Going to the climate negotiations reminds me a lot of high school. Here are some reasons why:
Everyone goes to class. In the UNFCCC language this is called the “spin-off” and “workstream” groups. This is where they discuss specific themes under the text such as adaptation, mitigation, technology, and finance.
It’s like the subjects we had in school and also lasts for no more than 2 hours. There are no written tests but there is a lot of recitation where countries get to talk a lot to defend their positions.
Cliques rule the UNFCCC. In high school you had the jocks and cheerleaders, the bullies, and the nerds. In the UNFCCC you have the negotiating blocks: the UMBRELLA group, G77 and China, BASIC, AILAC, AOSIS, ALBA, EIG, LMDC, LDC.
One would often see them seated together in the cafeteria, too. Some blocks have each other’s back Could you guess who the bullies are?
Remember when we were in high school and our friends were in the other class and we just couldn’t wait to hear the deets?
Well, the UNFCCC is quite the same. Hallways are great for parties, negotiating groups, and observers to catch up with one another. Well, especially now that civil society has been locked out of the negotiating rooms. Japan proposed this to the co-chairs saying that “real negotiations don’t happen in front of the public.”
But it was not only Japan who supported this lock out. The EU and the US has been silent about it too. And what do we say about silence?
SO. MUCH. DRAMA. The UNFCCC has that too. In high school we had our “open forums” to share our feelings to the whole class and to our teachers. In the UNFCCC they use the stocktaking as a platform.
The stocktaking is where everyone gathers to say what happened inside their spin-off groups and how they felt about it and the day, in general. Yesterday, Venezuela shared their disappointment when the stocktaking happened without G77 and China.
Russia keeps on complaining about how they feel when their microphone seems to be on mute. Malaysia shares some words of wisdom on how to move forward with the negotiations. The biggest take away of the drama is knowing how to build trust in the process and in other countries (which is difficult, really).
There’s so much homework to do. The COP21 in Paris is only almost a month away from now and countries still could not agree on how to tackle climate change.
But, at the end of the day, we all just need to reassure each other that we are all working towards one goal, aren’t we?
