You can read about Marla's first impressions at:
http://www.studentsonclimatechange.com/marlas-blog.html
Monday, November 26, 2012
The U.S. as world leader
After being in airports or airplanes for almost 22 hours, Marla and I finally arrived in Doha late Saturday night. For the first time in all my travels, I had to show my boarding pass as I disembarked, presumably verifying that a) I had shown proper credentials, including a visa, to board in the first place, and b) that I wasn’t instead supposed to be headed to the next stop of the flight – Bahrain. One of the flight attendants had warned us ahead of time that photography within the airport was not allowed. A search of the internet later turned up uninteresting and outdated pictures of the airport in the 1970s and provided information about a new airport (with artist renderings) that is supposed to open in December of this year, after we leave. Presumably, this is in support of the upcoming World Cup to be held in Qatar in 2022 (talk about planning for the future).
The rest of the airport routine was uneventful, and we were relieved to see a driver holding a sign with our names indicating that the prearranged hotel pickup had gone as planned. The driver was young and dressed such that we might have been in any American city. In many countries, the youth are rejecting the traditions of their culture; is this true in Qatar as well? He turned on the radio; the World Top 50 Countdown was on. I was a bit startled to hear Taylor Swift (We are never ever getting back together). Next up, Alicia Keys singing Girl on Fire. This was Doha, right? Yes, the airport security confirmed that I was in the right destination when I got off the plane. But bold songs from women in a culture not known for promoting a strong voice from women seemed out of place to say the least. It was a bit surreal, and I suppressed an urge to giggle at the strange clash of cultures. But it was late, and I was happy to reach our “home” for the week, Le Park hotel.
Given that the United States has so much global influence, it shouldn’t be any surprise that the rest of the world looks to our country for leadership in other areas, including the international climate negotiations. (That is, after all, the real reason I am here.) The little media coverage I have seen about the conference thus far, however, has not been optimistic that major breakthroughs will occur over the next two weeks. After eighteen years of negotiating, our country hasn’t been the most cooperative (a reminder of our not being a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol – the only existing legally binding agreement on greenhouse gas reductions). From a recent Common Dreams article[1]:
In the opening plenary for COP18, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres, noted the unique geopolitical location for this conference as it is the first time such a meeting has been held in the Gulf region. She noted that this gives Qatar and the Middle East region an “unequaled world stage to showcase contributions to reduce food and water vulnerabilities” and to “build a safer, stronger energy future for all countries.” The plenary began with a video encouraging the creative of an “Earth conscious world.” Let’s hope that the 194 nations represented here, including the United States, realize the deep impact that we have on each other. In the opening plenary, the COP18 president, His Excellency Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, noted that the “phenomenon of climate change is a common challenge for all of humanity” and the outgoing COP17 President from South Africa, Ms. Maiti Nkoana-Mashabane, reminded the audience “that our futures are explicatively linked to each other.” I am pretty sure that she means in ways more substantial that the sodas and hamburgers we share.
As typical (in my limited experience, at least), flights in the Middle East do not pull up to a jet way at the main airport terminal. Rather, a bus takes passengers to the terminal. Our bus from the plane drove seemingly in circles for a good 20 minutes. It was dark, but I could make out sand, lots of sand, that had blown in piles around the open expanses. I would later notice that sand is everywhere and everything in Qatar is the color of sand - the ground, the haze, the buildings, the cars...
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| A scene from our COP18 bus ride |
Once inside the terminal, it was the usual cattle-herding-experience of going through passport control/immigration; my picture is now in the Qatari database. All employees here were male, clothed in fine white robes and wearing head scarves -- white squares of cloth, some embroidered, with black “ropes” to hold the covering in place. I believe these are referred to as kufiya. Traditionally, the ropes were made of camel hair, but these looked to be cloth. Many women, who were not coming off our plane, were completely covered in the black abaya.
 |
| Observers at the Opening Plenary of COP18 |
I awoke much too early on Sunday morning, but unable to sleep any longer, I logged in to see what was new in the world. I was greeted by two main headlines: the growing unrest in Egypt and the “news” that Larry Hagman had died. Add the unrest in Egypt to conflicts in Israel and the Gaza strip, Syria, Pakistan, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and probably many other locations that don’t even make the news in the U.S. The other CNN story began “Larry Hagman, whose portrayal of one of television’s most beloved villains, J. R. Ewing, led the CBS series ‘Dallas’ to enormous worldwide popularity, died on Friday in Dallas. He was 81.” Ah, the oil tycoon of an incredibly popular show that aired from 1978 to 1991. Not exactly the type of oil tycoon here in Qatar, of which there are many. Sadly, I watched too many episodes of this night-time soap opera in my younger days, especially during graduate school. I tried to picture J.R., with his sneer and cowboy hat, swaggering through the Gulf state deserts. Nah, he belongs in Texas and on TV reruns.
My thoughts wandered to a visit to Kenya in 1991. Several people we met at tented lodges in remote areas of the country mentioned how they dreamed of coming to the United States to see New York City (the iconic image of our entire nation, apparently) and our huge houses. Many commented that we must be very rich if we live in houses like they saw on Dallas. (Seriously?) Mind you, this is before the internet was available in this region; we were lucky just to have a few hours of generator power to charge our camera batteries back then. Apparently, their impressions of our country were obtained from magazines. Was this the best that America had to offer as aspirations for those living in countries thousands of miles away? I had seen boys and men wearing T-shirts with American symbols (often the famous Swoosh or some pro sports team), but I figured that these had been gifts or trades from previous tourists. Most of the schoolchildren we encountered begged for paper, pencil, magazines, or candy. At least 3 of these could be used for educational purposes.
I have had the good fortune of traveling to many countries, and it is readily obvious that the imprint of the United States on the planet is becoming universal. Coca Cola is recognized even in remote villages, although Fanta is often also a favorite. McDonalds and Starbucks and KFC are not difficult to find in cities around the world, although we didn’t notice any Starbucks wandering around Doha on Day 1. Denny’s has become the favorite restaurant of a friend of mine from rural Cariari, Costa Rica. The McDonalds in Qatar do have a Middle Eastern twist with the unique McArabia and McRoyale sandwiches (you can’t make this stuff up). We saw signs for “Doha’s Got Talent” (although our American version is actually a knockoff of the original British show, I believe). Personally, I wish our corporate footprints, or at least these icons, were not so universal. They really aren’t the best we have as a nation to offer, and personally, I enjoy testing the local fare when I travel and learning about cultures that are unfamiliar to me. But I doubt that this tide of influence can be reversed.
All eyes will be on Barack Obama and whether he demonstrates commitment to climate change early on at Doha. The key question for many is whether or not President Obama will chart new territory for leadership by the United States, a country which has long refused to make the necessary commitments that scientists say are necessary to avert a 2°C rise in global temperatures and the associated climate change such warming is likely to trigger.
Will this now change, given the growing acceptance of climate change being “real” in our country due, in part, to the extreme weather events of the past year and half, especially Hurricane Sandy that hit much of the east coast in October? Estimates that damage from Sandy are now over $62 billion. But the U.S. does not have sole claim to extreme weather vents and damage caused by them. Numerous other episodes around the world over the past few years have also resulted in billions and billions of dollars in losses. An upcoming event at the COP18 meeting is a discussion of the IPCC 2012 special report entitled “Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters.”[2] There are many here who attribute global extreme weather events occurring in increasing frequency to greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. and other industrialized nations. Another imprint of our culture that now impacts the rest of the world.
Our carbon emissions of over 5 billion tons annually are surpassed only by China’s 8 billion tons, which have grown significantly since the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in 1997. To be fair, our emissions have fallen since 2007, but this is largely due to the economic downturn. Our per capita carbon footprint, however, remains higher than that of China. In the days leading up to the start of COP18, our host country, Qatar, is sharing some of the criticism typically reserved for the U.S., given that it produces nearly 50 tons a year of carbon dioxide for each of its 1.6 million residents. In an article[3] sent to me by a Moravian College colleague this weekend, Jamie Henn, co-founder of the environment group 350.org, noted the irony of Qatar hosting the event: "This is a little bit like McDonald's hosting a conference on obesity." Those more optimistic instead hope that Qatar pours their innovative energy into this conference in the same way they put together a creative bid for the World Cup.
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| Christiana Figueres addressing the audience (parties, press, and observers) at the COP18 opening plenary |
[1]See 11/24/12 piece entitled “US Leadership, Global Solidarity Keys to Averting Climate Disaster”, available at http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/11/24-0.
[3] “Qatar hosts climate summit amid criticism”, see http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/11/201211256573379361.html.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Pondering Ad Dawhah
In
just a few days, for the fourth year in a row, I will be joining a small
delegation from Moravian College that will attend the United Nations meeting on
climate change in Doha (Ad Dawhah), Qatar.
This year’s delegation includes Hilde Binford, Associate Professor from
the Department of Music, Marla Bianca, a student majoring in both Chemistry and
Environmental Science, and me, Diane Husic, Professor of Biological Sciences. Marla will also be representing the American
Chemical Society – one of four students from across the country to do so (see www.acs.org/climatepolicy ).
[1] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/qa.html
[2] See the Solutions for Water website: http://www.solutionsforwater.org/solutions/state-of-qatar-experience-in-seawater-desalination-2.
[3] For more details on the background of the UNFCCCC, go to http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention/items/6036.php.
[4] The list of Annex I countries can be found at http://unfccc.int/parties_and_observers/parties/annex_i/items/2774.php.
[5] See http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/status_of_ratification/items/2613.php.
[6] See our relevant post from COP17 http://moraviancollegeatunfccc.blogspot.com/2011/11/mitigation-gap.html.
[8] See http://www.elibrary.dep.state.pa.us/dsweb/Get/Document-82988/7000-RE-DEP4303%20combined%20report.pdf.
[9] The IPCC this year published a special report entitled Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation; see http://www.ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/.
There
is a certain degree of incongruity that a conference with a major objective of
reducing greenhouse gas emissions (largely from the combustion of fossil fuels)
is being held in a tiny Middle Eastern/Persian Gulf country with immense wealth
from fossil fuel reserves and exports.
According to CIA’s The World Factbook:[1]
Oil and gas likely have made
Qatar the second highest per-capita income country - behind Liechtenstein - and
the country with the lowest unemployment. Proved oil reserves in excess of 25
billion barrels should enable continued output at current levels for 57 years.
Qatar's proved reserves of natural gas exceed 25 trillion cubic meters, more
than 13% of the world total and third largest in the world.
The country has been ruled by the Al Thani
family since the mid-1800s, is 77.5% Muslim, and has a male to female ratio of
4.15 to 1 in the 15 to 64 age range (interesting, given our all-female
delegation). A mere 1.64% of the land is
arable, and dust storms are considered the main natural hazard. Surface waters, such as lakes and rivers are
nonexistent, and a significant amount of the population’s fresh water needs are
met by desalination plants which produce almost 330 million gallons per day.[2]
But
I digress. For those of you that are new
to following this blog, let me provide a little background about these meetings.
During
the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, a number of important documents were developed as
well as 3 international treaties or “conventions” including the Convention on
Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Convention to
Combat Desertification. The United
Nations Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, went into effect in March 1994
and today, it has been ratified by 195 countries which are referred to as
Parties to the Convention.[3] Thus, the annual meetings, which began in are
referred to as the Convention of the Parties or COP for short. The first of these (COP 1) was held in 1995
and on November 25th, COP18 will begin in Doha, Qatar.
The
text in these formal U.N. documents is a bit cumbersome, but it is worth noting
the main objective stated in the UNFCCC [Article 2]:
The
ultimate objective of this Convention and any related legal instruments that
the Conference of the Parties may adopt is to
achieve, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention, stabilization of greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous
anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Such a level should be achieved within a
time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change,
to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic
development to proceed in a sustainable manner (emphasis added).
A
key premise of the UNFCCC is that science is to be used as the basis
for developing specific mitigation goals aimed at reducing
the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. But as noted in the above text, social and
economic (sustainable development) considerations are also of primary
importance. The first legally binding
agreement aimed at mitigation, known as the Kyoto Protocol, was crafted at COP3
in 1997. This went into effect in 2005
and set targets for what are referred to as Annex I countries to reduce
emissions of 6 main greenhouse gases (GHG) an average of 5% below 1990 levels
by 2012.
The
37 Annex I countries[4] are comprised
mainly of the developed industrialized nations that have historically
contributed the majority of GHG into the atmosphere. Today, they still collectively contribute
about 64% of the total annual GHG emissions.[5] Notably, China, Brazil, and India were not
included in this original list of countries obligated to set emission reduction
targets. The amount of GHG that these
countries emit has risen dramatically since 1997, and their omission from the
GHG emission regulations is a particular point of contention with the United
States. From the rest of the world’s
perspective, however, the real point
of contention is that the United States never ratified the Kyoto Protocol and
remains the only major party from the UNFCCC that has failed to do so.
Currently,
there are 192 parties to the agreement, although the first commitment period of
the protocol expires in December of this year.
Canada announced last year at COP17 that it will withdraw from the
agreement next month, and other countries may follow. Thus, there has been a sense of urgency at
the past few COP meetings to either garner support for a continuation of the
Kyoto Protocol or to develop a new legally binding agreement. Any new accord would likely now have
mitigation expectations of all
parties to the UNFCCC and would attempt to set emission reduction targets that
would limit global temperature rise to 2ยบ Celsius.[6]
A
second premise of the original UNFCCC was the recognition of the need for adaptation
of natural and human systems to the unavoidable impacts of a warming climate. An Adaptation Framework was developed at
COP16 in Cancun[7] and,
in the United States, there are a number of national agencies ranging from the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the State Department and Pentagon that are
working on adaptation documents or including climate change in their strategic
planning documents. Thirteen states have
climate change action plans completed (including Pennsylvania[8]) and
ten others are in some stage of developing one.
Adapt,
we must. International organizations
have been meeting about climate change since the 1980s, and the first report of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was published 22 years
ago, yet we are still at the negotiations table and on a trajectory of
increasing rates of GHG emissions globally and a projected temperature rise of
at least 4ยบ C.
Countless scientific reports tell of the changes that are already being
observed in ecosystems, plant and animal behavior, and as increasingly frequent extreme
weather events[9], and
a myriad of other changes are now inevitable.
Earlier this week, a report from the World Bank was released entitled Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4ยบ C Warmer World Must be Avoided.[10] I was not surprised that such a report was
published, but rather by the source.
Today,
I received an email from Samwel Naikada, a Kenyan Maasai that we first met at
COP15 in Copenhagen four years ago. I will
write more about Samwel in a subsequent post, but because he cannot attend the
conference this year, he asked that I deliver a message in Doha on his behalf.
I will start by sharing it verbatim in this post:
Climate
change is now speaking for itself and it’s up to us humans to Act to mitigate,
or Suffer the consequences. [Can] we
still afford to talk and talk while innocent, vulnerable, poor people are
suffering?
I
am curious as to what the position of the U.S. will be at COP18, fresh on the
heels of President Obama’s re-election and the path of destruction of
“Superstorm Sandy”. These follow a year (2011)
characterized both by record warmth and a record number extreme weather events
that caused extraordinarily high economic losses. Other countries have been waiting for
leadership from the U.S. for many years now.
Frustration has been growing, and in Durban, South Africa last year,
there were many accusing the industrialized Western nations of climate
apartheid. Increasingly, climate change
has been in our news – mostly related to the aftermath of the storm and speculation on whether the construction of the Keystone
XL pipeline for oil from tar sands will be approved. However, I have yet to hear anything about the
COP18 meeting in Doha in the U.S. media.
Stay tuned.
[1] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/qa.html
[2] See the Solutions for Water website: http://www.solutionsforwater.org/solutions/state-of-qatar-experience-in-seawater-desalination-2.
[3] For more details on the background of the UNFCCCC, go to http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention/items/6036.php.
[4] The list of Annex I countries can be found at http://unfccc.int/parties_and_observers/parties/annex_i/items/2774.php.
[5] See http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/status_of_ratification/items/2613.php.
[6] See our relevant post from COP17 http://moraviancollegeatunfccc.blogspot.com/2011/11/mitigation-gap.html.
[8] See http://www.elibrary.dep.state.pa.us/dsweb/Get/Document-82988/7000-RE-DEP4303%20combined%20report.pdf.
[9] The IPCC this year published a special report entitled Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation; see http://www.ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
As COP17 concludes....
Well, I have skimmed some of the documents that came out of the final marathon negotiations sessions and while there is still a lot of kicking the can down the road, there are some encouraging provisions.
The agreement is being criticized by environmental groups and developing countries as it really delays the tough task of significantly reducing emissions *now* to prevent continuing warming and extreme weather events.
Reactions from others?
- A legally binding agreement for emission reductions to be finalized by 2015 and go into effect no later than 2020. (The U.S. timeframe was accepted here, but the U.S. didn't want the legally binding part.) Such is the give-and-take world of negotiations.
- The commitments will include 194 countries - developed and developing. So unlike the Kyoto Protocol, the provisions won't apply only to the Annex I countries. This is a recognition of the major development that has occurred in countries like China, India, and Brazil since the original development of the Kyoto Protocol and is a pretty significant change.
- The Green Climate Fund (a concept that came from Cancun/COP16) was formally launched. The agreement sets up the bodies that will collect, govern and distribute tens of billions of dollars a year for poor countries. It will be an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism of the Convention (the UNFCCC) -- not the World Bank, so this is a "win" for the developing nations that opposed the World Bank involvement.
- The Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention will be extended for one year in order for it to continue its work and reach the agreed outcome pursuant to decision 1/CP.13 (Bali Action Plan).
- An agreement was made to launch a new process to develop a protocol, "...another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change applicable to all Parties, through a subsidiary body under the Convention hereby established and to be known as the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action to complete its work no later thatn 2015. This group will plan its work in the first half of 2012, including, inter alia, on mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer, transparency of action, and support and capacity-building, drawing upon submissions from Parties and relevant technical, social and economic information and expertise." It is expected to deal with the emissions (gigaton) gap of greenhouse gases to try to limit global warming to 2 or 1.5 degrees C. [Good luck to this group!]
- Countries are to develop national adaptation plans. "...Enhanced action on adaptation should be undertaken in accordance with the Convention, should follow a country-driven, gender-sensitive, participatory and fully transparent approach, taking into consideration vulnerable groups, communities and ecosystems, and should be based on and guided by the best available science and, as appropriate, traditional and indigenous knowledge, and by gender-sensitive approaches, with a view to integrating adaptation into relevant social, economic and environmental policies and actions, where appropriate." Assistance to developing countries in creating such plans will be needed. Members of the constituency group RINGOs (Research and Independent NGOs) should take an active role here in helping to develop this capacity in developing countries.
- It appears that REDD+ is to be continued, but with a greater transparency in the processes and a greater respect for local and national policies and practices. In other words, I believe this is an attempt to address the fear from many, especially indigenous groups, of a new form of colonialism by the global north.
The agreement is being criticized by environmental groups and developing countries as it really delays the tough task of significantly reducing emissions *now* to prevent continuing warming and extreme weather events.
Reactions from others?
Saturday, December 10, 2011
A cost issue?
A major focus of the U.S. at COP17 has been the economic interests of our country (and more specifically, on the interests of large corporations). As if often the case, the environment vs. economy dichotomy arises. But what is the cost of inaction?
See this article from CNN about the extreme weather events of 2011:
$50 billion for this year for the U.S. alone. And just during the 2 weeks of COP17 in Durban, there were 8 extreme weather events:
The dollar estimates, of course, totally neglect the plight of millions who are currently suffering from extreme droughts and floods. Delaying any real action on greenhouse mitigation and climate change adaptation until at least 2020 will likely be a death sentence for millions more -- most of whom will initially be from impoverished parts of the world.
Do we call this fiscal responsibility? How about genocide? Or crimes against humanity?
Friday, December 9, 2011
COP17 Week 2 from afar
My response: I would be fascinated to know how many campuses are discussing the nitty gritty details of the UNFCCC processes, agreements and proposals and what the implications are for our students. I have attended the last 3 COP meetings, and there are a number of U.S. colleges and universities represented, but by far, the youth (meaning college-aged students) from other countries are more deeply engaged and have a fuller understanding of the issues. I salute this student for representing the voice that hasn't been heard enough by the U.S. delegation. Delegations (parties) from other nations, many of which are not democracies by our definition, function in a much more collaborative and interactive (dare I say democratic fashion) than ours in terms of their composition and interaction with civil society.
If anyone reading this has followed our postings on this blog over the past few years, you will know that I greatly admire the late Wangari Maathai. Yesterday, Amy Goodman interviewed her daughter Wanjira (who sounds a lot like her mother). Her message to the U.S.: “Shape up or get out!”
From afar, it appeared that tensions rose further today. http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/09-10#.TuKRFi4HkLU.facebook
Protests outside the venue grew louder on Friday, and according to several reports, delegates from the worlds most vulnerable countries security had been tight and any “actions” were limited to less than 15 people, so I don’t know how they pulled this off!
The talks went into extra time Friday with yet another Indaba being held at midnight South African time! According to the UNFCCC website, a document will be posted on Saturday morning and the meeting will resume sometime after the Parties have had an opportunity to review this. This extension into Saturday occurred in Copenhagen as well. I remember being in the airport trying to catch tidbits of the news reports even though they were in Danish.
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