„If you could act, but you don’t, the whole world will hold you responsible. That’s why I give my best.”    – Kisilu Musya

In November 2017, the climate of our planet Earth was all over in the media: The “Conference of the Parties” (COP23) took place in Bonn, where representatives of 197 discussed how to implement the climate goals set at the Paris Agreement 2015. This time, 38 students of the master’s program “Global Change Ecology” had the chance to take part in the COP23 and present their study program within an exhibition booth. Global Change Ecology holds an official observer status for the UN since 2009, so 8 students could follow the climate negotiations close-up in the “Bula Zone”. The other students could attend side events in the so called “Bonn Zone”, see panel discussions about a variety of topics and have a look at all the exhibitions of different programmes, associations and countries. So, everyone returned with many new experiences and insights and maybe also a different view on the world of climate politics. (See also our articles about our experiences at COP23.)

But how to give somebody an understanding of the atmosphere of such an event – the successes and failures, the merits and danger, the swaying between euphoria and disappointment – beyond blog and newspaper articles and pictures? To bring the spirit of COP23 back to Bayreuth – the discussions, the findings, the failures – the students from GCE chose to organize a movie night at Glashaus with a following panel discussion with students who attended the COP23. The movie “Thank you for the rain” from Julia Dahr tells the story of Kisilu Musya, a Kenyan farmer, whose community is endangered by the impacts of climate change. Kisilu records his everyday life in the village with a handheld camera and shows the audience how his harvest is at risk. Due to climate change the long-awaited rain fails to appear and the plants are withering… When the rain finally comes, it is extreme and causes harm to houses and plants alike. Eventually, climate activists learn about Kisilu and his story and invite him to speak at the 21. climate conference in Paris.The movie fee was funded by the BcG Alumni (Alumni association of Biology and Earth Sciences in Bayreuth).

The Glashaus was well-filled for the movie presentation and around half of the audience stayed for the follow-up panel discussion. Alicia Medina Valdiviezo from Peru and Judith Schepers, Martin Baur, Patrick von Jeetze and Katharina Funk from Germany spoke about their impressions from COP23: They felt – similarly to Kisilu – a certain euphoria to be able to attend the world’s biggest climate conference. But then the negotiations stretched over days and all that was going on was mostly strategical manoeuvres. Thus, it was not easy to believe in a successful outcome of the COP. Did the politicians really want to reach an agreement? Did they really care to limit the warming to 1,5°C? Did they realize the importance of immediate action? Patrick von Jeetze stressed that especially the pre-2020 actions are crucial. Almost nobody is aware that Germany needs to become climate neutral within 20 years to fulfil its requirements according to the Paris agreement. Nevertheless, it recently became clear that Germany will fail its climate goals for 2020, mainly because of an enlargement of the transport sector. Judith Schepers talked about the island nation Kiribati, which will be destroyed in the near future – by hurricanes caused by climate change. Its inhabitants have only one option: humane migration. And Alicia Medina Valdiviezo indicated that especially indigenous people will be affected by climate change. She illustrated how indigenous communities do have their own coping mechanisms which are nevertheless presumed to be “non- scientific” by the science community. This traditional knowledge should come to the fore at climate conferences.

The audience discussed mainly about the (non-) action of the German policy as well as possibilities to motivate people to take more action. And even though climate change is an immense challenge for humanity, the GCE students had the feeling that the visitors went home caring a little bit more about climate change than before. And even though these conferences seem to make very little progress – the Paris Agreement was a major breakthrough in climate politics. Nearly every country has signed the contract, acknowledging the the issue of climate change and the urgent need for action. Now we have to make sure that the Paris Agreement is implemented accordingly. This is why these conferences are immensely important nevertheless.

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Session’s theme: How can SDGs be enforced not only in national, but also in local level as well?
Objective: How cities can be made more open (in terms of access), resilient and livable?

An interesting side event took place on the 13th of November at Bonn Zone (COP23, Bonn, Germany)  with the purpose of “How transport sector (mobility) can be better leveraged with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?” under the event – Global Climate Action and SDG 11 Round Tables: Creating Green and Inclusive Transport for Liveable and Resilient Cities.

The meeting began with all the panelists sitting on their respective positions around the roundtable with respected Ms. Mary Cross, Head of Institutional Relations and Summit at the International Transport Forum (ITF), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) serving as the moderator and thus conducting a short introductory round of all the panelists present.

Ms. Mary, after an introductory round of all the speakers, emphasized on the point:

“Transport – is not fully a part of SDGs, but to achieve the salient features and ambitions of the SDG 11 i.e. “Sustainable Cities and Communities” – ‘transport sector’ plays a pivotal role in achieving it.”

She also drew attention of the mass towards the target 11.2 of the SDG 11 which goes as:

“By 2030, there should access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.”

A series of panelists thereafter with the session’s theme and objective presented their talks as follows:

Najib Boulif (Morocco’s Secretary of State in charge of Transport)
Mr. Najib said that Morocco is one of the first countries to ratify Paris Agreement at COP 21. The principal themes for framework in Morocco are as follows:

• Urban Planning (Transport important in that)
• Reduction in the need to travel
• Sustainable Urban Transport (Electrification of vehicles)

Jean-Pierce Loubinoux, Director General, International Union of Railways (UIC)
Mr. Jean stated that in the context of achieving SDG 11 in urban settings, Railways in near future will cut 60% of its greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and energy usage. He also pointed out to the stunning fact that railways contribute to only 2% of total GHGs emissions worldwide. According to International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Union of Railways (UIC), the railway companies in operation globally generate less than 1% of total CO₂ emissions (IEA, 2011a; UIC, 2011b). He said that according to IEA and OECD the energy consumption in Railways is the lowest of all urbanized motorized transport.

He then focused on the “Optimized complementary mode of mobility” i.e. no competition anymore elsewhere and urged on the need to find actions and ways to make this happen. He said that upon achieveing it, the return would be 5 times better than the investment. He further added on how to improve the efficiency in transport sector – is the key!

Lucila Capelli, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Transport, Argentina
Ms. Lucila started with how mobility and transport is important in Argentina. She said that the SDG 11 is focused in cities, and therefore, Argentinean transportation plan is focused in cities as in Buenos Aires (the Argentinean capital) where 15 million people live in suburbs only and thus one could easily assume about the daily commute scenario out there. The Argentinean target is to reduce potent GHGs such as: CO₂, SOx, NOx and effective promotion of the Public transport system as an astounding 22 million people commute everyday in Buenos Aires. She said that in 2018, the pilot programs for Busses and Taxis will be conducted for low emission targets and will be focused on vulnerable population.

Franz R. Drees-Gross, Director for Transport and ICT Global Practice, World Bank
Mr. Franz spoke to the fact that transportation sector accounts for 7-8 Gtns of global emissions. He said that the transport sector is increasing drastically, especially in developing countries. He emphasized on limiting global emissions from transport sector to 9 Gtns by 2050 and thus affirmed that it is only possible through shifting to the public transport and this must be focused strictly in developing nations. At last, he suggested avoiding daily commute in cities by creating dense cities.

Frank Muehlon, Global Head of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure, ABB
Mr. Frank was the one-and-only panelist present with the ‘Industrial’ background in the session. He came up with the point that there needs to be a good National and Regional interconnection – i.e. a complementarity is required in transport sector.

Ms. Mary raised a question to Mr. Frank: “What type of system and partnership can be created for a sustainable transportation system?”

He humbly replied saying:

“You want to have a development which is not hyped – but is sustainable.”

He further said that in the transportation sector, the (business) partner from whom one buys the technology – is reliable – matters the most in the market place. He said that railways have been more standardized than before but electric motor vehicles nowadays are getting better standardized as never before. He further focused on the fact that the electrification of electric motor vehicles across the globe right now has regional differentiation – such as – in China, Europe and the USA due to their own differing charging technologies.

Hence, he urged on the necessity and vital significance of having a global partnership on electric motor vehicles electrification technologies in an openly manner.

Paul Simons, Deputy Executive Director, IEA
IEA is tracking decarbonization. He said that by 2030, 30% of all fleets are going to be electric. He emphasized that data, tracking, policy, and analysis is important as well. In the year 2015, only one-fourth of electric vehicles sales were recorded. He said that IEA wants cities to develop database and policy to communicate effectively.

Young Tae Kim, Secretary General, International Transport Forum (ITF)
The question on the floor for Dr. Young was that how electrification is one of the solutions to solve the existing problem of decarbonization in transport sector. He answered saying, ITF tries to go beyond the transportation sector. It should develop society.

He further said:

 “From holistic point of view, cities should have sustainable transport system like human bodies have static (city) organs and moving blood (transport).”

Dr. Young pointed on ITF’s role on modifying indexes such that ITF combines all elements to share and collect information from around the world, thus, striving to improve in the future!

Clayton Lane, CEO, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP)
The question to Clayton from the moderator, Ms. Mary Cross, was that ‘how cities can get to SDG 11?’

He responded saying that, cities are left with hard work in near future and ITDP’s role is to connect global agenda.

E.g.: In Rio de Janaerio, Brazil, it takes on an average 2-3 hours to commute (no rapid transit) as only 23% of population has access to rapid transit BUT with the ‘government devised policy’, 90% of  population will have access to rapid transit.

In Maharashtra and Jharkhand states of India, ITDP is building and enhancing knowledge and capacity tools at state level in association with different genders. This will help 80% of population to get access to Metro trains as per matching population density with location of Metros.

Mr. Clayton concluded by saying that:

“To know how to measure and articulate is very important.”

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But among delegates of almost 200 states and more than 16 000 participants in the Bula zone in total, it´s easy to get lost and to lose track. Clearly, you do recognize some faces. Nobody would confuse Schwarzenegger with Al Gore or Merkel with Macron. However, I wanted to get some more profound impressions and decided to get in touch with the people.

“I am here at COP 23, because I think climate change…”

I asked participants to complete this sentence in order to find out about their motivation or ambition, their specific interest in, personal connection to or simply their understanding of climate change itself. The answers I received in these candid interviews were as diverse as you can imagine them to be, if you, more or less randomly, select individuals for a quick chat at a conference where the whole world comes together.

“… is real!”

First of all, it should be noted that climate change “is real”, it “is happening”. These statements might refer to the unbelievable denial of the obvious ongoing environmental variations by the official position of one particular country. Nevertheless, I spoke to a representative from the very nation who described climate change as “an urgent problem we have to deal with”. That´s why we all came together these days in Bonn, because in fact it “is a problem”, it “is a life or death issue for the planet”, but it also can be understood as “the most important justice question of the 21^st century”.

“… is a threat.”

Furthermore, people see a threat in the continuing climatic changes. Especially the interviewees from the Small Island Developing States like Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and the Seychelles, expressed that. They attended the COP because of climate change being “the biggest threat to our planet” and “a crucial factor regarding the survival of Small Island Developing States”. On a very personal level, climate change “is threating everyone and everything I love” or “negatively impacts my community and I want decisions that reduce climate change vulnerabilities”. “We are all affected”, but it is these nations who are currently suffering the most from consequences they didn’t cause.

“… is important.”

Actually, climate change is seen as “the most important thing to deal with in our and in future generations”. “Fighting against it´s devastating nature is crucial for mankind”. Therefore, generally all participants at the COP are busy. The time for every statement is limited, decisions will have to be made and even the most protracted negotiations have to come to an end in order to be able to present a satisfying outcome. Considering this, I understand all people who did not want to answer my question.

“… can draw attention.”

An international conference of the magnitude of the UNFCCC COP 23 provides great chances for every participant. You can connect to people from all around the globe and get into touch to important politicians and famous personalities. That’s what makes the COP an excellent platform to draw people’s attention on aspects related to the core topic. For example, on human rights: “climate change and human rights are related to each other and we need to incorporate the rights into the core of the Paris Rule Book”. Other aspects comprise the importance of the “involvement of indigenous people and their traditional knowledge” or the “integration of young people into the decision-making processes”. Ultimately, climate change can be considered to be “paramount of sustainable development”.

“… can be mitigated.”

Some interviewees pointed out solutions and ways to handle the challenges we are facing: “climate change is a critical issue; the impacts must be collaboratively addressed”. “All nations need to take part in order to make a “good life” for all people possible!”. This emphasis on the significance of international cooperation and joint implementations were complemented by personal advice: “climate change can be mitigated with simple ideas, changes of our daily habits and the way we view things”. We need to act now! It’s about you to make a difference.

I thank all my interview partners for their cooperation:

• Mr. Alden Meyer (Director of Strategy and Policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, USA)
• Ms. Alice Gaustad (Chief Engineer in the Norwegian Environment Agency, Norway)
• Mr. Arana Pyfrom (Technical Advisor at the Office of the Prime Minister, Bahamas)
• Ms. Barbara Hendricks (Federal Minister at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Germany)
• Ms. Brigitte Beyer (Head of Political Staff at the Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture, Germany)
• Ms. Clara-Luisa Weichelt (Desk Officer for Adaptation, Policy and Global Challenges at MISEREOR, Germany)
• Ms. Doriane Mollard (UNFCCC COP 23 Volunteer, France)
• Mr. F. Umiich Sengebau (Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Tourism in Palau)
• Ms. Janinka Lutze (Naturefriends International, Germany)
• Ms. Joy S. Juma (Kenya)
• Ms. Mai Tina Ichihara (Climate Change Consultant at the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Seychelles)
• Ms. Mariana Balau Silveira (PUC Minas, Brazil)
• Ms. Mélissa Dumont (University of Lapland)
• Mr. Muawia Hamid Ibrahim Shaddad (University of Khartoum, Sudan)
• Mr. Nawaf Alshatti (Team Leader Maintenance at Kuwait Oil Tanker Company, Kuwait)
• Ms. Patriciah Roy Akullo (Programme Officer for Advocacy at DanAid, Uganda)
• Mr. Roy Harris (Secretary for National Emergency Service, Government of Nauru)
• Ms. Sarah N. Baashan (International Policies Advisor, APA Chair, Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, Saudi Arabia)
• Ms. Shema Roberts nee Nsabimana (Environment Officer at the Ministry of Environment, Antigua and Barbuda)
• Mr. Tesfaye Gashaw Yeshanew (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ethiopia)
• Ms. Tui Shortland (Director at Pacific Indigenous and Local Knowledge Centre of Distinction, New Zealand)
• Mr. Vegard Tørstad (Researcher at the European University Institute, Norway)
• Mr. William N. Kostka (Director Micronesian Conservation Trust, Federated States of Micronesia)

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Although the negotiations in the Bula Zone were still going on until Saturday midnight, the exhibition booths and pavillions in the Bonn Zone – where the side events had taken place for the past two weeks – were being dismantled and packed for the next occasion.

During our stay in Bonn, all of us heard many opinions about COP23. Those opinions were a mixed bag. While some of them were optimistic, some were pessimistic. Some people had criticized the slow pace of the #ClimateChange negotiations and there were others (including me), who remained thoughtful.

Throughout my time at COP23 I had a nagging thought in my mind. I had witnessed how world-class politicians would talk about #Change, but as soon as they would leave the room, their #ChangeMomentum would vanish. Their rhetoric speeches that had called for global climate efforts vanished into empty ambitions, in an aesthetic diplomacy, in “just words”.

Many were wondering why the political discourse at COP23 sometimes resemble a business talk that gave the impression that our future was being negotiated and traded. Perhaps going back to one essential thought was necessary at COP23 to realize the urgency of a Changing Climate and of a Changing Nature:

With every second, minute and hour that went by during the Conference:

One more tree was cut in the Amazon
One more fish died drowned in oil
One more ice drop thawed from the Arctic and Antarctic ice shields
One more ton of Greenhouse Gas was emitted
One more human suffered the consequences of a Climate Change

And overall,  as another day passed by,
in the lives of some, the day brought no big news nor worries,
and in the lives of others, the day brought damages and losses.

So, how could we all talk for hours,
when it is exactly now that things are happening?
It is exactly right now that Action is needed?

On one hand, the ongoing negotiations of COP23 left behind a taste of uncertainty in regards to concrete efforts towards Global Climate Action, towards Energy transition and towards an effective and pragmatic implementation of the Paris Agreement 2015 in the subscribed countries’ national policies.

On the other hand, a collective call for urgency and hope was also heard at COP23 and it forged the necessary optimism and confidence that Change is not only possible, but that it should be done by Our Hands.

Perhaps, after all what has been said and done, the greatest achievement of COP23 was to unite around twenty thousand voices of agents of change from all over the World and to gather them in the same place and at the same time.

COP23 brought the vulnerable, the emerging and the powerful Nations together. In spite of their political and historical differences – reunited them around the goal of protecting Nature and its inhabitants – from ourselves.

From Pacific Island Climate Warriors and indigenous Amazonian and Andean voices, to change-driving Eco-villages and civil initiatives in Africa and Europe, everybody shared their own testimonials of change, of local empowerment, and existing solutions.

The message that impressed me the most was from the “African Voices” Event (Talanoa, Bonn Zone) which reminded us that there are no seventeen Mankind Goals*, instead, there is just one and that is love. Love for nature and love for each other, to reflect on our actions, to assume responsibility and to take care of all the inhabitants of this planet.

To the Love component, the Action component was added this past Wednesday, when Timoci Naulusala – a 12-year old Fijian schoolboy – reminded us that “it’s not about how or who, but it’ s about what you can do as an individual”.

As complicated as international agreements may seem, the Change we all really stand for is as basic as Love put into Action, Conviction put in practice and Justice made reality.

International negotiations and agreements either at this COP23 or at any COP ahead will stand for Sustainability and Peace. However, what we should truly stand for is the empowerment of our individual Potential of Change, the courage to challenge our mindsets, the conviction to improve our lifestyles and the realization that this is the only Planet we have, for us today, and for the coming generations.

* Mankind Goals referring to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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<< Climate Change is not an academic subject, it´s a matter of life and death.>>
– Henry Puna

In the early morning hours of the 18^th November 2017, the climate change COP 23 in Bonn came to an end after two weeks of negotiations, discussions and debates. The conference didn’t result in tremendous progress but met the overall expectations. Progress in implementing the Paris Agreement was achieved and next steps towards the coal phase-out were undertaken. Bonn was a necessary step on the way to Katowice next year where the members of the parties will come together again.

One main outcome of COP 23 consists of the further elaboration of the Paris Agreement’s Rule Book. Clear and consistent standards were needed regarding measuring and reporting CO₂ emissions as well as advances in climate protection on the national level within all participating nations. Aiming for the prevention or at least for slowing down the global heating, a draft of around 200 pages was presented. This document will be finalized and adopted at COP 24.

Despite the disappointing German position concerning the withdrawal from coal use, the initiation of the global “Powering Past Coal Alliance” was a great step towards a coal free future. Under leadership of Canada and the UK, more than two dozen countries, provinces, states and cities agreed on the phasing-out of the climate killer within the next decades. Germany might follow in 2018. Its role as a financial supporter of climate protection is very important but others took over political leadership.

Contrasting Americas official position, positive signals came from other US representatives including civil society members, companies, states and cities: “We are still in!” – a clear message and support to keep the spirit of Paris alive in Bonn.

Further achievements are the adoption of the Gender Action Plan, the development of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform and the launch of the Ocean Pathway Partnership. In order to promote and stimulate the process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue, the Talanoa Dialogue was initiated. This facilitative exchange encourages action in climate mitigation by bringing together science, industry and the civil society.

Apart from the negotiation processes in the Bula (Fijian for “hello”) Zone, the organization of the climate conference in Bonn in two zones, also provided room and opportunities for showcasing projects and examples of implementation. Countries, industry and civil society presented a wide spectrum of climate action solutions in hundreds of events in the Bonn Zone.

The COP 23 was characterized by the shared general consensus to get active in climate policy. That is a strong signal but a lot of work remains until more groundbreaking decisions will have to be made in Poland next year. From our perspective as scientists, the statement of His Excellency Mr. Henry Puna, Prime Minister of Cook Islands, should provide motivation and be seen as a mandate: “Climate Change is not an academic subject, it´s a matter of life and death.”

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Date: November 16th, 2017
Location: Bula and Bonn Zone

Following the Negotiations in the Bula Zone

I assisted various plenary discussions in the Bula Zone today. I listened to statements of Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, the EU, the Maledives and Ruanda. The statements were made by representatives of the countries, e.g. the environmental ministers. They lasted about 10-15 min. They were read out and they contained mostly very general, already known information. Unfortunately, I could not draw any conclusions on particular achievements or targets as the speakers I listened to did not make such statements.

Side Events at the Bonn Zone 

I also went to the Bonn zone where I attended a side event on Coastal Resilience. There were representatives from the Pacific regional environment program, the Ramsar convention, from small island countries such as Palau, etc. They set the bottom line of global warming at a temperature rise of 1,5 °C.

Palau has a quite interesting approach to finance marine reserves: They charge the tourists with a so-called green fee, about 50 €, that every tourist has to pay when entering Palau. They use the money to offer for example training to fishermen to become rangers. As rangers, the fishermen have a more sustainable income and at the same time they ensure the proper enforcement of the marine reserves.

I attended as well another event where the German minister of Environment met German pupils and their teachers. The pupils shared with the Audience how they were implementing climate change mitigation measures in their schools.

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Title: “Uniting for Climate Education Further, Faster, Together through Partnerships”
Place and time: 11:30 – 13:00 , Meeting Room 6, Bonn Zone

The solutions to climate change are also the paths to a safer, healthier, cleaner and more prosperous future for all, said this morning Patricia Espinoza, UNFCCC Executive Secretary. However, for such a future to become a reality, people in all countries and at all levels of society need to have a better understanding of the issue and get involved. In this context, a better future cannot exist without education. That is why Article 12 of the Paris Agreement, focused on enhancing climate change education, was the first to be agreed upon by countries.

Article 12. Parties shall cooperate in taking measures, as appropriate, to enhance climate change education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information, recognizing the importance of these steps with respect to enhancing actions under this Agreement.

On Education Day at COP23, the COP23 Presidency in partnership with UNFCCC, UNESCO, the UN Alliance on Climate Change, Education, Training and Public Awareness and the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection hosted a high-level event. Here, together environment and education ministers, as well as international organizations, meet to discuss partnerships for education as the key to prepare societies for global change and an integral part of any strategy to combat climate change and achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SDG 4.  Quality Education” & “SDG 13.  Climate Action

Patricia Espinoza’s speech included some statistics about a recent worldwide citizen survey on climate change. To the question what do you think it is the best instrument to reduce the level of greenhouse gases emissions?, instead of electric cars or reforestation, 77% of people chose education and supported the idea of education in the middle or long term would trigger the implementation of climate solutions. Besides, later on, she claimed that only 40% of Parties have include climate change in their educational curricula, which disrupts the local action and the innovative students and young people to take action.

Princess Lalla Hasnaa of Morocco highlighted as well the undeniable importance of Climate Education for changing people’s perception and behaviour through education is the way to create long-lasting positive impact. Indeed, transforming our societies towards low carbon and resilience means changing values, norms and behaviour, in other words:

<< It’s time to pay attention to ‘education for social change’ strategies and create more examples in the climate change community too. >>
– Shyamal Majumdar, UNESCO

Finally, Dessina Williams from the department of SDGs implementation added that to do it truly effective right partnerships are still required. All speakers strongly concluded that there is a gap between what it is happening, what we already know and what we should do to address the issue.  

The key messages overall were:

• Education as a key driver in the implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• It is still required to provide further guidance on how education can be integrated into NDCs.
• Keep working to set up strategic orientations and priority actions for anchoring climate change education and Education for Sustainable Development in national education policies and systems at government level sectors and at sub-national and local levels.
• It is time to recognise good practices linking climate change education and the SDGs.

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The first speech was given by Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, which was accompanied by high expectations from the public, as the German “Energiewende” is internationally appreciated. Many hoped that she would announce a date for the coal phase out in Germany.

A fast phase-out would be the only possibility to come close to the achievement of the German climate goal of reducing the carbon emissions by 40 % until 2020 compared to 1990.

However, Mrs. Merkel only admitted to the high importance of coal mining considering climate change, but then outlined the importance of the coal industry for guaranteeing jobs and that a phase-out takes time due to additional costs. Moreover, she mentioned difficulties of giving concrete statements in regard of the ongoing formation of the new government in Germany.

President Emmanuel Macron from France held the second talk. One of his main statements was that the EU should replace the US in the future and take the leading role in climate policy. He further emphasized that in Europe CO₂ should be taxed with 30 Euro per ton and that he would be willing to punish other countries through increased import tariffs.

President Macron announced that France will end the use of coal for energy production by 2021, but that they cannot make any statements towards nuclear energy at the moment.

He said France “is obsessed” to get active in climate protection and that the moment of action is now. His speech was accompanied by great applause from the audience.

A large number of heads of states of small island developing countries, many of them already facing the consequences of climate change today, felt the urgency to attend the COP 23 lead by Fiji and give their statements at the high-level segment on Wednesday and Thursday this week. Among these were for example the presidents of Vanuatu, the Cook Islands, St. Lucia and Dominica. The president of Tuvalu, Enele Sopoaga, held one of the most vigorous speeches using many strong metaphors to directly or indirectly address other parties and stakeholders, in particular the United States: “Deniers of climate change must go home” and “Jump out of the canoe and face the consequences”. He also said that without appropriate actions taken in the near future, our children would have to face a life in “living hell”.

In general, many representatives of developing countries are disappointed that concrete commitments regarding the adaptation fund and financial support for loss and damage, for example due to hurricanes such as Irma, José and Maria in the Caribbean earlier this year, are not yet decided upon. Moreover, many among them think that pledges from developed countries are not yet sufficient.

Authors: Sophie Reinermann, Jan-Christopher Fischer and Georg Küstner.

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Event Date: Monday 14th November , 2017

Location: German Pavillion, Bonn Zone, Freizeitpark Rheinaue

Tuesday of the second week of COP 23 was Gender Day, focusing on side events that highlight women’s role in environmental movements and on indigenous women and their fight for representation in the environmental community. Every day at COP 23 had at least one talk about gender in this field but Gender Day was meant to specifically emphasize this topic, including a Gender Market Place where NGOs and other organizations focused on women and gender in environmental fields came together in one of the meeting halls to hand out flyers and share information.

Gender Day Relevance

There were several themes that came up during these Gender-themed side events. One was the importance of women being included (or rather failing to be included) on panels. Noele Nabulivou, in a panel titled “Behind Goal 13:Women Leading the Climate Agenda”, spoke of her personal protest of “manels”, male-only panels, and “wanels”, white-technical panels, as a matter of the lack of representation of diversity in the environmental field. She and several other women emphasized the role that women, particularly indigenous women, play as stewards of their environments and how that so often fails to be represented at the larger, international level. The voices that get projected are largely male and largely white. This is a systemic problem in a lot of the governments and institutions present at COP. This became evident by the fact that these gender-focused events continuously brought up the uniqueness and importance of majority-female panels here and in other realms of their professional lives. There were speakers encouraging women to seek out female networks, to lift one another up and create space for one another. There were others challenging the notion of “female empowerment”, claiming that to feel patronizing, that women indeed have power, it need not be given to them. Others mentioned the finalization of the Gender Action Plan, finally approved at the COP 23 to be more mindful of gender-specific environmental policies and programs but criticized the reluctance to fully adopt this protocol.

Some of the most powerful speakers were the indigenous women from many different countries, from Peru to Kenya to Canada (..)

(…) sharing their stories of how they hold up their communities, raise their families, feed their families and act as environmental stewards. They share how climate change is making these jobs even more difficult.

From Fiji to Peru 

As Fiji hosted the presidency of COP 23, one could feel the urgency and upset coming from the Fijian women who proclaimed:

<< Our lives are non-negotiable >>

In a consortium with other Pacific Island Communities, these women have come with a united front to call out the developed countries who have colonized their land, exploited their natural resources, and contributed most largely to climate change while their homelands disproportionately feel the negative effects. It is undeniable that these small island states face urgent threat from sea level rising and intensified natural disasters and those women and children will be especially vulnerable to this. The women from ONAMIAP, a group of indigenous women in Peru, pointed to the necessity Land titles, legal access and rights. They are fighting for legal security of their ancestral lands, where they have been cultivating and preserving local biodiversity for generations.

By the end of Gender Day, it became clear that many women on the forefront of environmental movements in their communities feel underrepresented at best and entirely dismissed or ignored at worst. Having one day in the entire conference just simply isn’t enough. Who we choose to let in these negotiation rooms, sit on the panels, speak for their countries matters. Who we acknowledge as those in positions of power and knowledge and solutions is important.

The motto of “leave no one behind” has circulated the conference a lot. This includes women and indigenous voices. This means calling out the current power structure that has blatantly disadvantaged them thus far. We, as environmental scientists, lawyers, policy makers, government officials, as neighbors, need to acknowledge the power-biases that take place in our field. Inclusion and visibility of indigenous knowledge and the efforts of women are integral to a just transition to a “1.5 degree world”.

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Event Date: Monday 13th November , 2017

Location: German Pavillion, Bonn Zone, Freizeitpark Rheinaue

Today I attended a panel discussion on the Peruvian case of Climate Change adaptation, with invited speakers from the Chilean and Ecuadorian Governments.

Latinamerican Importance for COP

Latin America is a highly biodiverse region and on the socioeconomic level also very vulnerable to Climate Change impacts. El Niño among other climatic processes in change are impacting the economic productivity and human security of communities and Cities living across the Latinamerican Pacific coast.

With this economic and political backhground, three countries: Chile, Peru and Ecuador presented today the national measurements these neighbours are undertaking in order to adapt towards a changing climate.

These efforts are of special relevance for COP23, as these countries have started multisectorial approaches to combat Climate Change with a top-down strategy.

Main Outcomes

Alfonso Galarce from the Chilean Climate Change Division, highlighted very concrete and Down-to-Earth Chilean initiatives to Combat Climate Change, i.e. making the Paris Agreement a National and Constitutional Law, promotion of Carbon markets and associated financial mechanisms and the innovative perspective of the country to achieve Energy transition by 2050 with 90% of their energetic supply to become renewable.

Elsa Galarza, Peruvian Minister of Environment,  presented the multisectorial strategy launched together with other 12 Peruvian ministeries (Energy, Agricututre, Fishing, Housing, Transport, etc) to come up with an strategic plan to combat Climate Change from all possible governmental areas. Initiatives presented where cleaner transport systems in the the main City (Lima), as well as the Ministry’s partnership with Global Fishing Watch to guarantee transparency and sustainability in the peruvian fishing industry.

My perspective

The audience and myself celebrated the strong, strategic, transparent and concrete steps Chile is undertaking to combat Climate Change. The top-down approach and the clarity in their environment policies can only strenghthen the Global Climate Action urgently needed, not only from the most polluting countries, but also from the emerging economies of Latin America and the Global South.

Much more join effort is needed. #COP23 #ClimateAction #LessSweetTalk

More infos:

German Pavillion schedule

Panelists: Tarsicio Granizo (Minister of Environment of Ecuador), Philipp Knill (BMZ, Germany), Alfonso Galarce (Ministry of the Environment of Chile), Miriam Morales (Ministry of Transport and Communications, Peru), Pedro Herrera (Ministry of Economy and Finance, Peru), Pedro Belber (Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Peru)

The post COP23: Latin America adapts to climate change appeared first on Global Change Ecology.