At the end of the Paris COP21 I wrote: "To date (January 2016) I think that, even if it's not very glorious photographically, continuing this work at the subsequent COPs would not be without interest..."
So here I am in Marrakech at the beginning of November 2016 to document the COP22. Everything starts badly for me: because of the conference the hotels are full or overpriced (for my budget) and the only place where I managed to book is a kind of youth hostel that offers me a bunk bed in a dormitory of 6 people.
On the spot, I get sick, I have a fever, probably the flu. Completely shot, I drag myself every day to the COP and return with relief my bed to try to recover. Difficult to rest with young roommates, pleasant but noisy, who also came to the COP. A couple of my bunkmates are sympathetic when they learn that I passed through their small village in Senegal during my bike trip from Senegal to Burkina Faso (see Reports in West Africa in 2010).
COP21 was considered historic by many observers because 195 countries participating in the 2015 Paris Conference on Climate adopted the first climate agreement of universal scope. This goal had been sought after since 2011 and the deadline for doing so was indeed the end of 2015. The deadlines are hereby maintained and in addition, instead of the initial figure of 2° C the agreement now aims to limit rising temperatures to 1.5° C compared to the pre-industrial era, "a claim supported during COP21 by all the island states, among the most vulnerable to the effects of global warming." (1)
For the next COP in Morocco, chaired by Salaheddine Mezouar and presented as a COP aimed at implementation, more than 20,000 participants are expected in Marrakech from 7 to 18 November. "The first very important message is the fact that all countries have agreed on a proclamation of support for the Paris Agreement." (2)
The latter is however "weakened ... by the absence long-term targets...without sanctions mechanisms, it is essentially based on the willingness of states to meet their commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions..." It is time "to take stock...and invite States to take additional actions to raise the level of their ambitions..."
Faced with the difficulty of accounting for these initiatives, "the high-level champions for the climate": the Moroccan Minister of the Environment, Hakima El Haite, and Laurence Tubiana, ambassador for the negotiations of the 2015 Paris Conference on climate change "will propose in Marrakech that a monitoring system...be set up by May 2017 around precise criteria and a register of enlistment". (1)
Therefore the 2050 Pathways: "The 2050 platform is a multi-stakeholder initiative...to help countries seeking to develop long-term, zero GHG (greenhouse gas) pathways, resilient to climate change and sustainable development." As a place for collective problem solving, the platform will also constitute a greater constellation of cities, states and businesses engaged in their own long-term planning and in support of national strategies." (3)
In Morocco, delegations should talk about the nagging issue of financing. Developing countries clearly remember the promise made to them by industrialized nations in 2009 to mobilize at least $100 billion (90 billion euros) per year until 2020 in climate mitigation financing from North to South." (1)
"But in reality, the progress is quite meager...The African continent was hoping for more money to finance adaptation projects such as dike construction, habitat upgrades made necessary by climate change. Another disappointment: agriculture, which must be helped to reform. There was discussion but lack of consensus, negotiations have been postponed until next year." (2)
The highlight of this COP and what has occupied everyone's mind: the position of the future US administration (with the announcement of the withdrawal of the United States by Donald Trump, the newly elected president) "has cooled the atmosphere and frozen the enthusiasms." (4) However, "an important part of the negotiations will concern the application of the Paris Agreement" which, "unlike the Kyoto Protocol...does not provide for sanctions...but rather "rules of transparency", making public the actions taken and their accountability. (5)
The date is set for COP23 organized by the Fiji Islands. For practical reasons, it will take place in Bonn at the end of 2017. In the meantime, following the Marrakech COP22, I stayed a little more than 2 months in Morocco to document the reality of climate change which is very worrying in that country - and more widely in the Maghreb countries (see the report on this site: "Morocco after the COP").
(1) https://www.lemonde.fr/conferences-climat/article/2016/11/07/tout-comprendre-aux-negociations-de-la-cop22_5026432_5024922.html
(2) http://www.rfi.fr/cop22/20161119-maroc-environnement-terre-cop-22-afrique-accord-climat-paris-rechauffement
(3) https://www.2050pathways.org/
(4) https://www.futura-sciences.com/planete/actualites/environnement-cop-22-maroc-lutte-rechauffement-passe-mode-pause-jusqua-cop-23-65261/
(5) https://www.futura-sciences.com/planete/actualites/rechauffement-climatique-cop-22-sont-enjeux-65109/
At the end of the Paris COP21 I wrote: "To date (January 2016) I think that, even if it's not very glorious photographically, continuing this work at the subsequent COPs would not be without interest..."
So here I am in Marrakech at the beginning of November 2016 to document the COP22. Everything starts badly for me: because of the conference the hotels are full or overpriced (for my budget) and the only place where I managed to book is a kind of youth hostel that offers me a bunk bed in a dormitory of 6 people.
On the spot, I get sick, I have a fever, probably the flu. Completely shot, I drag myself every day to the COP and return with relief my bed to try to recover. Difficult to rest with young roommates, pleasant but noisy, who also came to the COP. A couple of my bunkmates are sympathetic when they learn that I passed through their small village in Senegal during my bike trip from Senegal to Burkina Faso (see Reports in West Africa in 2010).
COP21 was considered historic by many observers because 195 countries participating in the 2015 Paris Conference on Climate adopted the first climate agreement of universal scope. This goal had been sought after since 2011 and the deadline for doing so was indeed the end of 2015. The deadlines are hereby maintained and in addition, instead of the initial figure of 2° C the agreement now aims to limit rising temperatures to 1.5° C compared to the pre-industrial era, "a claim supported during COP21 by all the island states, among the most vulnerable to the effects of global warming." (1)