My Experience At The UN SUMMIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
March 2nd, 2010
One hundred and ninety-three countries’ Heads-of-States, Heads-of-Government and Ministers arrived at Copenhagen to attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 15th Conference of the Parties and 5th Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP15/CMP5) from 7th December 2009 till 18th December 2009. They came to review the Kyoto Protocol, which will expire in year 2012, to discuss and agree on new legally-binding documents that will bring the efforts of Kyoto Protocol to new heights with greater reduction of carbon emission for every country to meet. COP15/CMP5 was unlike any other COP held so far, the stakes were much higher than ever before and media coverage was unprecedented.
Prior to the arrival of the countries’ Heads-of-States, discussions and negotiations took place at the Bella Centre, the conference venue for the next two weeks, to see if the countries can come to common consensus and agreement for new legally-binding documents to be signed by the various Heads-of-States at the end of the Summit. The new treaty in Copenhagen covered the key issues of mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions), adaptation (coping with the consequences of climate change), finance and technology transfer to developing countries. There were two negotiation tracks - the Long-term Cooperative Action (LCA) and the emission reduction targets of developed countries from 2013 to possibly 2020 under the Kyoto Protocol (KP).
I was given the opportunity by the British Council, under the capacity of British Council International Climate Champion, to attend the COP15 in Copenhagen. At the same time, I assisted in the coordination work for the delegates from the British Council (East Asia) at the Conference.
My involvement in COP15 enabled me to gain more knowledge on how the organizations at the UN operate. It was an eye-opener and a new experience for me to get involved in the UN Summit. Besides the informal activities, youth involvement included speaking at the plenary session in the COP/CMP, joining the different contact groups such as Ad-Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP), the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA), Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and also in planning for actions (such as peace demonstrations, gatherings, rallies). They also used their networking skills to get in-touch with policy-makers and decision makers to push their ideas forward. Besides being involved locally, youths also participated internationally by joining websites such as www.unfccc.int and www.youthclimate.org, and the working groups within YOUNGO in areas such as Policy, Communication, Actions, Logistics, COY-05, Youth Media, Global South and Capacity Building.
Through project sharing sessions, youths were able to network, share ideas and resources with one another to implement meaningful community projects to promote environmental conservation to the masses.
Almost every day outside Bella Centre, I was greeted by demonstrations initiated by various NGOs to try to exert external pressure on Governmental officials and most importantly, to capture media attention for greater publicity.
Whilst the demonstrations were going on outside, several meetings, discussions, negotiations and side events were held for participants in Bella Centre.
During a personal interview with Sudanese Ambassador Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, Lead Negotiator for G77 + China, on how the United States can contribute in the role of civil society, its people and their businesses, Ambassador Lumumba shared and stressed that civil societies can and should play a more active and crucial role in influencing their decision makers to combat climate change.
It was indeed a privilege to be able to attend the presentation by Dr Steven Chu, US Secretary of Energy at the BrightGreen Forum. In his short thirty minutes presentation on the green technology that US is currently embarking on, Dr Chu pointed out that the danger of Climate Change cannot be ignored any further. It can be resolved through the use of new green technology. Dr Chu highlighted some key initiatives on green technology in US such as (1) Wind turbine; (2) Geothermal Energy as a heat reservoir; (3) the Dept Of Energy Retrofit Ramp-Up (R2) Programme with US$454 million to fund a retrofit programme for industries that make energy efficiency savings easy to access and available to everyone; (4) Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy’s (ARPA-E) CO2 Capture with Enzyme Synthetic Analogue and Carbon Nanotube Membranes for Energy-Efficient Carbon Sequestration amongst other new solutions for climate change and (5) Nuclear Fission.
I was able to meet Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim (Minister for Environment and Water Resource) at his hotel for a short discussion before he rushed off to Bella Centre to attend the plenary sessions and negotiations. Even though the meet-up was only about 30 minutes, I was able to share with the Minister on my mission to Copenhagen and my involvement with the British Council and the aims that I had set for myself in Copenhagen.
Minister Yaacob also generously shared his views on COP15/CMP5 and how the negotiations and discussions were taking place in Bella Centre. Minister shared that as a small country of only 702km2, Singapore will still play her part in combating climate change. However, we need the larger industrialized countries to take the lead and support the developing countries in achieving the common goal set.
In the BBC radio recording on “World Have Your Say”, I was selected as one of the twenty-two youths that gave the opening “Youth Declaration” to the audience and the people listening to the BBC radio broadcast.
Overall, the experience gained in Denmark had broadened my perspective of international relations and negotiations between both industrial and developing nations. The workshops and projects presentations made me more aware and discerned on the need for saving the environment for future generations. I will cherish the momentous events of these two weeks. With the knowledge acquired and networked friends made at the summit, I will continue to advance the call to implement meaningful community projects to promote environmental conservation to the masses.
Contributed by:
Wong Chong Wai Kenneth
Entry Filed under: Environment
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