This was how a negotiation room in COP21 looked like
Have you ever wonder how does a United Nation meeting looks like? You might have watched them at YouTube before but I bet you did not even have the patience to finish a session of it because it might be boring if you are not tracking it live.
Much thanks to the Minister of the Natural Resources and Energy (NRE), the Malaysian Youth Delegation was able to gain the opportunity to enter negotiation rooms of the 21st session of the Conference of Parties (COP21) as “Party Overflow” badges (national delegate badges).
I would like to share some of my experience of observing the negotiation processes:
What kind of meetings that have in COP21?
Informal informals – Negotiators come together to discuss about ideas and stand, not as Parties. It usually happened with the delegates of the same bloc or regional group. The outcome of the discussion will not be take into formal text but might be raised in a spin-off group. It is more like a strategy discussion meeting to understand the opinions of the Parties.
Spin-off Group – Parties will discuss and negotiate about clauses in a particular article of the draft agreement text. The co-chair or co-facilitator will go paragraph by paragraph. If there is any Parties do not agree with the paragraph, other Parties will gives their opinion on the suggestions of the former. There will be several spin-off groups going on simultaneously. Hence the delegations have to split and focus on different articles in order to join the negotiation for topics that they are concerned on.
Bilateral – Different blocs or regional groups will meet up and build understandings among each other or discuss on certain topics that they disagree on in order to increase the efficiency of the whole process.
Contact Group – All of the spin-off groups outcome will be brought up in the contact group. It is sort of like a concluding meeting that gather all the small negotiations together. Parties may give an intervention or negotiate upon issues that have not reach any consensus. This is like a finale and it usually only allow Parties with special secondary badges to enter the meeting room but is televised in overflow room(s) that everyone, including observers, can access and watch.
Which one I enjoyed the most?
I enjoy Spin-off groups the most because it is more specific, easier to follow and Party Overflow delegates usually is allowed to be in the room. It is more open and less sensitive than a bloc meeting as there will not be any discussion on strategy in the spin-offs. In some Spin-offs, I got the chance to learn from the Head of Malaysian Delegation, Dr. Gary Theseira. He will be evaluating the situation and explaining the stand of the main players in the negotiations. I do not have to opportunity to do so during the Contact Group meeting.
The best part of following the negotiations is that you get to learn a lot more about the stand of the Parties and to observe how the members of similar bloc work together and back up each other. The repetition of certain hot topics will arouse your curiosity to read up more about it. Besides, you will push yourself to read through the text properly, word by word. It might be very daunting to read the whole draft text (which went up to nearly 50 pages). But if you follow the negotiation, you will have to read the text during the negotiation in order to keep track. You will get to know which are the important/controversial paragraphs too.
The worst part of following the negotiations is that you will have to battle your sleepiness very hard while jotting down your notes at times. Have you ever had the feeling which you know you are awake and listening every word other people said but at the same time you know you are dozing and you can’t comprehend a single word that you heard? You’ll have to struggle in this almost everyday when you are tracking negotiations! Even negotiators faced the same problems. That’s why the cafes in COP21 always have long queue!
All in all, it is definitely an awesome experience to observe and to understand more about the UNFCCC processes. Hopefully in the future I am able to comprehend more about the interventions and the big pictures of the meetings.
At the last day of the #COP21, the thousands of people with diverse nationality gathered to voice out their wants to the people in the plenary halls. People dressed in red hats, red clothes, red scarfs, red gloves holding red umbrellas and red banners to draw their #RedLines, from Arc de Triomphe to the renowned Eiffel Tower.
The #D12 action is the largest civil disobedience movement during the period of COP21. It only obtained the police’s consent a few days before the action day as Paris is under emergency state.
First time participating in large scale climate movement like this, I was very impressed by the pumped-up atmosphere of the rally. The high-spirited chants and rallying calls are very influential; I felt so agitated when I heard them before I exit the train station! I immediately joined the troop, holding the hundred-metre long banner and thrusting the inflatable cobblestone, as I amplified my cries.
A video posted by #PowerShiftMsia (@powershiftmsia) on
Another thing that caught my attention was the attendance of the senior citizens. Not one or two, there was hundreds of them. I saluted them for standing up for the future generations and making the movement an all-age one, instead of youth only.
The chants were very creative and rhymed, which strengthened the voice of the people and enhanced the “oomph” of the calls. My favourite ones was “The people, u-ni-ted, will never be de-fea-ted” and “It’s up, to us, to keep it in the ground”. Till now I can still hear the deafening chants vividly repeating beside my ears.
In a nutshell, I am very glad that I joined the march and I appreciate the sense of belonging that the people at the action gave me. Although I failed to participate in the planning and preparation of the #D12 movement, I felt proud of my teammate, Amalen who joined the process of making the astounding banner and of coordinating the movement! It might be even better if we are allowed to sit in the bridge across the Seine river longer instead of moving towards the square under the Eiffel.
A video posted by #PowerShiftMsia (@powershiftmsia) on
It was as exhilarating as the first-time experience of I giving an intervention during the SBSTA closing plenary. The fun and epic moments of occupying the bridge in front of the Eiffel Tower and speaking to random strangers (which I like to address them as my yet-to-know friends) is one of the most enjoyable time that I had in Paris.
For more details and photos, search #D12 and #redlines @ Google!
The Climate Action Network (CAN) is the Environmental NGO (ENGO) network in the UNFCCC. It has different daily activities such as the Fossil of the Day and the CAN Daily Meeting. To enter the daily 2.00pm meeting, you’ll need a sticker proving that you are a CAN member. They even have a “sticker check” which the attendees will have to show before the meeting commences. I like the exclusiveness they have over there. The meeting usually starts with updates from different work groups, followed by some strategy planning such as messages that we, as a network, want to deliver to other stakeholders such as ministers, negotiators and investors. The planning and guidelines look really awesome because it is detailed and comprehensive. Although the CAN members are from different organisations all over the world, they still cooperate and work together, and share information from different events to create a holistic view of the whole COP21. The “Fossil of the Day”(FOTD) nomination will be closed at 2.30pm everyday. “Fossil of the Day” is an “award” for the country or countries that is/are reckoned to be blocking the progress of the climate discussion. So after several agendas, the CAN members will announced the nominated countries and reasons of them being nominated. The agenda on reporting and sharing will continue after that while a huddle (a small group debate) often be conducted outside of the room in order to pick the Fossil. I joined one of the huddles during COP21, the one where the members discussed about crowning Malaysia as the “Ray of the Day” (opposite of FOTD) *excited*. From the discussion I get to know different views about Malaysia. The main reason of Malaysia being put forward for this honour is that the Malaysia voiced on behalf of the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) to urge the French presidency to increase the transparency of the negotiations by allowing civil society members to observe the meetings.
Some people supports the notion because they think that it will be a good way to “condemn” the exclusiveness of the French presidency and to push the Secretariat to be more democratic and get the NGOs involved. However, there are also some points opposing that idea: Malaysia suppresses media at home, it did not protect their mangrove properly, forests are given up for palm oil industry, it was voicing on behalf of LMDC and lastly, giving out a Ray for civil society’s own sake will ruin the credibility of the FOTD/ROTD. In the end, Malaysia did not get the Ray; nevertheless it was lauded in an ECO (Newsletter published by CAN) article and walked away with a Honourable Mentioned in the “Fossil of the Day” ceremony. I felt very proud when Malaysia was nominated to receive the Ray of the Day because it meant that Malaysia’s voice was remarkable and praiseworthy. I learnt that not only the effort in the international platform is important to have a good image, the endeavour in our own land plays significant role to leave a good impression. Seeing the CAN members who voiced out their opinions confidently with supporting facts during the huddle encourage me to be one of them in the future. I hope I can be knowledgeable enough to comment someday.
Maldives: One of the Small Island States that are vulnerable to climate-induced disasters. They are small and fragile. Inhabited with 345,023 people (World Bank, 2013). Image Adapted from Google Map (2016)
It was yesterday’s High Level Meeting on Climate Resilience that sparked my interest of wanting to understand climate change impacts on small islands, least developed countries (LDCs) and African Countries and the importance of Paris Agreement to these countries.
“We are learning from our failures. Most of our initiatives come from our hard lessons. Politically and physically. More towards physical i.e. climate induced disasters.” says, Ban Ki Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
According to IPCC and other scientific studies, climate change impacts are growing and heavily affecting small islands and least developed countries. For instance the islanders are suffering from sea level rise, salt-water encroachment onto their fertile soil, ocean acidification, depletion of marine food source, coral reefs’ destruction and many more.
On the other hand, least developed countries such as African continent are experiencing huge challenges in the area of water, agriculture, health, coastal and preservation of biodiversity due to the impacts of climate change.
“As a Pacific Island nation, we are forced to adapt to climate change not by choice but necessity. For us, capacity building is our priority challenge. Talk about being climate resilience. What does climate resilience mean to the small island? Resilience means to build better livable island. How are we going to adapt to this while we are eroding. What we are facing already since 2011 to 2015 is the warmest period on the record. This year is the hottest weather ever.”says, Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa.
He further explained his concern over the sea-level rise. According to third conference of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in Samoa, it is reported there is an estimation of sea-level rise up to four times the global average and this continues to be the most pressing threat to their environment and socio-economic development with annual losses at the trillions of dollars due to increased vulnerability.
In the meeting, Samoa and other island nations agreed to support Paris agreement if they recognize the vulnerability of the islands and warrant protection.
For small islands and LDCs, Paris agreement is essential as these are vulnerable countries with minimal resources compared to most of us living on the land that are thousand times larger. Aiming for ‘1.5 degree Celsius’ is crucial for them to ensure survivability of their people. Tuvalu countrymen put high hope on Paris agreement. If there is no global action today (in reference to Paris Agreement), 75% of its people would want to leave Tuvalu. (There are only 9,876 people inhabiting in Tuvalu! source: World Bank, 2013).
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt’s president defends Africa’s interest on climate change. The cost of putting Africa to low carbon growth is no less than $USD 12 billion dollars a year until 2020. African continent lacks the means and resources that will boost their economic development. Hence, Africa emphasized the urgency of adaptation with due consideration of huge challenges in this regard where, adaptation is part of global responsibility.
During this high level meeting, Netherlands agreed to contribute directly of Euro 50 million to climate resilience projects for small island states and LDCs whereas German has contributed Euro 1 billion worldwide on climate resilience projects.
Herry Purnomo, Project Leader – Political Economy of Fire and Haze in Indonesia, CIFOR giving a short introduction on political economy of fire and haze in Indonesia
Since 1990s South East Asia has been facing the issue of trans-boundary haze and 2015 is considered among the worst ever. This is an inevitable phenomena as palm oil industry is booming and is anticipated to grow to $88 billion by 2022 and Indonesia is the main regional player of this industry.
We have understand the effects of haze on environment, health and socio-economics. These issues are ongoing with trans-boundary haze. With all the experts at the forum today, are we able to find the long term solutions to end Indonesia’s forest fires and haze?
Here are some highlights sharing from each expert:
Intro: Understanding the root causes of political economy of fire and haze in Indonesia
Herry Purnomo, Project Leader – Political Economy of Fire and Haze in Indonesia, CIFOR
In 2015, forest fires have caused about 2.6 million ha of land burnt with more than 30 billion dollars of economic losses. 43 million of Indonesians were exposed to haze and half million of people became victims of acute respiratory infections with 19 people reported death.
Some important key points on the root causes of political economy of fire and haze in Indonesia:-
Tenure and illegal land market
Bad practices of agricultural and plantation development – Interestingly wood plantations are manage by group while oil palm plantations are managed by individual companies.
Land politics: Patronage network between business and government – When it comes to land politics, corporate actors are connected to elites at various levels.
Land politics for local elections – Hot spots is linked to election. Local elites/cukong who organize farmers are the most influential actors in land transaction.
Q. Are Smallholders to be blame for forest fires and haze in Indonesia?
Mansuetus Alsy Hanu – National coordinator, Indonesia’s Palm Oil Smallholder Union
Smallholders are owners who own the land under 25ha and they manage the land on their own. In Indonesia, there are a total of 60% of the 48,000 are smallholders.Smallholders tend to be in difficult position when it comes to prepare plantation. For now, fire (aka ‘slash and burn’ method’) is the cheapest method to prepare plantation.
Regarding forest fires and haze, smallholders may not be the main cause of it. Smallholders do not receive benefits to convert their crops to palm oil plantation and they do not get assistance or any protection by government locally and nationally.
In terms of solution of reducing forest fires, Mansuetus proposed the need of better mapping for smallholders’ land. There is also a need of strong establishment of relationship between government and smallholders. The government could provide incentives to smallholders who do not use fires to prepare their plantations as an attractive income for the smallholder..
Q. From NGO Perspective: What are the challenges in resolving this Issue?
Jatna Supriatna, Chairman of Research Centre for Climate Change, University of Indonesia.
While getting himself involved in non-governmental organization for 15-20 years. Jatna thinks the problem in dealing with forest fires for the past 20 year is the budget. The budget from government is not easy to be accessible for forest fire issues.
“To monitor the hot spots, there is no budget to access the peatland areas. Fire in the peatland is easily spread – underneath. Go widely. It is very important that we are working in many different form. it is always the dry season we have to be ready. In Indonesia, local governments do not have fire brigade but trucks. We really need to have collaboration with local government and private sectors” says Jatna.
Jatna also highlighted the importance of law enforcement in public area and national protected areas as forest fires occurred in these areas are caused by encroachment.
Q. What can Private Sectors do to prevent forest fires and haze?
Dharsono Hartono, president director of PT Rimba Makmur Utama, Indonesia proposed the key to prevent forest fires and haze is to establish trust among various stakeholders via bottom-up approach.
Forest fires tend to occur in conjunction with El Nino. During El Nino, the canals from east to west of Indonesia will dry up. After the projection of terrible El Nino by NASA in 2007, PT Rimba Makmur Utama has immediately engaged and worked closely with the 6 villages (200 people) to prevent forest fires and haze.
Awareness, trust and transparency are the key values to promote full participation from the communities. Other than providing education to the villagers, PT Rimba decided to go beyond the boundary by training a brigade team prevent and combat forest fires and haze.
Q. The world demanded Palm Oil. What about the Supply Chains of Oil Palm Plantations? Aren’t they also responsible for forest fires?
Agus Purnomo – Managing Director for sustainability and strategic stakeholders Engagement, Golden Agri-Resources, Ltd.
As Indonesia is the largest oil palm producers in the world, supply chains around world are also responsible for forest fires and haze. According to Purnomo, it is common to have problematic growers / companies within the supply chains. In order to prevent this, Golden Agri-Resources is focusing on establishing transparency with their suppliers.Thus far, they have 98% of the mills willing to share their suppliers info and by Dec 2015, they will have 100% visibility of the mills. However, it is difficult to acquire transparency and visibility beyond the mills and these mills source their resources from others.
“All our supply chains are posted on the website. We do not know the particular mill bought by another group. That is something we cannot know before. If we know, we will engage. We will have dialogue and see how we move forward.” says Purnomo.
Golden Agri-Resources is focusing on B2B arrangement. However, policies cause a lot of issues as mentioned by Herry. There is an urging need in getting all stakeholders to be involved to resolve such issue. From government, to local stakeholders, NGOs, companies who are involved in the supply chain. We need to formulate a common goal, better transparency in order to prevent forest fires and haze.
