We are proud to announce that we are bringing a Delegation of 13 YCL Fellows and partners to the UN Climate Change Conference COP 25, in Madrid. The conference is designed to deliberate on crucial steps for multilateral cooperation to address the climate crisis.
Among the main topics for this year's Conference are: stepping up the ambition of NDCs for 2020; reviewing the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM) and; advancing access to finance and capacity building.
Check our YCL Delegation Bio. We will update this post on a daily basis with the latest news from the most important event in the climate field, thanks to the support of our delegates, especially Denize and Thiago.
Quick intro about COP25: The 2019 Climate Change Conference will feature the 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 15th session of the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 15), the II meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 2), as well as the sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 51) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 51). Therefore, this is the most important conferences in the world in the field, it is exciting to be at the center of important decisions related to climate action and our future!
Originally the host country for COP25 was Chile, but due to current political issues, they withdrew the hosting role in late October. A few days later, UNFCCC Secretariat announced that it would take place from 2-13 December, in Madrid, Spain.
Practical info about the event:
1. The venue is divided in 7 different pavilions, from the entrance and the Green Zone (open for citizens), exhibitions, delegations’ offices, plenaries and meeting rooms (for the negotiations). Also, there are side events to disseminate information and to discuss different matters related to climate change, as human rights, gender, migration, displacement, mobility, technology, academic research, tourism, among others.
2. There are so many possible activities and so many sources of information that we can lose track of time. But a UNFCCC app provides us all the information about the COP25, including the calendar, so we can choose between the most varied range of topics and add up those offered by the stands.
3. In case you want to check further updates, the UNFCCC press channel is available on this link.
JOURNALING - DAY 1 (02 Dec 2020) - Formal Opening of the Conference
By Denize Sousa
Highlights: On the first day al COP25 the general goal was to know the venue, participate in the side events and to know the stands, so we could add more options to the schedule. I got the joy of participating in events centered in indigenous rights and peoples, environmental migration, rights-based protection of climate-induced migrants and in the SBSTA Opening Plenary.
In this video, Valeria Paye, Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon, mentions the challenges to advocate for the Amazon preservation. I meet representative indigenous people from Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil and to hear from them all their difficulties to survive and preserve our forests. I could also be updated about migration and gender issues, my field of study, through side events. At last, I could be in the classic Plenaries rooms along with the reserved countries and organizations tables to listen to the SBSTA Opening speeches. What a great day! Looking forward to the following experiences!
Links & Resources: Daily ECO - NGO Newsletter: link
JOURNALING - DAY 02 (03 Dec 2020) - Agriculture, Amazon & Human Displacement
By Denize Sousa
The second day started with a discussion about sustainable food production and food security: the land necessity to the crops and the danger of its excessive use, the necessity of water and how to give it a better use, the necessity to feed the world population in a nutritive way. It was interesting learning further about this issue and how it is related to climate change in many ways: floods and droughts, natural disasters and scarce water.
We also participated in the event organized by our colleagues from Brazil Climate Action Hub about the Amazon as the center of the world. We could hear more about the difficulties faced by activists and indigenous peoples in the region and how land and human rights are being violated by several deforestation and killings. As civil society, we participated in the activity giving our visions, opinions, experiences and raising questions to everyone.
The last side event was about forced displacement of people and what is happening in the II Task Force about the issue. Representatives from UNHCR, OIM, ILO, World Bank, Excom, Action Aid International, among others, telling us what has been done and what can be done, including the pressure of the civil society. Felipe also attended a meeting between indigenous groups from all over America and the UNFCCC secretariat and presidency. On the occasion, they delivered a document with indigenous demands and recommendations for policymaking. So many interesting issues and discussions. How great it is to be able to be in contact with such relevant organizations and its representatives.
DAY 4 (05 Dec 2020) - Youth and Intergenerational day
By Denize Sousa
The 4th day of the conference was the Youth and Intergenerational day. There were lots of side events and meetings about youth climate action and empowerment. Thiago and Denize went to one called “#YouthRising UNITING BEHIND SCIENCE AND JUSTICE”. There were activists from initiatives as Fridays for Future, Sail to the COP, Economists for future, Millennials energy and others. It ended with a great discussion about how dedicating time to climate action is not a “sacrifice”, but life choice that connects people from all the world together in order to protect a common future.
At the end of the day, in the Brazil Climate Action Hub, we participated in a meeting with the Brazilian ministeries MRE and MMA. The government representatives tried to explain what is happening in the negotiations involving our country and the civil society had space to ask questions and comment on the poins of discordance. Click here to watch the full meeting.
DAY 7 (09 Dec 2020) - Brazilian coalition for climate change
By Cassia Moraes
The YCL Delegation had a great closure for the first week of #COP25: we had the opportunity to ask questions and present our views about the drawbacks of the Brazilian environmental policy to the President of Congress, Senators and state representatives at the Brazilian Action Hub. Delegates also had time to learn more about each other and mingle with young people from all over the world - both at the official venue and the unofficial CAN party! 🎉 We are on full swing for the second week of the Conference, stay tuned for daily updates!
