COP24: Strong words, weak actions

After two weeks of tension-filled discussions, the Katowice Climate Change Conference, mostly known as COP24 concluded on Saturday evening. In two weeks the delegates focused on outlining strategies for a common "Rulebook" for all nations that will govern the basics of how countries cut their emissions, provide finance to vulnerable countries and ensure that all countries are doing as promised.

It is estimated that, nearly 23,000 delegates from all over the globe descended on the coal-tinged city and finally secured an agreement on a range of measures that will make the Paris climate pact operational in 2020.The  agreement concerned the starting of a new international climate regime under which, all parties will have to report the status of their emissions and progress in cutting them every two years from 2024.

At the end of the first week, many expressed frustration and disappointment when the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait objected to the conference "welcoming" the IPCC report which was launched last October on the impacts of a temperature rise of 1.5°C. The report said that the world is now completely off track, heading more towards a global temperature increase of about 3°C, inevitably leading to upheavals and a global climatic collapse. Saudi Arabia had fought strongly in Korea to limit the conclusions of the document and finally they gave in. But it now seems that they have brought their objections to Poland. Most of the parties felt that acknowledging the science was critical at this conference.

The outcome incorporated hints at the need for more ambitious climate pledges before 2020. NGOs and CSOs representatives were disappointed at the absence of more forceful language. Yet, poor countries won the assurances that rich ones would help pay for their efforts to curb their greenhouse-gas emissions and to adapt to rising sea-levels, droughts, floods, storms and other climate-induced disasters. Meanwhile, new research released at the COP showed that global emissions were going up, not down. The Talanoa Dialogue concluded at COP24 with an appeal to update the climate pledges and increase finance flows particularly for developing or vulnerable countries to tackle the adverse impacts of climate change. However, the conclusions of this year-long process are only "noted" in the final decision text, and parties are "invited" to look at them. The issue of imposing legal binding for triggering climate change has long been rejected by richer countries. A stalemate between Brazil and other countries over the rules for monitoring carbon credits threatened to derail the discussions. Brazil was suggesting a weaker set of rules on carbon markets, in spite of facing a strong disagreement from many other nations. These talks have now been postponed to next year.

One of the most striking things about this Katowice conference was the active participation of energized youth groups in far greater numbers particularly,  in numerous side-events. Hosting COP 24 at Katowice, the home of Poland's coal miners, was meant to signify the transition from an old, dirty world to a new, clean one.

During the conference, technical progress was made but thousands of people on the street didn't demonstrate for a rulebook, rather they demanded ambitious climate protection. We have more to do but we can move forward now, as the negotiators in Katowice have finally secured an agreement on a variety of measures that will make the Paris climate agreement operational in 2020 which is believed to ensure that countries will keep their promises to cut emissions.

In this context, technical talks will continue as governments are yet to prepare for next year's conference in Chile. If COP24 and its successors want to make a long-term impact and have a realistic evaluation of global conditions, they must prevail on narrow conceptual enthusiasm and adopt specific actions.

Researcher, Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research (C3ER), BRAC University

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