This morning, we rode the train in from Cologne to the Bonn UN campus. On our way we met a woman, Monique, from the Cameroon delegation. We walked with her from the train stop to the Bula campus, which is the diplomatic zone. The opening plenary began as the COP22 President from Marrakesh, H.E. Salaheddine Mezouar, welcomed us to Bonn. He spoke about the importance of cooperation, solidarity amongst developing nations, and a growing tradition of non-state actor participation. All seemed like viable strategy for combating the lack of leadership by the United States in global climate solutions. He then invited Frank Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji, to officially accept the Presidency of COP23. As the first Pacific Island nation to host a COP, the Fijian presidency is especially notable as many of these countries are already facing the severe effects of climate change. Following his speech, a group of Fijian men performed a ceremony that included traditional song, dance, and clothing to celebrate and welcome the transition and the opening of the conference. A number of other leaders from the COP community also spoke, including Barbara Henricks of Germany. One of the main messages that we took away from this plenary was the importance of action and the implementation of the Paris Accord.
Following the plenary, we headed over to the Bonn Zone, which is to be used by both state and nonstate participants. There we each ate our own sustainable, locally sourced lunch from the cafeteria and broke apart to attend different sessions.
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Ari:
I attended a panel session entitled, “Peasant Agroecology Feeds the People and Cools the Planet,” which was sponsored by two grassroots organizations: La Via Campesina (LVC), Secours Catholique-Caritas France (SCCF). The panel began by discussing the fact that 50% of GHG emissions can be attributed to the industrial food system, which suggests that there is much work to be done in this complex sector. The four panelists, who were peasants from Puerto Rico, Indonesia, France, and Mali all argued that a food system based on peasant agroecology and food sovereignted will help cool the planet. In addition, they all agreed that the current industrial food system has been colonialist, corrupt, and militarized. The root of the climate injustices faced by these peasants is a result of US and European consumption and capitalism. Agroecology, on the other hand, is a social movement based on traditional knowledge with the aims to empower farmers and fishers as well as aid in creating climate justice for communities impacted by these Big Ag corporations.
The panelists said that while these conversations are happening in local communities around the world, it is of the utmost importance that they are also happening in these types of international settings, particularly in the UN. But the panelists also had harsh criticisms of international decision making, stating that the Paris Climate Agreement relies on the commodification of nature and is ultimately non-binding. Overall, I found this panel absolutely fascinating. It was amazing to see grassroots organizers on an international platform, speaking with such passion. In addition, I was surprised that there was such strong criticism of the Paris accords in a UN sponsored event, but also found this reassuring as it shows that the UNFCC is really trying to bring in different voices and perspectives on climate change. And now, I find myself extremely interested in learning more about agroecology.
Ellie and Ari:
We attended a panel by the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), which is a world network of communities looking to build intentional, sustainable lifestyles. The speakers represented each region of the world, and described the various ways ecovillages address a diverse range of local issues. One aspect we found particularly interesting was the potential to rebuild areas destroyed by climate crises using this sustainable model. One of the panelists said that if just 5% of Europeans lived an ecovillage lifestyle, Europe would meet 80% of its Paris 2020 goals. This is quite a notable statistic, and we are both curious to learn more about ecovillages, particularly those in the US. In closing, the panelists also stressed that they are trying to bridge ecovillages with urban areas, which would make them more accessible. This is also relevant in the context of the US, and we are interested in learning progress in creating urban ecovillages in the US.
Ellie:
The second session I attended was titled The Role of Women as Guardians of the Ocean, and was sponsored by WWF. A panel made mostly of leading women from Fiji spoke to the importance of gender equality during the development of climate protection strategies. Within the Fijian island communities, women often occupy the base of traditional knowledge and cultural education. The personal narratives shared also spoke to the urgency that the Pacific islanders feel over the issue of climate change, for while technology may mitigate rising sea levels, development cannot fix the loss of a home.
Mariah:
The first session I attended was put on by the Climate Action Network (a network of over 850 environmental NGOs) entitled “Yardsticks for Success at COP23” to get an overview about some of the things to be aware of in the negotiations that will happen for the next two weeks. Speakers from a number of countries including NGO leaders from France & Fiji and Ambassadors from Fiji & Morocco spoke, each bringing their own perspectives to the issues at hand. As this is the second COP since the Paris Climate Agreement, there was continued emphasis on how creating specific goals and setting plans into motion before upcoming reviews (like the five-year Global Stocktake in 2023). Equally emphasized were the importance of finances, support for communities already facing the effects of climate change, and continued recognition of non-state actors as key players in the conversation:
- Financial matters, including:
- Clear financial support from developed countries (for their commitment of $100 billion)
- Transparency in accounting
- Support for frontline communities, including through:
- Enhanced climate adaptation (the Adaptation Fund -- ensure financial sustainability and articulate its functions)
- Loss & Damage
- Non-state actors:
- Empower the most marginalized by adopting a gender action plan and elevating indigenous voices
- Workshops between party and non-party actors
- Public participation in the decision making
The second session I attended was titled “Imagine our world with +4 degrees celsius: Coping with the impacts of climate change on freshwater, oceans and cities.” The Paris Climate Agreement set forth a goal of no more than a 1.5 (or maximum 2) degree celsius increase over global pre-industrial levels. However, our current track puts us much closer to a 4 degree increase and this talk provided a number of different perspectives of how this will play out, focusing on water systems around the world. It is definitely a sobering topic and one of the key messages I took away from this talk was just how interconnected all of these issues are. A representative from the Nordic Cooperation (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland) pointed out how, while all five countries are doing well on reaching the Sustainable Development Goal #6 (Clean Water & Sanitation), they need to also take into consideration how other aspects like consumption and production are linked. Another panel speaker, focusing on the case study of the Mediterranean, noted that high temperatures mean not only sea level rise, heat waves, and extreme weather events (devastating in and of itself), but also will lead to more fires, changing ecosystems, loss of soil, and decreased agricultural yields (and more).
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We closed out our day at the Evening Reception, which included delicious snacks, drinks, and lively performances from the Fijian Police Band. Recognizing a “No DAPL” t-shirt, we approached the man (Michel) wearing it and asked him whether or not he was from the upper midwest. Although Michel wasn’t (he was from Ecuador), we engaged in a lively conversation about indigenous rights. We spent most of the evening talking with Michel as well as a number of individuals from a broad coalition of indigenous peoples (including Brazil, Guatemala, and Indonesia). Each of them are active in their own fights and community groups, but they are spending four weeks touring five cities in Europe through the Weaving Ties Initiative (weavingties.org).
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