>; numerous presidents and prime ministers were in the venue on Monday and Tuesday, each having the opportunity to deliver a national statement. It was very difficult for observers from NGOs to access the venue, but the event was live-streamed. For those in the U.S., <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/11/01/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-cop26-leaders-statement/">President Biden’s remarks</a> may be of interest.
Much was made of which heads of state did not arrive, especially China’s president, Xi Jinping (although he submitted a written statement), Russia’s President Vladamir Putin, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, and Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan. <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/optimist/cop26/cop26-who-attending-boris-johnson-joe-biden-xi-jinping-vladimir-putin-participants-b963213.html">Official reasons varied</a>. In Paris in 2015, I was fortunate to be in the room when all of these individuals were present and spoke.</div><div><br /></div><div>Before the national statements, there was an opening ceremony entitled “Earth to COP”. Because we are in Scotland, it wasn’t surprising that this started with a bagpiper (Brìghde Chaimbeul), who was then followed by a powerful poet, Yrsa Daley-Ward, who noted, ‘Anything less than your best is too much to pay.”
I was struck by the comments of Boris Johnson who used the typical James Bond film opening scenario of being “strapped to a doomsday device” as a metaphor for COP26 and the situation the world leaders find themselves in. He made references to a ticking clock, billions of pistons fired by fossil fuels, and the consequences of inaction for our children and the fifty percent of the world population that is under the age of 30 (for which action by 2050 will be too late). He even quoted <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwD1kG4PI0w">Greta Thunberg</a> and the typical “blah, blah, blah” that occurs without true action at these sessions. Johnson noted that the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watt">James Watt</a> (a Scottish inventor, engineer and chemist) -- who made significant improvements on the steam engine which were fundamental to the Industrial Revolution – build this first doomsday clock. </div><div><br /></div><div>This opening session employed the arts, Sir David Attenborough, indigenous speakers, and emotion to set the stage for the two weeks. Besides the urgent need to increase ambition on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, there is a need to focus on adaptation and resilience, climate finance, environmental justice, and sustainable development. In early days of this COP, Biden's team (made up of many climate negotiations veterans) is talking forests, ecosystems and environmental justice. Those are not topics I have previously heard mentioned by the U.S. delegation since I started closely following the U.S. positions at these negotiations back in 2009!</div>D. Husichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918907411597547421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-56571540587398482172021-10-31T04:03:00.001-07:002021-11-03T16:21:34.320-07:00COP26 - A year late<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gvrbKTR-uKqfNCkrxIo6Y4p7vdKhUA1IDGBIRLWVcYxf_WBtoGr-JklF8EdsYq8rk6suJutUtCm-QF4MWsTFTeIL5SfH6BHHjHdr4btIvyRHVz19yDmhXO3Hbyw-Ia5bd_FmfEJSEts/s2048/IMG-9492.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gvrbKTR-uKqfNCkrxIo6Y4p7vdKhUA1IDGBIRLWVcYxf_WBtoGr-JklF8EdsYq8rk6suJutUtCm-QF4MWsTFTeIL5SfH6BHHjHdr4btIvyRHVz19yDmhXO3Hbyw-Ia5bd_FmfEJSEts/w400-h300/IMG-9492.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view from the Frankfort Airport - it is not raining!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Good morning and Greetings from the Frankfurt, Germany airport. I have a layover on my way to Glasgow and COP26 and am a bit groggy from too little sleep on an overnight flight from Newark, NJ. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">COP26 refers to the 26th Conference of the Parties (signatories) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Convention (UNFCCC). With the pandemic, it has been much more of an ordeal to prepare than usual and with many heads of state attending, including President Biden, security will be extraordinarily tight. But let's hope that these leaders will make significant progress towards addressing reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation and resilience to a changing world, and climate finance to help developing nations advance in a low carbon future.
</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">The Moravian University (formerly College) delegation will not have any students attending in person this year, due to the State Department risk level for the UK and an institutional decision not to let them travel to Scotland. Dr. Hilde Binford and I will do our best to share what we are hearing and learning “on the ground”. Two current students, Sam Does (Senior Environmental Science major) and Keegan Schealer (Senior Environmental Economics and Policy major), will join in virtually as delegates. Keegan will also be presenting as part of our NSF-funded Youth Environmental Alliance in Higher Education (<a href="https://yeah-net.org/">YEAH</a>) initiative.
</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Four Moravian alums (that we know of) will also be attending either in person or virtually:
Sarabeth Brockley ('10, Environmental Science)
Chelsea Hill ('21, Environmental Science)
Melissa Morales ('21, Environmental Science)
René Wiesner Brown, PhD ('94 Biology/Natural Resource Management).<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Besides representing Moravian and YEAH, I will also be representing the Research and Independent NGOs (RINGOs) as a steering committee member for this official constituency group of the UNFCCC and the <a href="https://www.gcseglobal.org/">Global Council for Science and the Environment</a>.
<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">To get a sense of what is happening each day at the COP, you can check the <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Overview_schedule_COP26.pdf">Overview Schedule</a>, the <a href="https://unfccc.int/cop26/daily-programme">Daily Programme</a>, <a href="https://unfccc.int/conference/glasgow-climate-change-conference-october-november-2021">News</a>, and the <a href="https://seors.unfccc.int/applications/seors/reports/events_list.html?session_id=COP26">Side Events schedule</a> (which begin on Wednesday). Monday and Tuesday will be devoted to the <a href="https://unfccc.int/cop26/world-leaders-summit">World Leaders Summit</a> where heads of state will give their statements laying out the framework for any country's delegation during the negotiations. These are always fascinating to listen to. Due to security and space constrictions, it may be difficult to get into the venue to watch this in person, but I am hoping this will be live-streamed. Since President Biden is attending, I am sure that he will speak. In Paris (2015), I was fortunate to be in the room to hear Obama, Putin, Merkel, and several other heads of state ("The room where it happens" is going through my head, if you know this reference from the Broadway show Hamilton).
</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">In a newsletter that registered COP delegates received on October 30th , there was a glimpse at the PR themes that will be used throughout the next two weeks including "TogetherForOurPlanet" and "Shepherd-in-Chief" for the COP26 President Designate (chosen by the host country). You can learn a bit about the COP26 President, Alok Sharma <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alok_Sharma">here</a>; note the type of roles he has played in the government and consider how that might influence his perspectives.
</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">In the past week or two leading up to COP26, there was a significant amount of coverage about this event in the U.S. media...more so than usual. NPR had many stories (like <a href="https://choice.npr.org/index.html?origin=https://www.npr.org/2021/10/25/1047617334/cop26-summit-climate-change-un-glasgow">this one</a> from last week) and this appeared in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/30/climate/climate-summit-glasgow.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20211031&instance_id=44257&nl=todaysheadlines&regi_id=69721462&segment_id=73158&user_id=877ae580df3ad1d150c21057d733aec1">New York Times</a> today. We hope you pay attention to how the event is covered on national and local news over the next two weeks.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table>D. Husichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918907411597547421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-18794167559130830682021-06-27T16:21:00.000-07:002021-06-27T16:21:02.166-07:00Notes and Observations from the May-June 2021 UN Climate Change Conference<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Opening Plenaries<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Nairobi Work Programme (NWP)<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">They are also developing partnerships with universities to
address knowledge gaps.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A report was proposed to focus on lessons learned to date and
gaps and challenges identified.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst"><b>Koronivia
Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA)</b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">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.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Countries can integrate these concepts into their Nationally
Determined Contributions (NDCs) of the Paris Agreement.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Three major topics were discussed:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Improved nutrient use and manure management<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Nutrient circularity is key to reducing nutrient
loss and waste.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Agricultural systems should be designed to
optimize carbon and nutrient cycles.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Systemic changes are needed and must be
country-driven and follow science-based approaches. They should also involve
locally appropriate innovation and traditional knowledge.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->They discussed agroecological practices, using
legumes to organically add nitrogen to the soil, integrating crops and
livestock, and using manure as organic fertilizer.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->It was noted that the overuse of fossil-fuel
derived fertilizers contributes to emissions, disrupts the nitrogen cycle, and
affects surface and ground waters.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The soil microbiome was recognized as important
for soil health.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Nutrient data collection, analysis, and
development of decision-making tools were identified needs.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->They are considering development of an
information exchange platform.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span>Improved
livestock management</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Livestock are vulnerable to climate change impacts
such as drought, floods, heat stress, water availability, low-quality forage,
pests, and diseases.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->There is a need to increase resiliency and
adaptive capacity, considering diversity of agricultural practices and systems,
local populations, and climate variation.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Sustainable consumption, reduction of food
waste, and reduction in deforestation should be promoted.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Goals include reducing global livestock numbers
and emissions, promoting best management practices, and improving pasture
management.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Action under the KJWA will help achieve
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the global goal of zero hunger.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"> Socioeconomic and food security concerns<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>Food systems need to be reconfigured to include
circular economy principles and resource efficiency.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Benefits of traditional and small farming were
acknowledged.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Addressing food loss and waste is a major
opportunity to reduce GHG emissions and improve food security.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The potential of large-scale dietary changes in
reducing emissions and other negative externalities was noted.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Flexible options are needed to ensure emissions
reductions are lasting.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->All phases of agricultural production need to be
considered, including planting, harvesting, storage, transport, sales,
consumption, supply chains, and loss/waste.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Long-term projects should be favored to provide
predictability and enable long-term investments.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->There is an identified need for climate risk
management tools such as livestock and crop insurance, early warning systems,
and contingency planning.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Cooperation with other international organizations<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Common initiatives that support increased climate ambition and
advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals were highlighted.<b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A need to enhance cooperation was noted.<b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) transition<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some Parties support including appropriate projects in NDCs
and moving remaining CDM funds to the Adaptation Fund. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Thoughts on the Virtual Platform</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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. <b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Conference’s virtual platform worked well and was well-suited
for organizing concurrent sessions with multiple agendas and session notes.<b> </b>The Chairs acknowledged the limitations of meeting virtually
but emphasized the importance of convening before Glasgow.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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. <b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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. <b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<b><o:p></o:p></b></p><br /><p></p><p></p><p></p>Rene Wiesner Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01542389907777188034noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-6566504722072932612019-12-13T00:55:00.002-08:002019-12-13T00:55:18.804-08:00End of week 2 reflectionsAs I sit in the Madrid airport, I reflect over the last two weeks and wonder if anything productive will come out of COP25. The negotiations continue for at least today, but I must get back home.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYuAUcZm6ZhlLA29Xbr0CYT75euG5ytV4Mk6oeSQiHo7EJ6EFJwB-WQANuYhS6uGFJ2mJatYnzkCrcjXTVqHDHCQ8kUIdQDdLwOFTiBemanJUKGFKgK0hhv6zSNT4KAtXCOUJ5xwILRy8/s1600/climate+solutions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYuAUcZm6ZhlLA29Xbr0CYT75euG5ytV4Mk6oeSQiHo7EJ6EFJwB-WQANuYhS6uGFJ2mJatYnzkCrcjXTVqHDHCQ8kUIdQDdLwOFTiBemanJUKGFKgK0hhv6zSNT4KAtXCOUJ5xwILRy8/s400/climate+solutions.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Some countries still think that we have plenty of time to figure things out (or to continue to ignore the climate change issue), <a href="https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/COP25-afronta-negociaciones-extremis-jornada_0_973602687.html">despite the "time is running out" theme</a> that was evident in the interventions of political leaders from cities to the head of the U.N., business leaders, youth, environmental organizations, and even scientists who are typically not prone to cries of urgency. The <a href="https://www.unep-wcmc.org/news/2019-emissions-gap-report">Emissions Gap report</a> released in November <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/climate/greenhouse-gas-emissions-carbon.html?mc=aud_dev&ad-keywords=auddevgate&subid1=TAFI&ad_name=INTER_20_XXXX_XXX_1P_CD_XX_XX_SITEVISITXREM_X_XXXX_COUSA_P_X_X_EN_FBIG_OA_XXXX_00_EN_JP_NFLINKS&adset_name=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2019%2F11%2F26%2Fclimate%2Fgreenhouse-gas-emissions-carbon.html&campaign_id=23844036818150063&fbclid=IwAR1wNutXU1v2FREnickL-y7YWEAacruF-OojTPLzDVKakZ4KLMOA3jpnCyg">provided a bleak picture</a> of the state of greenhouse gas emissions especially when considered in context of the warnings provided in the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/">IPCC Special Report on 1.5 °C</a> warming (above pre-industrial levels). <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHzfQ2pBPKaD_XGpkW0PrCJVkOTzgF7yJcDz5Iy9YJBUmLjj01Z3o2caTPSAliKqPUmcJqSnHrYRxXxMW2fKvcbsmmumpvdYdQrmII6DAoM7lWxd7hMge4JIJFGY7SpB3zvVoE6l7Tls/s1600/IMG_2873.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHzfQ2pBPKaD_XGpkW0PrCJVkOTzgF7yJcDz5Iy9YJBUmLjj01Z3o2caTPSAliKqPUmcJqSnHrYRxXxMW2fKvcbsmmumpvdYdQrmII6DAoM7lWxd7hMge4JIJFGY7SpB3zvVoE6l7Tls/s400/IMG_2873.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the strongest voices at COP25 and Time Magazine Person of the Year</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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If the draft text of the working groups is maintained by the Parties, there will be recognition, for the first time, of the critical importance of the oceans as an integral part of the Earth's climate system for both mitigation and adaptation. Despite alarming reports from the <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/world/who-health-and-climate-change-survey-report-tracking-global-progress">World Health Organization</a> (see also the <a href="https://www.who.int/globalchange/publications/COP24-report-health-climate-change/en/">2018 report</a>) and the <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)32596-6/fulltext">Lancet</a> (a leading, well respected medical journal) that describe the negative health impacts of climate change and from air pollution released during the burning of fossil fuels, human health continues to be notably absent from any COP text except for vague references to human safety.
<br /><br />There do appear to be some advances in working out details for financing mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund, but little agreement has been reached on regulation of carbon markets.<br />
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The Paris Agreement developed in 2015 was for climate action post 2020. There was supposed to be additional work on pre-2020 action, but given that 2020 is less a month away, that article is essentially obsolete.<br /><br />
There was much discussion this week over the effectiveness of the UN process given that it was established in 1992 and there have been 25 annual conference of the parties, but little progress in solving climate change. I heard sharp criticism about the process from both former Secretary of State, John Kerry, and Jonathan Pershing, the former Special Envoy for Climate Change from the State Department and chief negotiator for the U.S. delegation. But while both argued that the real action is going to come at the local and regional (sub-national levels) and from the private sector, they also felt that it is important to keep countries talking as a reminder of the serious nature of this global issue.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFQLcBOObTVxIoRfSqKROSc_Gyvb5me1lTFrBm9gNEaPq8eJOip2rtE0FfqIi3k0NZIP6W231vVU2_WcLIUaFPCAMgUJyZMysN9R-isDVmkKAZL6ZXVrFFcWJUFimISZQtb2B0aMT6Vo/s1600/IMG_2982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFQLcBOObTVxIoRfSqKROSc_Gyvb5me1lTFrBm9gNEaPq8eJOip2rtE0FfqIi3k0NZIP6W231vVU2_WcLIUaFPCAMgUJyZMysN9R-isDVmkKAZL6ZXVrFFcWJUFimISZQtb2B0aMT6Vo/s400/IMG_2982.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Johnathan Pershing on the right</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Kerry</td></tr>
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<br />The Research and Independent NGOs, one of nine officially recognized
constituencies of observer groups within the UNFCCC, has the opportunity
to draft statements (interventions) for key plenary sessions throughout
the COP. Because this group doesn’t advocate for any special position
other than having evidence-based policy making, our statements are
typically subdued or even bland.
For whenever the COP closing plenary is, here is the statement that I drafted for this year:
<br /><br /><i>The RINGOs would like to start by expressing appreciation for the Chilean COP Presidency’s recognition of the importance of “putting science at the center of COP25”, as the Minister noted on December 5th. We also applaud the first-ever virtual meeting of country science ministers held on Dec 4th in conjunction with the COP. </i><br />
<br />
<i>A vast amount of relevant research data has been collected over the past several decades. Through 25 years of COPs, plentiful technical solutions for mitigation and adaptation as well as finance and market mechanisms have been developed, linking research with innovation at private and public levels. As has been said by many at COP25, it is now time to put research and the agreements into ACTION. </i><br />
<br />
<i>RINGOs welcome the outcomes of COP25, but we urge all of us to continue to play a role in operationalizing and implementing the details of the Paris Agreement back home. Amid all of the technical discussions, the political processes, and acronyms, we must not forget to humanize climate change, and to help people better understand the implications of climate change for their own well-being as well as for the world around them. Through capacity building, we must give people the tools and empowerment to address climate change in their communities. We must push together so that no actor rests for a moment. </i><br />
<br />
<i>The research community stands ready to serve as knowledge brokers to explain the regional relevance of the scientific evidence and COP decisions in our home communities and countries. We are also prepared to help the transformation of knowledge into day-to-day practice. The RINGOs encourage the private and public sectors to engage in climate action and move to a more circular economy, both in their work and in their local communities. We call for all stakeholders to become involved in promoting and applying science-based climate solutions. </i><br />
<br />
<i>In conclusion, the RINGOs would like to express our sincere and deepest gratitude to the Governments and people of Chile and Spain for pulling together COP25 in such a short time. This was a good example of how the global north and south can come together and accomplish a great task - a metaphor for what we all now need to do to advance the provisions of the Paris Agreement and COP25.
</i>D. Husichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918907411597547421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-3784633245759231352019-12-11T14:00:00.004-08:002019-12-11T14:00:59.656-08:00
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With 2020 only 20
days away, subnational actors must be part of the equation</div>
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<br />
At the COP25 in Madrid, there is an emphasis on the role
subnational actors can and should play in emissions reductions. According to Local
Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), cities, for example, account for 80% of
global GDP and 70% of emissions, and yet 90% of emissions from cities can be reduced
with current technology. To raise ambition, countries should work with
subnational partners to achieve Paris Agreement targets and Agenda 2030
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is especially relevant as Nationally
Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement are up for renewal in
2020.<br />
<br />
The Mayor of Bonn, Germany and ICLEI President, Ashok
Sridharan, acknowledged the urgent nature of the problem, as highlighted by our
youth taking to the streets. Bonn has pledged climate neutrality no later than
2035 and has identified more than 300 measures to enhance climate action that
will be presented to their city council in the near future. Close to 300 cities
have declared climate neutrality, and with the 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of
Earth Day around the corner, ICLEI asserts that now is the time for more cities
to make this commitment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
Turku, Finland, has innovative programs that have attracted
international attention. Minna Arve, the Mayor of Turku, said they are
transitioning to renewable energy by 2025, are phasing out coal, and have
committed to longer-term goals so that there will be political continuity. They
are taking strides towards a circular economy by setting goals to become
waste-free<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>and have developed a
platform to involve large and small businesses and universities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
The Mayors of Recife, Brazil, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
discussed ways that cities can contribute to climate action despite lack of
federal support. Recife has pledged neutrality by 2050 with significant action
by 2030, and an integration of climate change into the school curriculum,
which, by its nature, informs and engages families. Pittsburgh has focused on
rebuilding the city in a post-industrial era, with an emphasis on technology
and a P4 policy that tax-funded projects must address all four economic
standards of people, planet, place, and performance.<br />
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<br />
The private sector also has a significant role to play in
increasing ambition towards Paris Agreement targets and Sustainable Development
Goals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>British Telecommunications is one
of the first companies to set a 1.5<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">°</span>C goal and has pledged net zero by
2045 and an 80% reduction in emissions by 2030. They have invested in renewable
energy, are transitioning to an electric fleet, and have created smart apps for
transport to reduce wasted emissions (and time) spent searching for parking.
They require their suppliers to reduce emissions and have thereby found that
buyers have considerable power and send critical demand signals to the market.
Through their combined efforts, they saved 11.7 million tons of carbon last
year.<br />
<br />
The Coalition for Urban Transitions recently launched a
report <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Climate Emergency, Urban
Opportunity</i> (<a href="https://urbantransitions.global/en/publication/climate-emergency-urban-opportunity/">link</a>)
that involved more than 50 partners. It emphasizes that investments now will
yield benefits that exceed costs. Cities will be cheaper to build and operate
and tens of millions of jobs will be created with green innovation.<br />
<br />
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy also
had a strong showing at the COP. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke of
the impending paradigm shift that should be all-inclusive and leave no one
behind. He said if we don’t shape it, something else (i.e., the climate) will.
It was also discussed that cities present the biggest challenges to climate
action and sustainability but also the biggest opportunities.<br />
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In addition to their critical role in emissions reductions,
the Global Environmental Facility, a Fund established in 1992 to help address
environmental problems of global significance, has found that cities are ideal for
pilot projects and new program incubation. However, collaboration with federal
and state governments is needed for efficient implementation. As an example, to
reduce emissions in the transportation sector, federal governments can
establish vehicle efficiency standards, state and regional governments can
establish electric vehicle charging networks, and local governments can create
and enact zoning regulations for walkable communities. With COP25 Chile-Madrid
the last COP before 2020, and indeed, with 2020 a mere 20 days away, this is
the right moment for increased ambition and collaboration at national and
subnational levels. <br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Rene Wiesner Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01542389907777188034noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-39183834982124725992019-12-08T09:50:00.000-08:002019-12-08T09:52:21.500-08:00Is Higher Education Playing a Leading Role in Climate Action? Part I.The report “<a href="https://secondnature.org/wp-content/uploads/Higher_Education_Role_Adapting_Changing_Climate.pdf">Higher Education’s Role in Adapting to a Changing Climate</a>” was prepared in 2011 by the Higher Education Climate Adaptation Committee—a group of experts and institutional leaders in the United States—that is convened and coordinated by Second Nature in support of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). Although it is a bit dated by this point, the report does include a relevant list of things that higher education should be considering in terms of climate action. While at COP25, I have been thinking a lot about this list as prompts for series of blog posts. In the first of this series, I will focus on a quote from the Executive Summary of that report:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Higher education has taken a leadership role in climate mitigation — that is, preventing climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. </i></blockquote>
In 2006, twelve college and university presidents initiated ACUPCC and eventually, hundreds of institutions signed on to a <a href="https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/facilities/downloads/climate.pdf">commitment</a> in which they were to a) develop a plan to achieve climate neutrality as soon as possible; b) complete an comprehensive inventory of all greenhouse gas emissions associated with the institution; and c) make the action plan, inventory and progress reports publicly available. <a href="https://cssh.northeastern.edu/people/faculty/jennie-stephens/">Jennie Stephens</a>, from Northeastern’s School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs is an expert in the social-political aspects of renewable energy transformation. Writing in <a href="https://theconversation.com/fossil-fuel-divestment-debates-on-campus-spotlight-the-societal-role-of-colleges-and-universities-102689"><i>The Conversation </i></a>in 2018, Dr. Stephens argues that climate advocacy “has become well established on US campuses over the past decade,” with over 600 schools signing the <a href="https://secondnature.org/">American College and University President’s Climate Commitment</a>.<br />
<br />
To date, now thirteen years after the formation of ACUPCC, there are 6 signatory institutions that have achieved carbon neutrality <a href="https://secondnature.org/partners/">according to Second Nature</a>. Others plan to achieve this milestone by either 2025 or 2050 (but so do at least six states). Some campuses have been engaged in energy efficiency initiatives, either through new construction of LEED certified buildings or simply as a cost savings measure. Some institutions simply participate in mandatory demand response programs to curtail electrical use at critical times (e.g. during a heat wave) to minimize the chance of an electrical blackout. In the same article referenced above, Dr. Stephens noted that as of 2018, only 150 campuses globally had committed to divest their holdings in fossil fuel companies, and only about one-third of those are in the U.S.<br />
<br />
Given these numbers, I would argue that overall, institutions of higher education are <b><i>not</i></b> demonstrating strong climate action leadership. There are exceptions of course (Monash University in Australia comes to mind). But given the research and innovation that universities are typically known for, we can and should be doing better, especially given the urgency needed to address climate change as outlined in the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/">Special Report Global Warming of 1.5 °C</a> and strongly reiterated in the special reports the IPCC published this year on <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/">Climate Change and Land</a> and on the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/">Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate</a>.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVzln1b7hjQ09bw3tjc29oe295BwidnHB-SkAVq14Tg73ECXyxGuFtzbBzDlLCoDdTMeUVT1-k70BaAihkeyBBzG2hIVkj9oTMvVFaKgTrJyjJdvOvYng12N2PBwke74VnuylayYIwf5g/s1600/climate+emergency.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVzln1b7hjQ09bw3tjc29oe295BwidnHB-SkAVq14Tg73ECXyxGuFtzbBzDlLCoDdTMeUVT1-k70BaAihkeyBBzG2hIVkj9oTMvVFaKgTrJyjJdvOvYng12N2PBwke74VnuylayYIwf5g/s320/climate+emergency.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These signs are seen frequently around the COP25 venue</td></tr>
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The Executive Summary from the 2011 report that I referenced at the start of this post notes that “campuses face direct risks to their operations and infrastructure from the impacts of climate disruption,” and thus, have the unique opportunity to role-model solutions in their own operations. Earlier today, I attended the 10th <a href="https://www.worldclimatesummit.org/">World Climate Summit</a> that is held annually in conjunction with the COPs. While this is very much a business and investment-focused event, I went to a session entitled “Physical Climate Risk and Response” hosted by McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. In a small group exercise, they asked attendees to consider the four questions in the screen shot below.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXO61XrWqDZV7-2RI9IWvaUb9P9IVpOfMiQqVpMjmoDQgZwZht_ExfDDvy9hyAI4hl4BiNEUueGiuntL3igM0G3sDPcv19XRFHU_2qgtmwe7ofrDV-qGgcs7pxwRLckCRpxHehs1Wts9E/s1600/key+questions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXO61XrWqDZV7-2RI9IWvaUb9P9IVpOfMiQqVpMjmoDQgZwZht_ExfDDvy9hyAI4hl4BiNEUueGiuntL3igM0G3sDPcv19XRFHU_2qgtmwe7ofrDV-qGgcs7pxwRLckCRpxHehs1Wts9E/s400/key+questions.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Discussion questions posed during a session hosted by McKinsey & Company</td></tr>
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<br />
These seem like important questions for all institutions (including higher education) to be asking; I am curious as to how people at my campus would respond. One of the points made by the facilitators of this session was that climate risk should be integrated into the risk management framework of any organization. Thus, these questions seem like important ones for each campus to be asking as part of their own risk management. Without good answers to these questions, it would be difficult for an institution to take on one of the recommendations from the 2011 ACUPCC report where the authors suggested that higher education could also "serve as ‘hubs’ in their local communities for creating, testing, and disseminating knowledge about regional climate projections and adaptation strategies, and should work directly with their local communities to explain the science and implement solutions." D. Husichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918907411597547421noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-55055137625400502852019-12-04T14:14:00.000-08:002019-12-04T23:30:49.638-08:00COP25 from the Moravian College student perspectiveGreetings from COP25! With so many different panels and presentations to choose from, it is difficult to focus on just one, but for this post I will elaborate upon one of my favorites thus far. The Bangladesh Pavilion hosted an event that consisted of three presentations and a panel, followed by a brief discussion. The overarching theme of the three presentations was the importance of universities as knowledge brokers and the issues that university researchers face when sharing their work, especially on climate change. David Lewis began the series of presentations by delving into his current research project which he is conducting through his own university (London School of Economics) and three other partnering universities; one other in the Global North and two in the Global South. Shababa Haque and Feisal Rahman from the Independent University of Bangladesh followed with concurring presentations. The diversity of the research partners gives light to the differences experienced by university faculty researchers in various parts of the world, though the flow of knowledge has been shifting from North to South to a more balanced sharing of ideas. The preliminary conclusion reached by Lewis is that universities are underutilized as knowledge brokers as the research conducted in these institutions often remains in an “ivory tower.” This is problematic because valuable research, such as that on climate change, does not adequately reach the world of public policy, which includes not only government officials, but civil society and businesses as well. All three presentations touched on the importance of researchers engaging in policy so that it is science, not politics, that leads policy changes. And now to you Carter…
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…Thanks Hannah. These presentations about higher education and the impact it can have on policy gave way to a discussion panel consisting of three experts in their respected fields about the importance of knowledge dissemination. The experts discussed how the lowest income countries place a higher value on education as opposed to higher income countries; the United States has no mention of education in their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The panel then went on to describe how scientific jargon can muddle laymen’s understanding of complex topics, thus leading to insufficient public policy. This links back to the knowledge contained in the ivory tower as in-depth scientific conclusions currently require higher education to fully comprehend the severity of their implications. As of now, the status quo remains that policy drives scientific exploration as opposed to the desired inverse of data driven policy. If this were the case, the panel suggested that recent college graduates could be the ones to take the jargon from the experienced scientific community and properly convey the complex information in an adequate and pertinent manner as to effectively implement necessary policy changes. Another proposed solution by the panel members was the weaving and braiding of indigenous methodologies into Eurocentric practices as a way to quell and remedy both social and environmental challenges. Indigenous societies possess traditional knowledge which is beneficial to a balanced flow of information and the scientific and public policy communities can learn from this model. Overall, much is still needed to be done in order to strike a balance between the knowledge known and the knowledge gathered, thus ushering us into a new era: an era where policy is governed by the most informed, not those who scream the loudest.
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3442224054627982472.post-47297323107164398302019-12-02T11:41:00.000-08:002019-12-02T11:41:38.317-08:00Climate XXXX Emergency
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Climate <span class="s1">Change</span> Emergency</div>
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Once you get off the subway station at the conference venue, you are met with the texts “Climate Emergency” and “#TimeForAction.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Statistics are listed to support this claim, including melting glaciers, desertification and climate migration.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Last week, in advance of COP 25, the European Parliament adopted a resolution to declare a “climate emergency,” calling for a European Green Deal.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As we were reminded in the opening ceremony, the world has allowed too much time to elapse, and rather than decreasing emissions by 3.3%/year (if we had started a decade ago), we have increased emissions by 1.5%/year.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The recent UNEP emissions gap report claims that we are aiming for a 3.2C increase by 2100 — if countries succeed with their current pledges for decreasing emissions.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The countries, particularly the G20 countries that account for 78% of emissions, need to be much more ambitious if we are to keep the temperature rise to under 2C.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So, there is a palpable change in the negotiations — transformation change is required, and many are talking about the <i>climate emergency.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>Yet, from all of the science and impacts we are already seeing, I wonder how long it will take for the COP to recognize a <i>climate crisi</i>s?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It seems the time has come for a shift in our language, ambition, and action.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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<br />Hilde Binfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11562011178759048726noreply@blogger.com2