MYD Training Series VI: Understanding the Language of Climate Change Policy

A long due post after procrastinating. 

Yoke Ling from Third World Network (TWN) was invited to share her insights on climate change policy. Apparently, all the action on climate change started back in the 1980s when it wasn't much about science but more about people's feeling. Back then there was a lot of unsustainable consumption, that's why there was political will to fight climate change.
*The Development part of the UN is more on cooperation and not punishment.

Political significance of the COP Presidency

COP has always been the buzzword of the international climate negotiation, especially during November, when COPs are usually held. Knowing that COP is the platform where all parties come together to discuss and negotiate matters pertaining to the UNFCCC, it is easy for us to gruel on the content of the debate and oversee the importance of the backbone of COP – the organizational side of it.

Second year from the Paris Agreement, What Now?

Paris Agreement was celebrated with joy by the international community when it was tabled back on 12 December 2015. Although it was a significant achievement by the opposing blocs (putting it generally, the developing and developed countries), it is a document outlining the main objectives of the fight against climate change. However, there is more work to be done. Details of the modalities need to be ironed out as soon as possible in order to pave the way forward towards the realization of the Paris Agreement. That is why COP 23 will be a technical COP, where the parties will (continue to) plan out what they want and what they don’t want in the “rulebook”.

G77 and China: What are they?

Day two of our Bonn trip commenced with us taking the wrong tram and needing to go around looking for directions (again). Instead of heading to COY, Lhavanya and I went for the G77 and China Pre-COP Coordination Meetings. This is my first experience in a negotiation bloc’s formal meeting and I was super excited about it. We were able to sit close to our national negotiators during the sessions and was fortunate to receive some guidance from them during the sessions.

UNFCCC: Of Mitigation and Adaptation

One of reason why the Paris Agreement was a significant achievement was that it was an outcome of overcoming conflicts of multiple issues between developed and developing countries. During the negotiation, developing countries have the objective to ensure that the Agreement is non-mitigation centric and that all issues are addressed in a balanced manner. But what is mitigation?

UNFCCC: The Big Polluters in the Room

The climate change negotiation has always been tricky. It is easy to assume that countries find it hard to reach consensus due to the consideration of their respective political and economic interest. However, if we think so, we might ignore the big guys in the negotiation room.

UNFCCC: Organizing COP23

COP23 hosted by Fiji in Bonn, Germany is only six months away. The secretariat recently announced the logistics preparation for the conference here. But if you are lazy to watch the whole presentation, I've summed it up.

UNFCCC: The Unravelling

Dear all who are interested in fighting climate change,

"Grassroot movements are important, and so are international negotiations."

If you are wondering where did that quote came from, don't fret, I made it up.