COP 22: OF AFRICA AND DONALD TRUMP
This article first appeared in the second edition of the Delft Sustainable Energy Association magazine 'SET MATCH' in December 2016. The original article can be found here: http://delftsea.nl/setmatch.html
Three days before the COP22 at Marrakesh began, the Paris agreement came into force with over 100 countries having ratified it already. This provided the perfect backdrop for the convention. While Paris was about creating a framework for climate action, Marrakesh was about the action itself. Rules were set in position to ensure that the goals of the Paris climate agreement are achieved.
The COP22 was touted as the COP of Africa and the conference lived up to this tag. The organizing committee invited proposals for holding climate related side events as a part of the African Pavilion. Perhaps the most important issue for Africa is Water and the Morocco pavilion hosted a side event Climate Change and Water that highlighted the exacerbation of water scarcity due to climate change.
The climate conference started off with many opening discussions and programme launches that stressed the role of businesses in achieving a low-carbon economy. An important event was the launch of The Global Climate Action Agenda. It aims to build a new process in parallel to the main discussions, allowing non-state actors to work closer with state negotiators. Cities were at the centre of climate change. The World Bank estimates that adapting to climate change could cost $80 to $100 billion every year, 80% of which needs to be invested in cities as they are responsible for 70% of world’s energy-related Greenhouse Gas emissions.
In the early hours of the 9th of November, the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States of America sent ripples across the COP. He had claimed that climate change was a hoax created by the Chinese during his campaign. Additionally, he appointed Myron Ebell, a climate skeptic, as the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With reports emerging that Trump’s policies may make it harder for developing countries to obtain funds to fight climate change, the road ahead looks really rough.
The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2017 was released in line with the COP22. The Index points towards an improvement in energy efficiency and encouraging signs for renewable energy on a global scale. However, it also suggests a decline in the commitment from the EU members. Wendel Trio, Director of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe was quoted, “This year’s CCPI confirms that many EU countries, including the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Germany risk losing their leading role in renewable energy development. Several EU Member States cut back on investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency, questioned agreed longterm mitigation targets or failed to set the necessary policy frame work to deliver on their short-term goals. It will only be a matter of time before they lose the leading positions in the CCPI.”
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