November 8, 2021 was the first day of the second week at COP26 in Glasgow, and a new Swarthmore observer delegation team took over from the first one. I spent much of the day, joined by a couple of students who are also part of the delegation, listening in on climate finance. And, I started writing a blog on that topic. But, for now, I want to write about my observations and anecdotes from Week 2 Day 1. As a social scientist, I do not get a chance to do that very often.
My story can be previewed in one sentence: the Americans are back! As the US pavilion’s wall declares (in a uniquely American way, where you cannot tell whether it is supposed to be humorous): “The United States is back in the Paris Agreement, back at COP, and ready to go all in climate.” And, by the looks of it, they were missed.
The big event of the day was former U.S. President Obama’s presence in the halls of COP. While I didn’t get to hear him in person, I enjoyed observing the effects of his visit. He gave two talks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon – both of which were ticketed, and tickets were not readily available. One person from our delegation did make it in. But, hundreds of people without tickets nonetheless cued up on the staircase where Obama was expected to descend into the room for his morning lecture. And, when the crowd got a glimpse of Obama, even a mere fleeting glimpse marked by hundreds of smart phones (which themselves were trying to capture the moment), the crowd cheered him as if he were a member of the Beatles. His quick descent down the stairs and into the large conference space for the talk lingered on with the crowd waiting outside. Some people tried to reason with the security guards that if there was room left, what was a ticket in the end? There were firm but polite rejections.
His second talk, similarly, witnessed a multinational crowd huddled outside of the large plenary room, where he was speaking. As the diverse groups were listening to him through the webcast, they were also hoping to see him in person. One person giddily told her friend “I already saw him, I don’t know why I am still waiting here.” Another group burst into spontaneous clapping as they watched him on the webcast. At some point, the crowd got so significant outside of the closed doors, where he was making the address, that a security guard took a megaphone in her hand to exclaim: “President Obama will not be exiting this way”, finally paving the way for us climate finance nerds to wait for the next session in the same room.
The other American in the limelight was John Kerry, serving as the inaugural Presidential Envoy for Climate Change. He spoke eloquently about the need to close the gap on adaptation finance during the Adaptation Fund Contributor Dialogue. This gap refers to what less developed countries need for building capacity and resilience to meet the challenges of climate change and what more developed countries have been dispensing for that cause. If you are wondering why the relatively rich should pay for the less fortunate to adapt (beyond moral reasoning), the answer is simple: much of the greenhouse gas emissions since about 1850 has been contributed by today’s developed countries, while the effects of climate change are disproportionately felt by the poor. Kerry put it forcefully: “The stakes here [in Glasgow] couldn’t really be higher.” He announced the first ever US contribution to the Fund — USD 50million–, deeming it a shift in the U.S. position. Later on, the German representative jokingly noted that their contribution was 50 million Euros, which superseded the American.
From Day 1, it looks like the Americans have leveraged China’s absence, reestablishing themselves as a key player, if not a leader. President Biden’s visit last week had already set that stage, and Obama’s visit with Kerry’s diplomacy appears to have further solidified it. However, it remains to be seen how long the love for the Americans will last – the proof will be in the negotiation pudding in the remaining days. And, the developing countries, the G77 group, are keeping up the solidarity so far in key negotiating items. So, stay tuned.