Why are expectations so high?  

Since Paris, Glasgow is the first conference at which countries must present their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which should include more ambitious emission reductions. So far, only 122 countries have submitted new NDCs. And even with those fresh commitments, the emission gap to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 stays worryingly large. This means that current commitments are not enough to limit global warming to 1.5°C, as agreed upon in Paris six years ago. To date, 46 countries have not submitted any NDCs at all.  

Many deem COP26 as the very last chance to finally get on track for the big goal of reaching net-zero by 2050. An utterly important milestone to reach this goal is the achievement of a 50% emission reduction until 2030. As the year draws to a close, 2030 is only 9 years away! This is not much time for the vast and systemic changes that must happen.  

Time is running out – this is the main reason COP26 must deliver.  

The Presidency of this year’s COP has identified four main goals which have to be achieved:  

1. This goal sets the scene: As already explained, securing net-zero by 2050 is existential to keeping global warming to 1.5°C and thus of utmost importance. 

2. Mobilising finance: The second most important and probably hottest discussed topic at this year’s conference will be finance. In Copenhagen 2009, wealthy countries committed to providing $100 bn annually from 2020 to 2025 in order to help developing countries finance mitigation and adaptation measures. Countries have fallen short of achieving this goal in 2020. Analyses show that global climate finance flows even need to increase substantially in the coming years.  

3. Adaptation and loss and damage are high on the agenda at this year’s conference. As mitigating climate change will not prevent extreme weather events and long-lasting changes in the earth system from happening, countries and communities need to adapt to the new normal, which will likely be an at least 1.5°C warmer world. Additionally, delegates want to find ways to better support communities, which are so severely affected that adaptation is not enough anymore. This falls under the umbrella of loss and damage, where finally meaningful improvements need to be seen. 

4. All stakeholders, including governments, businesses and the civil society must collaborate and work on solutions together in order to let action follow the promises and tackle the challenge lying ahead. Cooperation is key and indispensable. 

Thanks to our study programme’s support, a group of Global Change Ecology students was selected to participate in this year’s COP. We want to thank our coordination, especially Stephanie Thomas, and our head of course, Carl Beierkuhnlein, for providing this incredible opportunity.  

We will try to share as much of our experiences as possible with you, by posting on our Twitter and Instagram accounts and by publishing more extensive insights here on the GCE blog.  

Feel free to reach out to us in case of any enquiries or questions.  

Week 1 attendees: Kelly Heroux, Christoffer Johansson, Theresa Landwehr, Theresia Romann, Katja Scharrer, Selina Scheer, Sandra Schira, Steffen Schwardmann, Marco Thalhofer, Yun-Yun Tsai, Hannah Weishäupl, Carolin Wicke 

Week 2 attendees: Pia Bradler, Alexis Case, Hannah Pepe, Diana Miriam Pineda Fernández, Veronika Schlosser, Éverton Souza da Silva, Eva Späte, Gabriela Vielma, Ana Letitia Vital, Elena Wiese, Manuela Zindler 

The post Global Change Ecology at COP26 appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

In December 2018, fellow GCE students and I went to the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference which was held at Katowice, Poland. I attended the second week of the conference from December 10th to 14th.

As I stayed in Kraków, I used a shuttle bus every day to get to and back from the conference venue. It was always a good time to reflect the day and thinking about what happened. This was my the first time attending a conference of such a size and it was therefore an extraordinary experience. Up on arrival, I got a first impression of how many people are attending this conference, as registration took about an hour. Delegates and observers from all over the world gather at this conference to negotiate, discuss and network about climate change. The venue was split into several areas including the big plenary, all the official side event rooms and also the pavilion section. I spent most of my time in different pavilions because I enjoyed smaller, interactive groups and therefore more intense discussions or question rounds. After many events, there is always time to talk with everyone while having a snack or a drink during the evenings. It was fascinating being able to even take part as a student in these talks and make contributions.

During the week, one always gets into conversations with other people at side events or discussion panels. Especially the mix of people from different backgrounds like economics, politics, science, NGOs or even students, creates a special atmosphere where you feel a lot of motivation, but also a lot of concerns and things which need to be discussed further. One thing that many agree on is that we have enough technology, money and resources but that the implementation of agreements does not work efficiently.

Unfortunately, the official negotiations of the 2^nd week were most of the times behind closed doors for which you needed a special permit to attend to. The goal was to establish a rule book on how to implement the Paris Agreement. The outcomes of this conference show that negotiations were definitely not easy this year as nations had difficulties to reach agreements. At the end, a rulebook was developed which will come into force in 2020. It states how governments need to measure and report on their climate change efforts. In my opinion, the results are not very satisfying and leave a lot of uncertainty. All of the rules work on a ‘Naming and Shaming’ basis…I do not believe that this is enough for countries like Brazil or Saudi Arabia to show actions for the protection of our climate.

On the other hand, more and more prominent people start to take actions to inform and create awareness about climate change. Al Gore gave a speech about our climate crisis and left everyone thoughtful but also somewhat motivated to make a difference.

Overall, I can say that this week in Poland was a great time with lots of experiences and new impressions. I am grateful I was able to go there and highly recommend it to everyone. Special thanks to GCE, Bayceer and the ENB for making this experience possible for me.

(Title Image by Alexander Lentge.)

The post Katowice Climate Change Conference in Poland 2018 appeared first on Global Change Ecology.