COP 24 Day 1 -Que Nguyen

Monday, December 10:

Que Nguyen '19

Events that I attended (day 1):

At this COP, I hope to learn more about climate justice and about initiatives that different industries are taking to mitigate and adapt to climate change. On my first day at the COP, I attended several events that focus on these themes.

1. Mining Industries and the Sustainable Transformation of Towns with Circular Economy and Just Transition. In this panel discussion, experts from different companies and research institutions highlighted case studies on the transformation of mining towns. Highlights include:

• The area that we are currently using for COP24 used to be a coal mine. It has been transformed and become a complex that has an event venue, a museum, and some art galleries. 
• Mining tourism: mines become museums, concert/wedding venues, golf courses, lakes.
• Repurpose mining infrastructure in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, southern Poland: a mining area was renovated into an industrial complex that hosts a spice company, a meat processing factory, and a recycling factory. 
• Phytomining: planting trees that can accumulate high metal concentrations in their biomass and harvest the metals from these trees.

We still need to mine raw materials. They are needed in everything, including wind turbines and solar panels. The transition to renewable energy does not mean that we stop mining. We just change the thing we mine for. Instead of mining fossil fuel, now we mine minerals. We need to engage in the circular economy (see photo), which means sourcing, using, and recycling these resources mindfully.

• Need to rethink prosperity, i.e. let’s think about the Sustainable Development Goals, let’s use metrics that take into account social and environmental well-being, diversity, and inclusivity. 
• Non-state actors can play an important role in creating equitable, inclusive policy and in putting policy into practice.

Challenges:

• There are still many closed mines left but you can have only so many art galleries. What else can we do?
• We are creating new spaces out of mines but are we creating communities? There are many communities whose livelihoods and cultures center around mining. 

My thoughts:

When we talk about the transition from fossil fuel, we tend to talk about the future being powered by renewable energy and ignore that facts that our present is being powered by mine workers. We too often paint the fossil fuel industry as villians, as enemies, and forget that there are real people whose livelihoods depend on this industry. What will their future look like? How can they participate in a low carbon future? In order to move towards a sustainable future, we cannot leave anyone behind.

2. Side event: U.S. innovative technologies spur economic dynamism

According to the schedule posted on the COP website, there would be representatives from the United States government and Midwest Research Institute/National Renewable Energy Laboratory speaking at this event. There was a rumor that they would promote “cleaner” fossil fuel in this talk. Curious about the U.S. involvement in this COP, I decided to go to this event. As I anticipated that many people would also be attracted to this talk, I arrived fifteen minutes early, hoping to secure a seat. To my surprise, there was already a long line in front of the entrance. In general, during any given hour at COP, there are numerous higher-level events and meetings taking place, so meeting rooms for side events are rarely filled to their maximum capacity. It is very unusual to have to queue for a side event. Interestingly, at the room right next door, Saudi Arabia was also hosting a panel discussion showcasing the roles of oil and gas technology in combating climate change. However, there was no queue in front of their room.

The crowd in front of the event room

I waited in line for a while until the queue did not seem to move anymore. As the event had already started, I decided to leave the venue and go to another event. It was not until later that I found out that the room was over-occupied on purpose! It turned out that the minute the keynote speaker started speaking, a number of youth and indigenous activists in the room stood up, waved banners, and chanted “Keep it in the ground”. They then walked out of the room, leaving it more than half empty. Read more on who were at the demonstration and their reactions here.

Inside the room (photo from DeSmogBlog.com)

It is worth noting that on Saturday, the United States, along with Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Kuwait, blocked the full endorsement of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report in the COP document. The report, released in October, warned that to keep the increase in global temperature below 1.5 degree Celsius, greenhouse pollution must be reduced by 45% from 2010 levels by 2030, and 100 percent by 2050. The four countries objected to the COP “welcoming” this report. Instead, they insisted a much more neutral phrase, “take note”. Since no consensus was reached among countries, the text had to be dropped (BBC).


3. Side event: Voices from the Climate Frontlines: Protecting the rights of the most vulnerable and furthest behind

• Human Rights Day, 70 years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 
• People who are most vulnerable to climate change are the ones who are already living sustainably. We need to build on their knowledge and include them in climate-related decision-making. 
• In order to reach sustainability: need to think not only in data and numbers but think holistically. 
• Call on other states to finalize the Paris Rulebook, engage in the Tanaloa Dialogue, and be inclusive. 

My thoughts:

Overall, I don’t think this panel discussion fully reflects the title “Voices from the Climate Frontlines: Protecting the rights of the most vulnerable and furthest behind”. It could be due to the unexpected changes in the availability of guest speakers. I was hoping to hear more from grassroots leaders. Nevertheless, it was reassuring to see that a governmental representative (the woman from Luxembourg) and an activist (the woman from Kenya) share the same vision of a human rights-based COP.

I also appreciate the facilitator’s acknowledgment that visa can be a barrier to participation. To travel to a country without needing to apply for a visa is a privilege that we don’t usually talk about. Citizens from developed countries tend to have strong passports that allow them to travel to numerous destinations visa-free or visa-on-arrival. For example, Japanese citizens, currently having the strongest visa in the world, can go to 190 countries (out of 218) without needing to apply for a visa beforehand (CNN).


Miscellaneous:





A demonstration by the Korean Youth Delegation. You can write what you want to be included in the Paris rulebook on the PAWP Champion’s Book poster, then slam the gavel as an act of ratifying your own proposal.





Waste bins at the venue. No compost bins :(





Advertisement for a free nap cube for COP participants. The actual cube is located in a more private location.

Free apples!

I also attended two other events, “Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action” and “Getting the message right: how to effectively communicate carbon pricing”, and will share notes about them tomorrow.

4. Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action
This panel discussion is in celebration of the newly launched Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action. Any company or organizations engaged in the fashion sector can join the charter. So far, 43 fashion brands, supply chain associations, along with WWF International have committed to reducing their GHG emission by 30% by 2030 and becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. Representatives from popular fashion brands, Puma, H&M, Hugo Boss, Burberry, are invited to speak at this event. The representative from Puma pointed out a couple of reasons for fashion brands to engage in climate action. First, energy efficiency would reduce cost. Second, climate has become more unpredictable, which makes it harder to predict customers’ clothing preference. For example, a few months ago, there was a cold day in summer and people rushed to stores to buy coats. However, the stores, unprepared for this spike in demand, and ran out of coats. Furthermore, shorter winter, a result of climate change, will lead to decreased demand for winter gears. The speaker then emphasized the significance of this charter. The supply chain for the fashion sector is fragmented and energy intensive. By working together, brands can have stronger leverage and implement large-scale changes in the supply chain. H&M representative continued the session by introducing the brand’s ambitious goal of being climate positive by 2045. Currently, H&M is increasing its energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate resilience, which will help the brand become carbon neutral. Becoming climate positive will be challenge as it is an uncharted territory. H&M is working with NGOs such as WWF International to figure out what else it can do.

It is good news that more and more industries are getting on board with climate actions and setting ambitious climate goals for themselves. However, in certain cases, their intentions can be questionable. As noted above, according to the representative from Puma, in order to stay in business, it is essential for fashion brands to help mitigate climate change because climate change would make it more challenging for brands to sell clothes. This point of view indicates a fixation on profit instead of genuine concerns for humans and for the environment.

I would also like to hear if these brands have thought about recycling textile instead of using virgin materials from their already energy-intensive supply chain. Members of the audience asked questions on these issues at the end of the panel discussion. However, due to time constraints, their concerns were not addressed adequately.

Feel free to email me at qnguyen@macalester.edu if you have a question or would like to discuss anything!