In GCE, we talk a lot about the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and how frustrating it is that these issues are often not prioritized in international politics. Yet, as students, we too have difficulties finding time to prioritize actual engagement with these issues while also juggling extra courses, guest lectures, and research. But […]
More than 30 hours without rest delegates have been negotiating in the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) about the post 2015 period when the Kyoto protocol is going to end. It is already one day over the official end of the conference and still there is by far […]
Yesterday, big NGOs walked out of the stadium in Warsaw as a protest against the missing ambition at this COP. On international level there is no direct representation of people and lobbyists try to fill this gap. Therefore it is crucial that diverse interests are fairly represented. I don’t think that anyone minds resting on […]
At lunch time today, several NGOs partnered up and “walked out” of COP19. They express their disappointment by the unsuccessful negotiations. Instead of wasting their time at the climate talks here in Warsaw, they will focus on mobilising people to push their governments to take serious climate action. This action has attracted a lot of […]
Rumors were around for a while but the confirmation reached me during a side-event about lessons to learn from the Montreal protocol: the polish environmental minister was fired. News that doesn’t seem relevant to climate talks at first glance become interesting knowing that he is COP president. Only in late afternoon it was clear that […]
These days quite a few ministers are around at COP. Altmaier, the German Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, came yesterday for a total of 6 hours to Warsaw. In his speech at the plenary he praised German efforts in providing funding for developed countries. s and affirmed their funding commitments. […]
In the many different side events, there are also plenty sessions organised by countries. Germany, for example, had a side event about the “Energiewende”, while Indonesia hosted one on “Securing a Low Carbon Future”. The two events had in common that the countries praised themselves for the efforts they are undertaking to reduce greenhouse gas […]
Day 2 at the COP – we’re less confused and more organised than we were yesterday. We pick the side events we find interesting, meet with other youth organisations, plan a meeting with members of the German parliament for tomorrow. Furthermore, it’s gender day today – calling to keep striving for gender balance in the […]
Yesterday was our scientific day: we joined different side-events mainly organized by non governmental organizations and research institutions aiming on giving decision makers backgrounds of discussed topics. We finished up the day with an event organized by Central American countries about loss and damage. Developing countries suffer more from negative effects of climate change than […]
We look at empty seats of the new stadium in Warsaw. Shall they remind the conference attendees of the people they represent? This reminder is crucial in an international climate conference that is sponsored and influenced by coal industry. Literally nothing was expected from this event in advance – a bad starting point for a […]
