First time attending an United Nation Conference, first time standing in Europe, first time meeting the Malaysian Conference of Parties (COP) Delegation, first time joining a large scale of climate civil disobedience. So many more new experiences that make my 19 days in Paris an unforgettable journey. I would like to share my first COP experience with 4 things that I have learnt/gained:
The difference between rich and poor countries
I was flabbergasted when I heard about how much the allowance that the youth from an American NGO get while some Global South scholarship recipients are still starving during COP21 because they did not get their stipend on time. It is sad to hear that the gap between the developed countries and developing countries are not only present on the negotiation table, but also at the youth level. Many of the Global North youths are so privileged that they do not understand the struggle of the Global South youths to even fly to Paris.
Negotiator’s life is not easier
I thought being a good negotiator is lucky because he/she can travel to overseas attending UNFCCC meetings. After tracking the Malaysia’s Head of Delegation and observing the negotiations for 2 weeks, I comprehended that being a true hero is not easy. Besides being knowledgeable and diplomatic, our national delegates need to be good at preparing food (tight budget), good at writing an intervention (to create impact), patient enough to explain the situation to high-level officers and amateur like me and on top of everything, have high resistance against starvation and lack of sleep (meeting from 9am to 12am is normal). Please give a round of applause to our national delegates!
MYD huddle to get a debrief from Malaysian Negotiator after a midnight session
UNFCCC COP processes is NOT that difficult
I was lucky to be able to witness the negotiation process and to engage with our national delegates. From being confused about simple things (like the difference between spin-off groups, informal-informals and contact groups) to being able to understand the text and negotiations, I have learnt so much more about the process of producing an universal agreement especially from the people in COP21. The main reason is that I am forced to do research and find ways to understand new things that I am not familiar with. If I do not do so, it will be very hard for me to catch up and be on the same track with the others. Next, talking to different people and getting to know different perspectives and views on a single topic is much more interesting than a boring thousand-word article.
How different is the atmosphere in and out of COP21 venue
I thought the Parc des Expositions (COP21 venue) was considered pretty lively as people were bustling, many colourful animals decorations were set up and a lot of big actions/movements by the civil society members in it. However, this impression was totally changed when I visited the Climate Action Zone and the Climate Generation Zone. Both of these zones do not require accreditation to enter, it is therefore packed with people from NGO and are passionate about climate movement. Both are energetic and motivating. I then labelled the Parc des Expositions, the venue for COP21, as solemn, formal and boring.
December 12, 2015 marks an emotional anchor for people involve in climate change. When the clock strike 7 in the evening, the Paris Agreement was born. I was watching through webcast, I could heard copious cheer and clapping in the plenary hall. I spotted some of the delegates broke down in tears. Whether it was a joyful tear or a miserable one, I yet to know the answer.
I would say nothing is perfect. It is clear that this newborn “baby” should be a cause for both the good and, the bad. This article will focus on my personal reflection on the good side of Paris Agreement.
1) Ambitious temperature goal
Prior to arriving at Paris for COP21, I was wondering whether all Parties will agree on 2 °C. The line “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels” secured its way into the final text (Article 2; page 22). I did not see that coming.
In plain text, all Parties agreed to limit the temperature increase to below 2 °C and if possible aimed to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. The agreement put a solid figure on the amount of GHG emission allowed to be released, which is 40 gigatonnes (page 4).
2) Welcome back multilateral-ism, at least for now
Let us wind back the clock for a glimpse of history. 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) was deemed as a setback due to the leaked of “Copenhagen Accord” that will cause economic handicap to developing country, if ratified. “Danish Text” is a proposal written by US and England and submitted to Denmark. The text which was done secretly, proposed that developed countries are able to pollute twice the amount of developing countries till 2050. As a result, developing countries became indignant that the text was developed, without their knowledge and, without discussion in the negotiations. (For more info, please click here). Due to the collapse of COP15, the parties were forced to go back to the drawing board and multilateral process was literally “doom”.
Followed by COP16, or also known as Cancun Agreement, which put an agreed distinct figure on keeping the maximum average global temperature rise as 2 °C, COP17 launched a new platform termed the Durban Platform. This new protocol comes with new round of negotiation with new tracks to produce the now famous, Paris Agreement. It took 5 years to build back the trust among parties. As a result, the Paris Agreement was successfully adopted. This is definitely something we should celebrate for.
3) Accepted by all Parties
Paris Agreement is accepted and approved by 196 countries Parties, making it the largest universal [legally binding] agreement. As compared to Kyoto Protocol, Paris agreement will also be the first, that is able to “call” the rich and poor to take action to limit GHG emissions and to save the world together.
The agreement is seen as an achievement to Obama administration as it need not undergo the Senate’s advice and consent process. Majority of the Senate, are Republicans, who dispute the fact that climate change is caused by anthropological activities. They are climate change deniers. For more information regarding this, you may read from here.
A new working group called Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement will be established. I am not sure about the actual abbreviation but I would like to name it as APA. Why APA? Because it is an Agreement to Protect All. (I know it is lame, but please bear with me.) ‘Apa’ in Malaysian language also means ‘what’. So what is the function of Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement?
The following bullet lists are extracted from the the main text and edited accordingly.
shall prepare for the entry into force of the Agreement and for the convening of the first session of the COP serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement;
to oversee the implementation of the work programme resulting from the relevant requests contained in this decision;
to report regularly to the COP on the progress of its work and to complete its work by the first session of the COP serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement;
shall hold its sessions starting in 2016 in conjunction with the sessions of the Convention subsidiary bodies and shall prepare draft decisions to be recommended through the COP
For my next article, I will be writing on the downside of the agreement; to create a fair view, for readers to weigh on the pros and cons.
On the 8th of December, I attended an event called “Impacts and Solutions to the Climate Crisis” which was delivered by Mr. Al Gore. He gave a brief explanation on the science behind climate change and explained how it affects our livelihood. Hence, this gave me the urge to write an article about it.
Energy has always been a key to rapid economic growth. The demand for electricity has been increasing dramatically with the ending of World War II. The widespread usage of fossil fuels (e.g. petroleum, coal and natural gas), particularly in generating electricity, generated unprecedented prosperity for most of the developed countries.
Picture extracted from The Big Era Nine
Based on the 4th assessment report of IPCC, fossil fuels provide almost 80% of our world energy supply. In other words, CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuel accounts for around 80% of total global emissions.
As shown in the picture below, excessive greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will cause a chain of catastrophic events that puts the future of Earth at stake.
As citizens of the world, we can stop this from happening.
“The total amount of man-made global warming pollution surrounding the planet and the atmosphere today now traps enough energy every 24 hours to equal the energy release by 400,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs going off every single day,” – Al Gore
There are various impacts of climate change. I will pick a few to be mentioned in this article.
Thawing permafrost
Permafrost is a permanently frozen soil that stores massive amounts of carbon. Due to global warming, permafrost starts to melt and releases stored carbon in the form of carbon dioxide and methane (GHG gases).The thawing of permafrost has been known to cause erosion especially in coastal areas. Without permafrost, the ground above and below lost its nature barrier and become more vulnerable to erosion. Ground settling can cause damage to infrastructure. As stated in the UNEP report, infrastructure failure can cause severe environmental consequences, as seen in the 1994 breakdown of the pipeline to the Vozei oilfield in Northern Russia. It resulted in a spill of 160,000 tons of oil, causing the world’s largest terrestrial oil spill. Moreover, thawing of permafrost exposes the soil ground. Soil ground has the tendency to absorb more heat, causing the ground temperature to increase. Warmer ground temperature causes new plants that adapt to warmer climate to replace tundra plants. Since plants are the primary producer in the ecosystem pyramid, a single shift will change the whole ecosystem. You can click here to know more about permafrost.
Rising of sea level
Oceans are considers as an excellent heat absorber. Ninety percent of the extra heat in our atmosphere (mostly caused by anthropogenic activities) are absorbed by our ocean. This causes the ocean to become warmer and expand. Warmer sea water speeds up the melting of ice and contribute to rising level of sea water. In addition, the increase of carbon dioxide concentration in the ocean triggers chemical reaction and form carbolic acid, causing our ocean to become more acidic. Acidic water will cause corals to bleach and this affects our whole ecosystem.
Picture: Al Gore delivering his speech during the event
Extreme weather patternsClimate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. Warmer ocean causes higher evaporation rate of water. Increased evaporation rate results in higher occurrence of storms, causing more destructive hurricane/typhoon to happen. The deterioration of the environment and society affects the most vulnerable communities. One of the solid examples would be Typhoon Haiyan. Philippine was hit by Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013 and it is the deadliest natural disaster ever recorded in the country’s history.As the atmosphere become warmer, it holds more moisture and this is expected to intensify downpour, causing more flood to country such as United Kingdom. Due to “the law of water cycle”, harder downpours is expected and longer droughts will persist in naturally arid areas such as South Africa and Syria.
Food price hike
Extreme weather patterns has a dramatic impact on agriculture. Insufficient agricultural production will trigger food crisis and eventually causing price hike. Inevitably, one of the most vulnerable groups are the farmers. They have to struggle to keep up with the increasingly extreme weather patterns while contend with the increase attack of pests and diseases. Food crisis will hinder the effort of poverty eradication and education, putting pressure on health and eventually affects the economic.
We are feeling the climate change’s fast growing impact now. – Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
It is undeniable that climate change is one of the most, if not the most challenging problem faced by the world today. Just a peek at the statistics would be enough to scare you. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reports that global temperatures have risen by 0.8 degrees Celcius since 1880; causing sea levels to rise by 3.24 milimetres per year. If this is to continue, many low lying island nations like Maldives and Kiribati will simply be consumed by the sea as early as next century. Malaysia too will be affected by this global phenomenon. Already we are seeing more extreme floods and spells of severe droughts.
Hence as the world leaders congregated in Paris for the challenging task of agreeing to a climate deal at the 21st United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP), I decided take up a challenge of my own. Together with a classmate, we joined the climatekilometre movement. As part of the event, we were to cycle from London to Paris in 3 days covering a total of 385.1km. To put things into perspective, that is the exact distance from Kuala Lumpur to Sungai Petani.
Yew Aun at the starting line
Sounds crazy? Well, what doesn’t kill you make you stronger. Along the way, I’ve learnt many life lessons that could be applied to our efforts in slowing down climate change:
Gear up
To cycle that far in that short amount of time, it is important to have the right tools so first I swapped by 5 gear bike to a 14 gear one. A normal bike just wouldn’t take you as far or as high as a road/touring bike would. Besides the ride, other accessories that I had to prepare for included a reflective vest, bright lights, and padded shorts. In case of emergency, I brought spare inner tubes and a pair of chain links. One thing that I’m guilty of not doing is buying bike insurance and was lucky that my two wheels were very well-behaved throughout the entire journey.
In our efforts to slow down climate change, we need the right tools as well. At the moment, most of the electricity we generate comes from fossil fuel (coal, petrol, gas). This releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide of which a Form 1 student will tell you causes global warming, hence leading to climate change. It is indeed sobering to discover that Malaysia generates 83.5% of its energy from fossil fuel sources. We need to the structural capacity and political will to transition to more sustainable forms like wind and solar energy.
Start early is you’re slow
Being the beginner long distance cyclist in the group, it was only natural that I would be placed with Group 4 (the riders that followed the slowest pace). On rides that would take 6 hours for normal cyclists, it would take us (mostly dragged down by me) at least 2 hours longer. Since we were approaching the winter solstice at this point, limited daylight would also prolong our ride from constantly stopping to navigate. Thus on Day 2 and 3 of the ride, the group made it a point to leave as early as possible.
Here, I could liken this to developing countries. Yes, we might not be as financially or technically as advanced at the other major economies. But we have to start this battle early on or we’ll lose out in the long term as the green technological zone advances. If we’re lucky, we might even be the first to arrive!
Just keep cycling; there is no hill too hard to climb
One thing true about cycling is that being on two wheels at whatever pace will get you there faster than walking at your fastest pace. So you’ll eventually get there as long as you keep pedaling. As far as hills are concerned, there were numerous occasions where I looked at the incline and thought to myself, ‘There’s no way I’m going up that. Well, here again I proved myself wrong. All I had to do is just drop down to my lowest available gear, try to put on a brave face and pushed through.
Climate change is challenging, no doubt. There will be times where people, even nations feel like giving up. However, I urge them not to give up hope. It may sound naiive but we can definitely save the world together, as long as the stakeholders persevere and keep fighting this good fight.
*cue Miley Cyrus’ The Climb*
…yet there is no shame in getting down to push your bike
Bikes are such fickle creatures; sometimes, they don’t do what they are told. For example, climb at 45 degree hill. This is me being the bad workman that blames his tools. On a serious note, when things got a little unbearable for my thighs I got down and pushed the bike uphill, praying that the next turn would take me downhill. Luckily my pride was salvaged by fellow bike pushers; though they probably had more valid excuses. Hanna had a 10 gear bike while Antonia had a 12. I’ve digressed; my point is that pushing your bike will get you there nonetheless.
Tough times don’t last, tough people do
Climate change will be more challenging for some countries as compared to others. The argument that developed countries will find it easier to manage their targets is a sound one. After all, these countries have already reached a certain level of development. For the developing countries, we need to reach our climate goals even if it means going at it at a slower pace.
Savour the wins
Throughout the entire route, cycling wins would definitely be exhilarating downhill rides. They made the uphill climbs so worth it. Other than offering rest for tired legs, most of the downhills had such mesmerizing views of both the English or French countryside.
Amazing scenery
The agreement reached at COP 21 had mixed views from climate activists. Ignoring the detractors, I would like to think of the agreement as a representation of world solidarity on climate change and should be celebrated as a step in the right direction. Yes, it might not be fair for everyone but it does give us something to work on in the coming years. What is clear is that much more work is needed to fulfill the commitments.
…but, there’s always another hill to climb
No matter how many hills conquered there was always another that stood between me and Paris. That fact didn’t change until the Eiffel tower was in sight.
I’ll never forget the first time we glimpsed it.
The Paris Agreement is no doubt a momentous occasion. The challenge now is to make sure every party fulfills their promise and that such future climate talks would always put the collective needs.
Having a buddy or better yet a group, helps
Humans are social creatures. I’m not ashamed to admit that I would not have been able to do this cycle without my buddy, Marcel or the awesome group mates. Dave (our Brompton riding leader), Hanna (the vegan chick on a bike from the 80s), with the 3 other couples- Jack (the happy go lucky dude with a ponytail) and Jessie (the ever bubbly optimist), David (our handyman extraordinaire) and Rebecca (the caring one with a small bladder), Aidan (the caring boyfriend) and Antonia (girl with the Harry Potter glasses). We supported each other by giving words of encouragement and waiting if either one of us were lagging behind (this was mostly me).
Our group victory picture. It was 12am
One would think that with 193 countries in the UNFCCC COP, a consensus would be almost impossible to reach. Some would want to dictate future movements while others vote in groups. However, I feel that this immense number should be seen as an advantage. As a country, there are 192 others in the same boat. The knowledge that all of us are in this together has to spur parties to work harder and support each other to combat climate change. After all, there is only one Planet Earth.
When the times get tough, improvise!
This one is not from me, but from the resourcefulness of David. We met David and Rebecca on the first day. Both of them were cycling to Paris despite not being part of Climate Kilometre. Since they didn’t know the existence of a transport van, David was carrying a cabin sized trolley bag on his bike. When he eventually found it was too heavy to cycle up the hills with a bag in tow, he improvised by cable tying the bag to the back of his bike at a 45 degree angle! This simulated a person dragging a bag and reduced the weight he had to carry tremendously! Along the way, he improvised with an inner tube dampener to reduce the stiffness.
Serves as a bike stand too!
To combat climate change, human innovation can be our single most potent weapon. By the Malthusian principle, the human race couldn’t have increase exponentially while food production only increased linearly. And yet here we are. I believe the intensive farming driven by the advances in machinery and development of Ostwald process to produce nitrogenous fertilizer saved the world from mass starvation. Now, we are at this critical juncture where a paradigm shifting innovation is once again needed. Who knows? We might already have an answer in the works.
Last but not least, it is all in the mind
To be honest, there was not one moment throughout the ride that I thought about giving up and taking a train to Paris. After all, what would I have gained if I completed the ride? I wouldn’t have made any difference in the decisions made in COP. Neverless, I decided to complete what I started, to make a point that anything is possible as long as you put your mind to it.
The same could be said about climate change. A good friend once told me that ‘Nothing worth doing/having comes easy’. For a better world, we need better policies, better cooperation among countries and political leaders willing to do what is necessary. It might be difficult at first, but the mind has a way of turning impossible feats into reality.
Arrival at last
On a concluding note, I urge all of you to take into consideration your individual actions to combat climate change. Just simple gestures, if practised by the masses will make a difference. Eat up all your food, bike to work, use public transport, recycle your waste, install solar panels. Remember, climate change will affect everyone including our children and their children’s children.
Money is always the problem solver of many things, but it is also the trouble maker. Inevitably, the process of drafting an agreement that will be acceptable for 196 parties faces the same problem. The climate finance issue very critical as the wealthy countries are supposed to provide sufficient funding for the poorer countries to overcome loss and damage caused by climate change and also to develop economies with lower carbon emission. The developing countries did not cause this problem as they only contribute a small share of the greenhouse gases (GHG) which incur the climate change crisis. So rationally, the developed nations should pay for the price of adaptation and mitigation. Four main arguments under this issue are the amount of post-2020 finance to be mobilized, the financial contributors, the loss and damage and the distribution of climate funds between mitigation and adaptation. Amount of post-2020 Finance should be mobilized Many developing countries’ Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) requested financial support to achieve certain amount of emission reduction. The developed countries are urged to scale up their financial contribution, referring the $100 billion per year contribution as the “floor”, by 2020 to unlock the emission cutting goals of the developing countries. The amount of climate finance to be mobilized will be a strong indicator for many stakeholders, including the investors because it will show the prospect and potnetial of the green industry in the future. Who will be paying the bill? Arguments arose on the question of who will be obligated to contribute to the fund and pay for climate change. Is it only the developed countries contributing or both the developed and developing countries? Is it on voluntary basis or with legal restriction? Developed countries want the emerging developing economies who do not have historical responsibility for emission to contribute to the fund while many of the developing countries like India are still struggling in domestic poverty issue. Therefore, the Common but Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR) principle plays an important role in climate finance too. If the principle is taken into account, the bill will be paid by the developed countries. Read more about CBDR here. Loss & Damage Climate change is already happening now; many vulnerable countries are now drowning in the impacts of climate change. There are certain consequences that have been done could not be reversed or cured, such as the typhoons in Philippines. Permanent damages are wound that need constant medication and cannot be cure thoroughly. In order to get funds to alleviate the loss that countries have already faced, the Least Developed Countries (LDC) and other most vulnerable countries are fighting to make sure that the developed countries are going to compensate them. Distribution of climate funds between adaptation and mitigation Many developing countries also demand the distribution of funds between mitigation and adaptation to be balance because they are the frontline community that are more vulnerable towards the climate change. In order to reduce the potential risk of facing loss and damages, they need more funds for adaptation to prevent disastrous effects from jeopardizing them. The developed countries are very mitigation-focused and this caused the distribution of finance between adaptation and mitigation to be one of the hot topics in COP21.
Besides fulfilling the aspirations and objectives of MYD, I also gained credit hours in one of my main core subjects in the curriculum of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in CAS (Creativity, Action, and Service). This subject aims to develop the potential of students to be more confident in communication and outgoing in character. Also, since I am interested to join Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik (PTD), UNFCCC was a good exposure for me to understand international diplomacy and negotiations between parties.
Problems faced during the programme:
On my first day there, I was confused as there were just too many side events going on in one place. But on the second day and onwards, I managed to structure my schedule after I had decided to go specifically for negotiations. With the help of my team from MYD, I went through the whole week productively.
7th December 2015
I arrived at CDG Airport around 8pm and went on to take a metro to Colonel Fabien. I had to walk around before I finally reached my apartment. The other MYD delegates had arrived earlier than me, but because of my final semester exam, I had to postpone my trip and therefore went to Paris alone. Amalen, of the MYD stayed back to give me a briefing on what to expect and what to do during the one week at COP21. He also explained to me about one of the constituencies of the UNFCCC which is the YOUNGO. YOUNGO is not an organization, rather, a collection of groups or individuals who identify themselves as youth. During COPs, YOUNGO provides a space, called Spokes Council where youth can learn about the process, network with other youth, and collaborate. Members of YOUNGO can decide to act or endorse an initiative as a constituency, in which case open and transparent conversations and consensus are the mechanisms to arrive at decisions. Youth from every corner of the world can be part of YOUNGO as individuals. Youth organizations can also be part of YOUNGO.
8th December 2015
Moving on to my 2nd day. I started to join daily YOUNGO meeting and kept on attending it every day. The meeting began at 8am and ended at 9am. During the meeting, I was accompanied by Emily, my other MYD member, as she was kind enough to bring me around the COP area. There are a lot of plenary halls, pavilions for countries to organize side events, booths for NGOs and also, computer area which are free access for everyone who wanted to do their work. All of these are in different halls.
Later on, I went to the Indonesian Pavilion for High Level Session: The Pathway to a Sustainable Low Carbon and Climate Resilient Economy. The speakers were Hon. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (6th President of Indonesia), Hon. Julie Bishop (Minister of Foreign Affairs Australia), Hon. Tim Groser (Minister of Trade and Climate Change New Zealand), H.E Achim Steiner (UNEP Executive Director) and Dr. Fang Liu (Secretary-General of ICAO).
After the session ended, I went to the United States Pavilion for a Clean Power Plan: Challenges and Business Opportunities session by Environment Protection Agency (EPA) – speakers were Gina McCarthy (EPA Administrator), Michael Bradley (Bradley and Associates), Thad Hill (Calpine), Helen Burt (PG & E), Cathy Woollums (Berkshire Hathaway Energy).
Then at 3pm, I and my MYD member, Elaine went to observe the Minister-led informal consultations under the Comité de Paris – Differentiation, in particular with regard to mitigation, finance and transparency which was held in Le Maroni. Our Malaysian negotiator, Professor Gurdial was there too. In between the consultation, we went to Meeting Room 1 for the next Ministerial-led informal consultations under Comité de Paris – Facilitating cooperative approaches and mechanisms. All of the negotiators were working to give their responses on:
In relation to Article 3.19, what principles of cooperative approaches should be prioritized by including them in the Agreement?
In relation to Article 3ter, should there be one mechanism embodying both crediting and non-crediting approaches, or two separate mechanisms?
A lot of countries responded accordingly. Then at night, I went for a Plenary Session at La Loire where the COP President cum Foreign Affairs Minister of France, Lauren Fabius took the lead in addressing all the delegations. The real negotiations took place in La Siene, but for Pink Badge holders like me, we were not allowed to go inside. Thus, we only watched it in La Loire which was still about the same size of La Siene Plenary Hall. The negotiations resumed till 12am, but unfortunately we were not allowed to go in. Thus we went back and prepared ourselves for the next day.
9th December 2015
My day started with the YOUNGO meeting as usual. Today, I sit at the Spokes Council area where I was given the opportunity to introduce myself and network with other youths. It was a fruitful one as I got to talk with the Global North Focal Point, Tim Damon from SustainUS. He said that in the United States, the West Coast is extremely vulnerable to drought and fires. California in particular – wild fires. And East Coast is vulnerable to sea levels rising and hurricanes. The side event that he organized focused entirely on intergenerational equity and he hoped that more countries will have more delegates and also, have more constituencies to interact between one another so our voices can be heard.
After that, I went on to join the Climate Action with the invitation from Rachel Lynskey of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC). While doing the climate action, I got to know with Joanna Read of the United Kingdom Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC) and since we were supposed to have a bilateral meeting between MYD and UKYCC the next day, I used that opportunity to get to know her and ask a little bit about her organization.
Later that day, all of us the MYD went to the public zone, which was in the Green Zone to dance with Winnie Jimis of Jaringan Orang Asli SeMalaysia (JOAS), as a support for her during the closing of Asia Day at the Indigenous Peoples’ Pavilion. We did Sumazau dance and it was really joyful as our spectators mainly from Europe and Asia joined to dance together with us.
After that, MYD team proceeded to La Loire to attend the next Plenary Session of Comité de Paris. The meeting was chaired by Laurent Fabius. A lot of countries voiced their concerns on the reductions of greenhouse gas emissions by a certain date, and the limit of 1.5 or 2 degrees Celcius in global temperature rise. Some countries voiced out about “REDD+”. “REDD” is an abbreviation for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. However, “REDD+” goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. “REDD+” is part of the climate change solution but REDD+ alone cannot adequately mitigate or abate climate change. The implementation of REDD+ must co-exist with significant emission reductions in both developed and developing countries if we hope to curb climate change.
10th December 2015
On my 4th day here, we had a bilateral meeting with the United Kingdom Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC). Since MYD is at a very young age, we were keen to know how the UKYCC members manage their organization and what activities they do in the UK to show their solidarity with climate change. It was good to know about the climate mobilizations they made. UKYCCC has been established for around 5-6 years and there are four teams in their organizations which consists of Community team, UK team (domestic), International team and Operations team.
After the meeting, I went to do my interviews with Max Frankel from World Resources Institute, Ouafae from Moroccan Government Delegation, Giorgia Rambelli from ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and Tim Damon from SustainUS. We were supposed to have an interview with Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition on the same day, but it was postponed because of time issues.
11th December 2015
Today we had our meeting with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) and it has been established for almost 10 years. They fought for 100% renewable energy and in total they have around 130,000 members. But only 500 active members, AYCC have different groups in different states. They often criticized the coal mining in their country and wanted it stop due to the release of carbon dioxide during combustion.
After that I went to meet Max Van Deursen from the Dutch Youth Representative Sustainable Development to the United Nations and Iago Hairon from Engajamundo of Brazil, to proceed with my interview. Later that day, I went to Hall 5 to witness the YOUNGO Press Conference. I continued to do my work at the computer area at Hall 4 before going back.
12th December 2015
The final text was soon to be released. Today was the day that all the delegations here have been waiting for after long hours of endless commitment and sleepless nights. Some of MYD members went to participate in the climate action movement called the Red Lines held nearby Eiffel Tower. The demonstration was displayed in the news and thousands of people had taken part in it. I chose to be at the COP area because I had only been here for less than a week. Plus I wanted to see the historic moment of Paris Agreement.
When the text was released, I quickly checked on Article 2. But I am disappointed to find that human rights, gender equality, indigenous people’s rights, intergenerational equity, the right to just workforce transition and ecosystem integrity are omitted from the operative sections of the agreement. This means that although they are listed in the preamble, they do not carry the same legal weight as the articles in the operative text. No agreement we reach will be sufficient unless it is based on a foundation of human rights and social justice.
The last Plenary Session at La Loire was full house. The main Plenary Session was held at La Seine and that was where the world’s leaders gathered. Among of them are Christiana Figueres (Executive Secretary of UNFCCC), Ban Ki Moon (Secretary-General of United Nations), François Hollande (President of France) and Laurent Fabius (Minister of Foreign Affairs France and COP21 President). Few hours later, I decided to go back after saying farewell to some of my friends that I have met from YOUNGO, UKYCC and AYCC.
13th December 2015
This was my last day in Paris and finally, after a busy week, I had the change to go for sightseeing around Paris. Later that day, I had a dinner together with the MYD coordinator, Adrian and other MYD members – Elaine and Amalen, and also Quek who was the Co-Chair of Power Shift Malaysia 2014. The rest of MYD members were still outside for the sightseeing.
14th December 2015
It was time to go back home and I look forward to involve more in climate change movement, be it locally or internationally. For me, COP21 is just the beginning for more exciting journeys in the future.
To the Malaysian Youth Delegation, thank you for the fabulous experience,
Later on, I went to the Indonesian Pavilion for 
After the meeting, I went to do my interviews with Max Frankel from World Resources Institute, Ouafae from Moroccan Government Delegation, Giorgia Rambelli from ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and Tim Damon from SustainUS. We were supposed to have an interview with Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition on the same day, but it was postponed because of time issues.
After that I went to meet Max Van Deursen from the Dutch Youth Representative Sustainable Development to the United Nations and Iago Hairon from Engajamundo of Brazil, to proceed with my interview. Later that day, I went to Hall 5 to witness the YOUNGO Press Conference. I continued to do my work at the computer area at Hall 4 before going back.
The last Plenary Session at La Loire was full house. The main Plenary Session was held at La Seine and that was where the world’s leaders gathered. Among of them are Christiana Figueres (Executive Secretary of UNFCCC), Ban Ki Moon (Secretary-General of United Nations), François Hollande (President of France) and Laurent Fabius (Minister of Foreign Affairs France and COP21 President). Few hours later, I decided to go back after saying farewell to some of my friends that I have met from YOUNGO, UKYCC and AYCC.