Pursuing Passion on Climate Change | Jasmin Irisha | TEDxMMU

Minister of NRE speech during the high-level segment

by admin | Nov 19, 2017 | #MYD, MYD2017, UNFCCC

As COP23 comes to a close, the high-level segment is a segment given by government officials to announce their respective countries pledge. The high-level segment of United Nations Climate Change Conference was attended by Heads of State and Government and other dignitaries and was inaugurated in the afternoon of Wednesday, 15 November 2017. National Statements from Parties were concluded on Thursday, 16 November 2017.  

I would like to share the High-level segment statements from Malaysia given by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment YB Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who took to the stage and announced Malaysia’s pledge in fighting against climate change (picture below). He announced that Malaysia is on track to achieving its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in 2030, which was to reduce the Greenhouse Gas equivalence intensity by GDP as much as 45% percent (35% conditional, 10% foreign aid) based on the emissions by GDP of 2005. He then mentions the efforts Malaysia have done, was to ensure that we are on track such as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project, that would reduce as much as 62-89 million cars on the road by 2030, the preservation of 50% forest cover in Malaysia through the Central Forest Spine project and the Heart of Borneo project.

The Minister also mentions that Malaysia has received approval from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) up to $500 million for REDD+ Results Based Payments (RBP) that will be of great financial aid in reducing national GHG emissions. Our country has updated the National REDD+ Strategy reducing emissions by 15 – 25 Million Tonnes Carbon Dioxide equivalent (MtCO2eq) per year, and is now the third country in the world fulfilling the REDD+ requirements of the UNFCCC.

The Minister said: “At this COP, we remain fully committed to negotiating in good faith and in the constructive spirit of the Paris Agreement towards finalizing the Modalities, Procedures and Guidelines needed to comprehensively and effectively implement the Paris Agreement and in so doing, enhance the full, effective and sustained implementation of the UN Convention on Climate Change.”

Counties in its entirety have reinstated that they are committed to the Paris Agreement and have taken action to combat climate change to achieve the said target of below 2 degrees celsius. This was also the time that countries urge Parties on issues that have not been resolved and is especially concerning to the countries. Small island nations like Samoa, Kiribati, Tonga, have urged genuine global cooperation between the developed and developing countries in the implementation of the PA . On top of that, they have urged COP to address the implementation of Loss and Damage according to the Warsaw Implementation Mechanism (WIM) and better transparency in Climate Finance.

Malaysia is considered a fortunate country as we are a nation that has the resources to overcome the effects of climate change. But that is coming to an end as our country have been experiencing greater and greater effects of climate change such as floods, crop failure and high temperature anomalies. It is time we as the people of Malaysia work in parallel with the government to help fight against climate. Small actions such as recycling, consuming less meat, planting trees and etc will contribute a big change as a nation. Malaysia Boleh!

Read Full Speech Here

Written by Azam

Edited by Varun

CAN discussions of Article 4 in PA

by admin | Nov 19, 2017 | #MYD, MYD2017, UNFCCC

The Climate Action Network (CAN) held a strategy planning for COP23 to pressure negotiators to ensure that the negotiations will adhere to the Paris Agreement. One of the working groups focuses on the issues pertaining Article 4: Mitigation specifically Agriculture.

One of the agricultural topics that was discussed was in regards to global livestock production that creates large amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to 14.5% of global GHG emissions.  Scientific evidence shows that current collective action cannot meet the target of achieving temperature rise below 2 degrees let alone within the limit of 1.5 degrees. Through current efforts, the expected temperature rise in 2050 will reach a dearing temperature of 3 degrees. By urging negotiators to push for implementation of agriculture in climate talks which includes technology transfer, financial aid, food security etc. the reduction of GHG emissions can contribute to meeting the targets set in the PA.

The Emissions Gap Report showing that our current “business as usual” path will take us to 3 degree rise

The discussion was also focused on the use of the term food security and food production. During the discussion, it was brought up how food production is used to market the production of livestock especially beef as an excuse to insure food security. Paradoxically, the beef production giant companies of some countries actually produce less food as the production of 1kg beef requires 10kg of grain and 14,000 litres of water. Because of that, the total of the 5 biggest beef companies of the world produces more GHG emissions than oil companies such as Exxon, Shell, or BP (Figure below). This is due to the effects of high methane production from cattle as one unit of methane has a global warming potential (GWP) of 86 units of carbon dioxide gas over a 20 year time period. CAN hopes to push for the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) negotiations to deliver meaningful action of agriculture in all aspects on the ground, by linking specifically with the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI).

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You can check the research done by Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and GRAIN released in the form of a joint fact-sheet with the Heinrich Böll Foundation about livestock emissions here.

Another related discussion was the use of technology transfer, by means of agricultural technological aid from Annex 1 to Non-Annex countries , the amount of emissions produced can be reduced and mitigated. This is in conjunction with Article 9 of the Paris Agreement that stipulates the developed country Parties shall provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties with respect to both mitigation and adaptation in their continuation of their existing obligations under the Convention text.

The CAN members also shared what happened during the SBSTA meeting. During the SBSTA meeting of item 3 (mitigation), the parties provided 3 ideas in regards to agriculture; (1) Developed country parties is pushing for the proposal or support for mapping i.e creating an action plan from the current situation of each parties, (2) Parties pushes the agenda for SBSTA negotiations to deliver meaningful action on the ground, by linking specifically with the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI), (3) Create more mitigation workshops and ensure that SBSTA should provide advices during workshops as it was not been doing previously.

Update:

On the 10th of November, Parties have finally agreed on Agriculture implementation in COP. After five years of negotiations of procedural and political discussions, the Agriculture working group has come to an agreement to discuss concrete options at future meetings and forwarded a major new decision to the COP. The agreed joint work between SBSTA and SBI will finally allow the implementation of Agriculture. Implementation is important especially when food systems are at such risk of climate impacts and that the industrialised agriculture was contributive to climate change.

René Castro, assistant Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have said that “Countries now have the opportunity to transform their agricultural sectors to achieve food security for all through sustainable agriculture and strategies that boost resource-use efficiency, conserve and restore biodiversity and natural resources, and combat the impacts of climate change.”

Written by Azam

Edited by Varun

The rise of non-party stakeholders and the American resistance

by admin | Nov 17, 2017 | #MYD, MYD2017, UNFCCC

Climate change can be a depressing topic to discuss. And from what I’ve seen and heard, COPs aren’t the most optimistic environments. But there’s a story at COP23 that I think contrasts the negotiations here in Bonn. While Parties have been on agenda items at COP, CMP, APA, and SB meetings, the US Climate Action Center has been hosting events just outside the UN jurisdiction of the Bula Zone.

The US Climate Action Center are essentially huge inflatable domes, just outside the UN jurisdiction of the Bula Zone.

Typically, the US sets up a prominent US Center at COPs – hosting side events on climate research and renewable technology from agencies such as NASA. Unfortunately, in the first year of the Trump administration, it is the first time there will not be an official US Center. Instead, there will be a side-event officially promoting the use of “clean coal”, natural gas and nuclear energy. The reaction has obviously been of disgust and opposition. Some of the strongest response has been from the We Are Still In movement at the US Climate Action Center. The movement is a signal to the world that America’s citizens, cities, states, and businesses are still moving forward with climate action and committing to the Paris Agreement when President Trump won’t.

Of course, it wouldn’t be American if it wasn’t over the top

At the launch of America’s Pledge, a coalition of cities, states and businesses committed to the Paris Agreement, Michael Bloomberg who is the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, said, “The American government may have pulled out of the Paris Agreement, but the American people are committed to its goals – and there is nothing Washington can do to stop us.”

While the US is very rarely a good example at COPs, it illustrates the role of non-party actors in the fight against climate change. In a separate event featuring the US People’s Delegation, comprising individuals and CSO’s fighting climate change on the ground, I saw many passionate and emotional pleas for immediate action and opposition to the American federal government’s position.

Former New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, delivering his speech at the launch of his foundation’s project called America’s Pledge.

The importance of non-party actors in the fight to get to the goal of 1.5°C cannot be overstated. Yes, the UNFCCC and COP are Party-driven meetings, however, individuals, coalitions, cities and states have the power to act on climate change and make a difference. At the end of the day, the language around the texts that come out of COPs are loose and don’t draw a hardline on countries to act. On several occasions, we have seen the aspect of Nationally Determined Manner introduced and reiterated, especially in relation to NDCs in the Paris Agreement. This means that a country can act in response to climate change in any way it sees appropriate and is not strictly mandated to act in a certain way. This results in the ability for countries to get away with loose actions on climate change.

Varshini Prakash from SustainUS and the US People’s Delegation takes the stage.

Non-party actors are clearly mentioned in the Paris Agreement and I believe they will continue to play a huge part in our collective drive for 1.5°C. Individuals, businesses, cities and states are the foundations of countries where emissions are produced, which means some of the power to curb the emissions and act on climate change. The UNFCCC process and COPs are huge conference at the highest of international levels, which can make you feel very small and inconsequential, but just remember that each person in the fabric of society can play a part, no matter how small or large, no matter how local or international.

Written by Mike

Edited by Varun