![My Passion For Climate Change Negotiation Process]()
by admin | Oct 10, 2016 | Blog, MYD2015, MYD2016
The best times are usually unplanned, random and spontaneous!
I would need to agree on this for the time when we (Emily, Jasmine and I) were heading to Singapore to attend a training session organised by Singapore Youth for Climate Action (SYCA). The trip was planned last minute (to be specific, one night before), but the outcome is truly fruitful and #YOLO.
Climate Change never sleep, so do we!
I will start with the #YOLO first. The training session fall on Saturday morning. As all of us need to work on the Friday, we decided it is a good idea to take bus to Singapore during the midnight. Indeed, it is a good idea due to lesser carbon footprint and cheaper … until we reached Singapore.
We missed the bus station we suppose to arrive at and heading straight into the heart of Singapore. Well, this is not that bad after all. At least we get the chance to go sightseeing. Walking around the street of Singapore make me realise that street lights are almost everywhere. I am wondering how much energy did they consume per day just to light up the every corner of the streets. Thanks to the MRT that start operating as early as 5.30 am, we were able to reach our accommodation before sunrise. Not forgetting to mention that we only manage to sleep for 3 hours, thus the YOLO-ness enhanced.
By taking their public transportation, I realised it is much more cheaper if go cashless which roughly can saved up to 30%. In Malaysia, going cashless only saved us a few cents. I think Prasarana Malaysia should learn from them.
This Red Box is totally different with the RED BOX in Malaysia #ifyouknowwhatimean
The training session held at Red Box. Red Box is run by Youth Corps Singapore which is part of government initiatives with the objective to provides volunteering opportunities for youths through ad-hoc, regular and project-based service projects.
Two trainers were invited for the training, who are Sandeep Chamling Rai, Senior Advisor, Global Climate and Energy Initiative, WWF and Melissa Low of Energy Studies Institute, NUS.
Still remember I said that the outcome is fruitful and #YOLO at the beginning? This is where the fruitful part comes in.
Mr. Sandeep started the training by giving us an overview of the history timeline of COP from the very first Earth Summit to the infamous COP15 until the recent COP21. He raised his concern on the misconception from both the public as well as the media thinking that Paris Agreement is the first climate agreement. In fact, even before the Paris Agreement, we already has Kyoto Protocol, a legally binding agreement which commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets.
Sandeep Chamling Rai, Senior Advisor, Global Climate and Energy Initiative, WWF
He then pinpointed the key feature of the Paris Agreement. He also mentioned about the limitation of Paris Agreement i.e no finance figure in the text after 2020. Ultimately, he told us on the expectation on COP22.
To reiterate, Paris Agreement requires all countries to prepare nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to outline the climate action plans and report on progress. Countries must submit updated NDCs every five years and must be more ambitious than previous NDC. As of now, 162 out of 190 countries already submitted their NDC. Based on the current submitted NDC, the temperature would still increase 2.7°C above pre-industrial level. Thus, starting from COP22, huge efforts will be needed to overcome the gap between the ambition of the agreement and the emission reductions pledged by the Countries.
Personally I felt this session is refreshing as he helped me to recall what I had studied since I joined MYD last year.
Melissa session focused on Singapore position and role in UNFCCC process. Albeit the points are not directly related to Malaysia, they are still some good to know facts. Singapore contribute only around 0.11% of global emission while Malaysia contribute approximately 0.6% of global emission (based on NDC).
During her session, one of the audience raised up an interesting point about the global emission contribution. Countries need to submit their national GHG inventories. The GHG data reported by the countries are estimated from direct GHG only. In other words, the data only calculate from point source emission and indirect GHG is not taken into calculation.
Singaporeans have high purchasing power which leads to higher consumerism. Most of the products are imported from other countries like China but the carbon footprint that produced before reaching Singapore are not included in the calculation. One of the solution suggested is to urge the corporates and organisations to adopt and implement Greenhouse Gas Protocol in managing and reporting their GHG emission. 3 different categories of emission (Scope 1,2,3) were established to avoid ‘double-counting’ of emissions, and is also intended to help organizations categorize GHG into those that they control (e.g. Scope 1) versus those that they can influence (e.g. Scope 3). For more info, please click HERE
Melissa Low of Energy Research Institute, NUS
When comes to UNFCCC climate conference, the plenary is not just about negotiating the what and how of climate change but instead it is an international battleground for the diplomats. Countries such as Singapore sending out national delegates who are representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affair. Most of the time, the representative from Ministry of Foreign Affair are well trained in communicating with foreign governments and international organisations as well as coordinating and carried out policy. In regardless of this conference, these are also part of their job scope.
Since Paris Agreement had been adopted last year, the major “talking” part consider over. Starting from COP22 onward, the focus will be more on the implementation of the agreement itself. Due to these, the national delegates of Singapore for this coming year will be coming from Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources. *geddit?*
Mandatory Climate Sign in front of Marina Bay Sands
In a nutshell, this short getaway rekindles my passion for climate change negotiation process. It’s also really feel great to reconnect with my like-minded friends. Aside from these, it is also a pleasure to meet Miss Lastrina again. She recently won the EcoFriend Award 2016 (Youth and Student Category) for her dedication towards environmental conservation. #proudofher
p/s: I interviewed here right after we get back from COP21. Wanted to know more? Click HERE.
by admin | Apr 25, 2016 | Blog, MYD2016
COP22 is the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It is the main annual meeting of all nations under the UNFCCC to build and strengthen intergovernmental climate policy. COP22 will be from November 7-18, 2016, in Marrakech, Morocco. This year’s COP is deemed as “COP of Action” to build up the momentum after Paris Agreement.
- Who is Malaysian Youth Delegation (MYD)?
The Malaysian Youth Delegation (MYD) is the voice of the Malaysian youth climate movement at international United Nations climate conferences, UNFCCC. We strike to represent the demands of a generation working and to advocate for a just, safe, and livable future for all.
- What does the delegation do?
Prior to COP22, delegates are expected to undergo trainings and perform other operational work such as fundraising, logistical support, leading on artistic elements of action. Our trainings will cover the 3 primary tracks of MYD: Media, Mobilisation and Advocacy.
- Media: maintain our online social media presence, produce knowledge articles before COP, craft MYD newsletter during COP, write press release template, pitch delegation stories to larger media outlets, track media hits
- Mobilization: train delegates for how to plan actions in the UN Space, coordinate with other action planning hubs,
- Advocacy: tracking policy development in the UNFCCC, train delegates in advocacy aspects of the UNFCCC and the MYD support strategic policy engagements for the delegation through lobbying and other associated efforts.
Delegates will be constantly producing knowledge articles based on the above tracks, and will be published on PowerShift Malaysia website as part of the training. This year, we also aimed to conduct a national climate change survey which acts as the basis of producing a Malaysian youth statement on climate change. Besides, we will have the opportunity to work with government officials, civil society representatives, and youth from around the world, all while organizing direct actions, coordinating media outreach, and lobbying government delegates.
Nevertheless, we are open to new and creative ideas on how our delegation can most effectively push for the world we need!
One of our fund raising and outreach event @ Malaysiaku Rice Festival 2015
MYD Representative giving opening speech on the Promulgation Ceremony of Malaysian Youth Statement on Climate Change 2015
Find out more about the statement: http://powershiftmalaysia.org.my/malaysian-youth-statement-on-climate-change-towards-cop21/
MYD 2015 meeting up with ASEAN Youths @ ASEAN PowerShift.
- What are we going to do in COP22?
The selected delegation to COP22 is expected to track the negotiation process and report back to local and online audiences via social media updates and articles writing. You also have the chance to take part in youth-led mobilisations or actions that will be happening in or outside of the venue.
For a better picture, you may read the article collections of MYD 2015 in COP21:
http://powershiftmalaysia.org.my/malaysia-youth-delegation-articles-during-cop21/
- How does the commitment looks like?
Delegates are expected to begin work around mid-June. Delegates are expected to commit ~5 hours per week on preparations for COP22 from June to October 2016. A crucial aspect of this is participating in bi-weekly conference calls with other delegation members. This time commitment will increase as the negotiations draw closer.
Delegates are strongly encouraged to attend the Conference of Youth 12 (4-6 November 2016), the entire COP22 conference (7-18 November 2016), and a post-conference reflection (19-21 November 2016). We also anticipate hosting a 2-day in-person delegation preparatory training. We will determine the dates and location for this in-person training after the delegation is finalised.
Note that your commitment will fluctuate depending on your role in the team.
MYD facilitating the Asia Regional Breakout Group at Conference of Youth (COY 11) @ Paris prior to COP21.
We welcome any Malaysian youths (age 18-30 by 1st Nov 2016) or youths who are currently based in Malaysia. If you are a Malaysian citizen who is overseas, you are welcomed to apply too!
MYD is hoping to have a diverse team of climate fighters: from action-oriented climate advocators to climate policy geeks and climate storytellers. No prior or minimum requirement is needed, as we believe everyone is here to learn. If you are a risk-taker who is willing to step out from your comfort zone and constantly challenge yourself, we want you!
- Do I need to pay for anything?
We will do our very best to make this program financially accessible to all delegates – and with that said, delegates are inevitably responsible for covering their travel, housing, and food expenses. MYD and PowerShift Malaysia will work to secure grants, hold fundraisers, and help raise money to cover trip expenses. Delegates also typically undertake individual efforts to raise funds to cover their costs of attendance. Leading up to COP22, we’ll have members of the delegation, who are experienced in fundraising to support others through the process of personal fundraising.
- When will I get the application results?
The application deadline is 15 May 23:59 (GMT8+). You will receive an application receipt once we received your Application Form AND Creative/Writing component. Kindly email us at powershiftmsia@gmail.com if you have not receive any reply from us after your submission.
First round of results will be out by end of May and you will be informed regardless of being shortlisted or not. Shortlisted applicants will then be called for an online screening interview. Final announcement of the delegation shall be on the early of June.
For more enquiries, write to us at powershiftmsia@gmail.com
Looking forward to your application! APPLY NOW!
![MYD sharing at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus]()
by admin | Mar 22, 2016 | Blog, MYD2015
[14 March 2015, Monday] we, (Emily, Thomas and Jolene) from Malaysia Youth Delegation (MYD) members are grateful and thrilled to be invited to share our Paris COP21 experience in Sustainability Research Network(SRN) Annual Seminar at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC). The event commenced at 10am and ends at 1pm with more than 50 attendees from UNMC. Other than us, this event was also graced by other featured speakers including Dr. Gary William Theseira, the Deputy Undersecretary of Environment Management and Climate Change Division, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; as well as Alizan Mahadi, fellow of Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia (ISIS).
Emily
Jolene
As the first speaker of the event, we presented “Youth on COP21” comprising 3 main components covering a lecture-based introduction about Conference of Parties (COP) as a whole and its negotiation processes, a youth-centric topic on our involvement (MYD) and youth participation in COP21; and also our perspective on the Paris Agreement and how it will take effects in the coming years – pre-2020 and post-2020.
| Prior to Dr. Gary’s presentation, Dr Gary applauded and thanked MYD presence and supports to Malaysian National Delegation Team in COP21, saying it was “extremely refreshing to have us along”. In COP21, there is always a shortage of manpower for Malaysian team due to its fully-packed meetings that occurred at the same time and consistently MYD team fill in the gaps attending various meetings and discussions across different meeting rooms, plenaries and halls. It is definitely a hectic pace in COP21! Dr. Gary also mentioned the MYD presence (youth) has given the Malaysian team a strong sense of motivation and focus to fight for the future and for us, the future generation. This is their 4th year of working toward common goals with other parties of UNFCCC to combat climate change.
These short yet meaningful acknowledgements coming from a national negotiator are definitely one of the most rewarding moments for MYD 2015 team. Well done, Team! |
Afterward, Dr. Gary further elaborated our presentation to Post-COP21 context – on how to translate Intended National Determined Contributions (INDCs) to National Determined Contributions (NDCs) by optimising the local, regional and international opportunities. His sharing has given some great insights of how Malaysia will adopt Paris Agreement and mobilize change. For instance, Malaysia INDCs highlighted Malaysia’s intention “to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity of GDP by 45% by 2030 relative to the emissions intensity of GDP in 2005. This consist of 35% on an unconditional basis and a further 10% is condition upon receipt of climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building from developed countries.” In addition, he also shared some research areas where government-universities should collaborate including topics such as clean technology developments, environmental conservation, climate change and environmental and climate policies.
On the other hand, Alizan shared with the crowd of how Sustainable Development (SDG) Goals fit the post-COP21 era. The truth is, combating climate change is just a tiny part of SDGs. In his sharing, he encourages everyone to look broader at how a nation could achieve sustainable economic development via considering other factors including poverty eradication, gender equality, good health and wellbeing, zero hunger and many more.
Thomas voicing out his opinion during panel discussion
During the Q&A session, one of the students asked the speakers “if there is one law you can add, what would it be?” Alizan professed politely that “we should start focusing on the implementation of the existing policies instead of only adding new policies.” Based on his presentation, indeed Malaysia has many existing policies (covering water, land and social..?) but the inefficiency of top-down approaches and the huge gap between the government, public and relevant stakeholders are still taking place and may delay Malaysia achieving its sustainable status.
Feedback on our presentation from the crowd
To date, this is our first official COP21 sharing session and also our first presentation that ran 45-minutes long. We felt the pressure comparing ourselves to the other two “pro” speakers and in order to spice up our presentation, we spent quite some time drafting and practicing the contents together. We are the first speaker…!
It is to our surprise that our session gained so much positive feedbacks from the crowd where one of the audience (hint: he is a lecturer) expresses his gratitude on our excellent presentation! We were complimented for our comprehensible presentation that has provided him a clearer picture on COP21 and its processes. Kudos, our efforts paid off!
Thank you SRN for organizing another successful seminar!
![How will INDCs shape development?]()
by admin | Jan 21, 2016 | Blog, MYD2015, UNFCCC
During COP21, I attended this side event, discussing enablers and obstacles in implementing INDCs, which reveal the complexity of de-carbonisation, integration of multiple objectives & implementation challenges.
Side event detail
further
researching on second generation biofuels to increase its energy efficiency and reducing its GHG emissions. He believes this will create new job opportunities.
I believe you are as curious as I was regarding the term “second generation biofuel”. First generation biofuels are derived from crops such as sugarcane and vegetable oil. Whereas second generation biofuels, are fuels that manufactured from lignocellulosic biomass (plant biomass) and is seem as an alternative to petroleum for the production of biofuels. The feedstock can get from agricultural residue, forest residue or municipal solid waste. Albeit second generation biofuel yield a higher energy efficiency compared to first generation, the production is still challenging due to the complexity of the biomass and issues related to production and logistic.
South Africa
Hilton Trollip (MAPS; Energy Research Centre, University of Cape Town, South Africa) started his speech by providing the current situation faced by South Africa. South Africa is facing a food security problem and it will be a tough time for them to get in line with their INDC. Due to economic recession, South Africa cannot afford renewable energy as the country needs to domestically purchase vast amount of fossil fuel for electricity generation. Since the country is highly dependent on fossil fuel, this gives the coal based industries higher influencing power to reject the adoption of renewable energy. In order to tackle this, Hilton stated that the country is undergoing independent researches on decarbonisation at the same time without jeopardizing the economy. He also believes that going green will create more job opportunities.
India
Navroz Dubash (Centre for Policy Research, India) mentioned that India wants to develop climate policies that are driven by long term goals. In India, climate change is not a political issue but energy security. 300 millions of people in India do not have access to electricity and 10 to 12 million job need to be introduced to reduce poverty. On top of these, air pollution is also a persistent concern that will increase health risk of respiratory diseases. In order to reach a win-win situation, he states that India needs to take action to stop building highly reliant carbon future to prevent undesirable circumstances.
Peru
David Garcia (Project PlanCC, Peru) stated that Peru is focusing on an adaptation plan instead of a mitigation plan. From his point of view, it is a trade off between mitigation and adaptation when it comes to funding.The country is developing strong technical and practical data that can be used to convince policy makers. Working well with the government is the key for a better climate future. Moreover, he brought up that Peru wants to stop deforestation and has better waste management practices.
Written by: Thomas Yoke Hwa Lai
Edited by: Loh Rachel
![Connecting My Rice to Climate Change]()
by admin | Jan 11, 2016 | Blog, MYD2015
Thanks to The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC), one of our generous funders to COP21 that the three of us had the chance to attend the launching ceremony of Paris Declaration on Agriculture Diversification on the 7 December 2015 by UNMC special arrangement.
This declaration is spearheaded by the Malaysia-based CFFRC or Crops for the Future Research Centre. The government of Malaysia together with the University of Nottingham in Malaysia are the guarantors of CFFRC which was established in 2011 to provide research support to improve food and nutrition security, health and incomes of the poor, as well as the sustainable management of fragile ecosystems.
The ceremony started with a short presentation by Prof Sayed Azam-Ali, the CEO of CFFRC. During his opening speech, he reminded or more precisely, enlightened (since many of us has no idea on this) the audiences on our current situation of global agriculture. The whole world is mainly dependent on 4 major crops- maize, wheat, rice and soybean to feed 7 billion people. Problems that accompanied by this monoculture does not only cover food insecurity, but also extend to social problems such as malnutrition and poverty.
Prof Sayed Azam-Ali, CEO of CFFRC giving his opening speech
Since the world relies heavily on a few crop-producing countries, any extreme weather brought by climate change will lead to massive production shock. Food shortage in this sense will further lead to malnutrition especially among the people in the poorer countries. Many of the farmers and people working in the agriculture production will be directly and indirectly affected due to poor crops yield. This will affect their livelihood and poverty will befall them.
That is where agriculture diversification steps in. More variety means less reliance on a single major crop and this will reduce the effect of both poverty and malnutrition has any of the crops is severely impacted by climate change. Besides, this is able to promote the underutilized crops which might be more resilient to climate change.
I have always known that climate change affects agriculture much as climatic conditions are very influential on the growth of crops. Perhaps as a city kid, the problems of agriculture all felt too distant to me. Unlike my parents, I have never grown up with the view of fruit estates or golden paddy field but I believe I am not alone, majority of the younger generation in my country are the same. Food is always abundant and easily available in the city and even most of the rural villages, but that does not mean it will stay the same way forever.
Think about it- where does all my daily food come from? We use money to buy it, but when there is food shortage, what is left for us to buy? I am a rice person, as further confirmed by my 2 weeks stay in Paris where I have been craving for rice for several times.
I CANNOT IMAGINE HOW AM I GONNA LIVE WITHOUT RICE, SERIOUSLY.
NO RICE = No Nasi Lemak, no Sushi etc. Well, you get what I meant; at least from an individual level and when I am a typical foodie Malaysian.
However, it also came to my concern that encouraging the need of diversifying agriculture might also lead to more forest being deforested for such purpose in Malaysia. But the idea of urban farming mentioned by Prof Sayed in our casual conversation sounds like a brilliant idea to solve this!
I personally like how urban farming could diminish the transportation hassle from production sites to selling place. Besides, it can provide opportunities for urban people to witness and experience how is it like to farm near to home; which somehow filled in the gap that I mentioned between myself with agriculture production. Most importantly, vertical farming in urban area can also solve the problem of limited land use. Through this method, there is high chances where we can minimize deforestation and diversify our crops.
So Hurray 😀 to this wonderful idea and keeps our finger crossed for the implementation !
Written by: Emily Oi
![Malaysians in COP21]()
by admin | Jan 11, 2016 | Blog, MYD2015, UNFCCC
Prior to COP21, we planned to conduct a Malaysian gathering or more like a makan (eating) session to gather Malaysians inside and outside COP. I was in charge of conducting and it seems to be so much harder than whichever gathering that I have done before.
Firstly, Malaysians in COP21 are very diverse. They are all both inside and outside COP; and very have different schedule. People from GEC, TWN, some other national delegations including negotiators are those who are inside COP. Whereas Wininie from JOAS, Quek Yew Aun and some other Malaysians who have no access to enter COP venue. Plus, all of them arrive Paris at different timing.
Secondly, it’s a hassle finding a venue. People inside COP are busy with own stuff and would prefer to stay in. But if the meeting place is inside COP, what about the others outside? Well partially it was just me being too perfectionist of wanting to include as many people as I can. I think it’s also important to let people inside COP to know what are the people doing outside COP and vice-versa. This might lead to more coordination and collaboration too!
Thirdly, it’s actually my fault not placing this as my priority to do which leads to late coordination from my side. I only started to coordinate at the end of first week.
Even with all the odds against me, I decided proceed, set a time and see how it goes. Sunitha from national delegation and Raj from GEC came, I thought it was better than nothing. It was pretty casual, networking and exchanging opinions. Most importantly, so nice to listen to the familiar Malaysian English :p
There was an unexpected round of “gathering” few days later. It was at the end of negotiations period where our negotiator- Dr Gary as well as Hilary from TWN who are apparently the busiest people in COP actually told us they r free and they offer to meet up with us (asked separately btw). LIKE WOAHHH. Am i dreaming listening to this. But yeah! Rare chance! So we asked Sunitha to tag along too and tadaaa our unexpected second round of Malaysian makan session kinilah terjadi. Woohoo! (With higher MYD attendance hurrayyy)
MYD members lunch session with fellow Malaysians in COP21- (3rd from the left: Dr. Gary Theseira, Malaysia national negotiator; 4th from left: Hilary Chiew from Third World Network (TWN); and 1st from right: Sunitha Bisan from Malaysia National Council of Women’s Organisations (NCWO).
Lesson learnt: this type of makan session can be done more than once, to fit this kind of situation of everyone is everywhere. And I think MYD is capable of organising this because of our pre engagement with fellow Malaysians. So we should continue organising such makan session and make it a MYD tradition in every COP. Fantastic 😀
P.s. you know, the adults are actually very happy to have our presence- the bubbly and happy youths around them especially when they are stressing out with the negotiations. Didn’t know that is actually the easiest thing we can contribute in COP which is just simply our presence.
Written by: Emily Oi
