Greetings from Week 2 Delegation & COP Background

Day 2 in Marrakech and day 1 (of week 2) of the 22nd Conference of Parties complete for the second Swarthmore Delegation. Things have been going smoothly thus far and our experience has been a satisfying mix of ad hoc and deliberate scheduling to get the most out of both the busy Conference and the inviting sites in the city. Already in our last 32 hours here, since arriving on Sunday afternoon (Marrakech time), we have managed to explore the labyrinth of outdoor vendors in the Souk and twice dined on delicious dinners ranging from pastille platters and tangine dishes on rooftop restaurants within the Medina (the old city within Marrakech). Thanks to the advice from the first Swarthmore delegation as well as the kind Moroccan city dwellers, we have gotten familiar with transit costs, navigating the COP space, and of course, learning the tricks to optimize the hotel wi-fi.

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We’ll be sure to share plenty of details of specific workshops and negotiations as the week progresses, but first, a brief overview of the COP itself may be helpful for understanding the importance of this meeting, and for demonstrating that we are here for more than just delicious mint tea, beautiful weather, and a head start on Christmas shopping.

The COP is the actual international meeting that has been held annually since 1995, to actualize the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). UNFCCC was first established in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, where the international community decided to begin negotiations in which nations would voluntary work to reduce carbon emissions. The Kyoto Protocol established in 1997 was one of the first COPs that yielded somewhat substantive results for nations to commit to cut carbon emissions, yet lack of participation from large emitters (including the U.S.) combined with weak targets resulted in little global progress towards carbon emission reductions. The Kyoto Protocol differentiated between Annex I (developed) and non-Annex I (less developed) nations, with developed nations bearing responsibilities for reducing CO2 emissions.  (Harris et. al., 2015, 9) Since China and India were among the non-Annex I nations and had no formal responsibility to curb carbon emissions, the U.S. Congress would not ratify Kyoto. Carbon emissions trading under Kyoto failed to be effective to bring down CO2 levels.

By many measures, the next substantive meeting that showed any hopeful progress was 18 years later in COP 21 in Paris. With China and the U.S., the world’s two greatest carbon emitters, finally cooperating in the 2015 conference broadly considered “the last chance”, the world finally made three especially important strides towards carbon emissions reductions. The Paris Agreement ended the formal, differentiated responsibility of Annex I and non-Annex I nations, it provided flexibility of states’ contributions in a way that encourages participation, and it establishes 5 year reviews of states’ progress. (Kaya, Desai, 2016, 5, 6) The Paris Agreement also bolstered recognition of the need to pursue more ambitious emissions reductions, marking a global temperature increase of 1.5ºC increase from pre-industrial levels as the goal, rather than the previous goal of no more than a 2.0ºC increase (Obergassel et. al. 2016, 14, 15) The Paris Agreement was officially ratified on November 4, 2016- way sooner than most expected- after a enough countries (the required 55% threshold) signed on to the agreement in October of this year. (Reuters, 2016)

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While the progress made in COP 21 rejuvenated hope in the ability of productive international diplomacy on climate change, challenges remain. Calculations of the world’s current emissions reduction plans still project that the global temperature increase will range from 2.7ºC to 3.5ºC, far exceeding the 1.5 to stay alive as was chanted by many small island nation representatives at the Paris conference. Additionally, the Paris Agreement is not legally binding, but only provides a system of “naming and shaming” through its 5 year reviews in which nations share progress. (Obergassel et. al., 3) And, of course the election of a president and a congressional majority that tends to disregard the scientific projections from the international science community, in addition to its own EPA, DOD, and CBO, is not helpful.

The rest of the global community however is continuing to work towards its moral and technical responsibilities to address the global climate crisis. We’ll keep you updated on how these efforts are playing out.

Reaction to the election

We woke up to great shock and surprise as we realized that Trump had won the election. The irony of being in Morocco at a UN global climate change conference right now hit us hard, especially while we were away from friends and family.  However, we took solace by watching and joining in on youth-led election-response demonstrations. Hearing stories from young climate activist groups such as SustainUS (which includes recent Swarthmore grad Ben Goloff) reminded us that there are many others who will continue to fight for a sustainable and just future, despite present and future challenges to that vision.

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The banner originally read “Presidential To-Do List…” but when the SustainUS artists realized this morning that Clinton would not be president, they crossed off “Presidential” leaving these demands up to the people.

Our Moroccan hosts and the general public that we have met have been extremely supportive of us and were also surprised that Trump won.

It is difficult to gague the effect of the election on COP events, as we do not have access to observe the official negotiations between parties. On the surface, COP looked to continue as usual. The only visible signs of grief came from youth delegates, largely activists, who cried and hugged as we made our way through the day.

Greetings from Marrakech/ COP22

We’re sending a few pictures after a busy Day 1 at the COP22.  The speeches at the opening ceremonies promised that ACTION would be the operative word at the conference.  Salaheddine Mezouar, the president of COP22, argued that we must commit our work during these negotiations to ensure climate justice for the most vulnerable nations.  He quoted a proverb from the Dogon people of Mali: “The sun does not forget a village just because it is small”.  Let’s see what happens.

Here are some pictures from Day 1:

 

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Adina and David ready for Day 1 of COP22!

The COP compound is filled with meeting rooms, displays for countries and NGOs, and large halls for panel discussions. These are located in the Blue Zone, which requires special UN accreditation to access and is where we spent all of today.

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A Blue Zone pillar.

We look forward to checking out the Green Zone tomorrow, which is where NGOs and other civil societies gather to hold events and displays. We only passed this space briefly on the way out, but look forward to spending more time there.

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A group of Moroccan drummers gathered outside the Green Zone.

On the way out we also helped a group of event organizers transport the “Medina Bikes” on display…by riding them! (These are the city bikes available for public use in Marrakech, for a yearly fee of approximately $50.) While chatting with one of the other bike riders on the way out, it turned out we were riding bikes with the Moroccan Minister of the Environment. (Adina was asked if she was a minister too.) Afterwards, Giovanna reminded us that we probably should have asked about environmental justice in Morocco, but it was still a nice way to end the day.

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Giovanna tries out a Medina Bike.

More posts to come soon!

Adina, David, and Giovanna