All posts tagged: ADP2

Bonn: 5 days will decide the fate of the planet

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Bonn, Germany — The first day of the climate negotiations in Bonn saw much frustrations from different countries on the draft negotiating text done by the co-chairs of the negotiations. The draft is supposed to be based on the past negotiations but saw nothing of those reflected in the current text. “The text went too far in eliminating options. What was discussed in September was not accurately reflected in this text. Whatever outcome of this negotiations would be, it should reflect what was already talked about last September,” Antigua and Barbuda said. The G77, Alliance of Small Island States, and Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) negotiating blocks also made a strong statement against the current text. “The text is imbalanced and lopsided,” says South Africa who speaks for G77 plus China. “It disadvantages and excludes the large part of the world,” adds Malaysia, who speaks for LMDC negotiating block. Maldives, meanwhile, called the text an “injustice done to the member states of the constituency.” The text has been called the #UStext by civil society and …

Climate negotiations begin as Typhoon Lando devastates PH

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The Philippines is in the middle of being battered by Typhoon Lando(international name Koppu) as climate negotiations began in Bonn on Monday, October 19. The Bonn negotiations will be the last 5 days of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform where countries negotiate about a climate agreement before the 21st Conference of Parties (COP) inParis in December. The COP is a yearly meeting of countries under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that hopes to solve the climate crisis. A climate agreement in Paris will be crucial to stop global warming below two degrees celsius from pre-industrial levels. The world has already warmed at 0.8 degrees celsius. However, vulnerable countries like the Philippines, which are already facing climate impacts, are calling for a more ambitious target of 1.5 degrees celcius. At 0.8 degrees of warming, many nations have faced an acceleration on sea level rise, longer droughts, and extreme weather events that have led to much loss and damage. Wake up call But Paris is not the first time countries …

Putting humans at the center of the climate conversation

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When we talk about climate change, we talk about the science, the economy, the financing. The last 20 years of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations has always been about the numbers, the statistics, and the data. How much carbon emissions should we mitigate? How much resources do we need to adapt? How much will this cost our gross domestic product (GDP)? Have we become to obssessed with numbers that we have forgotten what it has always been about — the people? ‘Sinking communities’ Climate change is more than an economic and an environmental problem. At the heart of climate change is its impact on people. Small island-nations like Tuvalu, Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands are slowly disappearing. These are the lands their people lived in for thousands of years, that have defined who they are, that they have written songs and stories about. Who will these people be without their land? Where will they go? We do not even need to go far to hear these stories. Here at home, …

Loss and Damage: Climate Change’s Latest Byword

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Whether the world’s vulnerable countries should be compensated for loss and damage from extreme events by rich ones mostly responsible for greenhouse gas-caused climate change has taken center stage as an issue at a climate conference in Bonn, Germany, with protesters calling for the concept to become a central part of a climate change agreement slated for December in Paris. Protesters at the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) 2 taking place this week are demanding that countries that are mostly responsible for climate change because of their carbon emissions, must pay other countries who have suffered or are currently facing problems from climate change impacts. The issue of loss and damage first blew up in 2013 over the massive destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan, known as Yolanda in the Philippines, on the Visayas island chain, where more than 6,000 people died and damage ran into more than US$2.6 billion.  An estimated 11 million people were affected by the storm, whose gusts reached 315 kph. In Warsaw, at the …

How the Paris climate deal can save lives

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BONN, Germany – All roads lead to Paris in December to ensure that every country will act on climate change. The Conference of Parties (COP) 21 is expected to come up with a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C. After the failure of Copenhagen in 2009 to lock in this agreement, many are looking forward at a successful outcome in Paris. This is especially true because the last 6 years have seen many countries undergo extreme weather events, with thousands of lives lost. After 20 years of talks and little action, there is much hope that the urgency of acting on climate change has become clearer this time around. But if the conference succeeds, it will just be the beginning of a long journey in dealing with climate change. Right now, countries have their own set of commitments which can be seen through their Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC). The INDC serves as their contribution in creating a climate-resilient future and ensuring global warming stays …