Reflections on COP18 UN Climate Change Conference

 

My first few days at the UN climate conference in Doha (26 Nov – 07 Dec) were, I have to admit, often baffling. While I know a fair bit about climate change and the Kyoto Protocol this was my first ‘COP’ and decrypting the forbidding acronyms, subtle agenda points and endless process felt like wading through a thick treacle. Fortunately, our British Council ‘Green Ambassadors’ helped me understand terms such as ‘Article 6’ of the UN’s Convention on Climate Change which, far from being a sinister Orwellian directive, is crucial to our work since it calls on member states to provide climate change education and include youth and civil society in the negotiations. 

 

The bright spots for me were hearing about our Green Ambassadors’ projects and seeing them network and try to influence the UN process. Hailing from 11 countries, they are accomplished members of BC programmes such as ‘Global Changemakers’, ‘Climate Champions’ and ‘E-idea’ who promote solutions to climate change in fields such as business, education, the media and the arts. They include eco entrepreneurs like Jianchao Wang, who runs an innovative recycling scheme in China, and Greek-Cypriot artist Marina Flevotomas, who illuminates the issues in her films and illustrations. 

 

A diverse group, the Green Ambassadors are united by a passion to safeguard the planet for future generations. They and other civil society groups remind us of what is at stake in the negotiations and ensure that related issues such as gender and climate change are not overlooked. As Prianka Ball, a Green Ambassador from Bangladesh, noted in an article last week, ‘Coming from a developing country that is prone to disasters, I have seen women be the direct victims of the effects of climate change.”

 

In addition to reporting from Doha, they met with the UK delegation including DECC Secretary Ed Davey, Climate Change Minister Greg Barker and chief negotiator Ben Lyon as well as other influential decision makers including Lord Stern (author of the Stern Review and adviser to our programme) and the UN’s climate lead Christiana Figueres, whose career was launched by a BC scholarship. They also featured in side events including ones that raised awareness of youth as key stakeholders to sustainable development; that examined the role of social innovation in tackling climate change; and that reported on a two-year research project into public understandings of climate change across Asia. 

 

The Green Ambassadors visited local schools and universities through an HSBC-sponsored programme that raised Qatari students’ awareness of climate change, informed them about the UN negotiations and inspired them to take positive action in their communities.  British Green Ambassador Jade Neville noted, ‘Witnessing a significant stir in regional interest in climate change and the Arab youth movement was particularly affecting,’ adding that the school visit programme ‘is clearly of the upmost importance’ in oil-rich Gulf states.  

It’s now abundantly clear that if we continue on our trajectory of reckless consumption of energy, water and other natural resources we’ll put the planet in risk of increasing global temperatures, sea level rises, droughts and extreme flooding. Even some business leaders are pressuring the UK Government to act on greenhouse gas emissions because they recognise the crippling costs of doing nothing and the immense opportunities of a green growth agenda. HMG too is trying to persuade the EU to increase its ambition on cutting emissions, and on day 9 of the talks the UK gained the ‘Ray of the Day’ award from the ECO newsletter for offering up increased finance for climate change funds. 

In fact almost all governments are convinced of the need to mitigate and adapt to climate change – the sticking point is how. And this is why it is important that youth leaders like our Green Ambassadors remind the ministers that young people will inherit the decisions made in Doha and that the ultimate aim should be to build open, prosperous, and sustainable societies.

 

So, let’s hope that the negotiators make it through the treacle of UN process, without having to wait until the planet warms up so much that it liquefies it …