Day-to-Day Updates From COP25
The University of Minnesota’s 13 observers at the United Nations Climate Change Conference gave day-to-day updates over the past two weeks of the conference, and these give an overall sense of a “climate” of action and urgency at the conference center in Madrid. Here are a few examples:
UMN Water Resources staff member, Eileen Kirby, tweeted:
#TimeForAction #TiempoDeActuar is not a slogan, it’s a call for action, an acknowledgment that we need to ramp up ambition and commitments to address #climatechange, says #COP25 President @CarolaSchmidtZ at a briefing for observer organizations.
Negotiation teams with more members can divide the load; smaller teams—often from LDCs [Lesser Developed Countries] with less resources/capacity and greater vulnerability to #climatechange—must advocate for the planet and their futures nearly 24/7 her
COP25 takes an incredible amount of stamina, even as an observer. There are 12.5 hours of back to back scheduled meetings every day for 2 weeks. Negotiators often stay long past this. Benefits of having a large delegation are clear—any amount of rest is valuable here
UMN Science Technology Environmental Policy (STEP) graduate student Nate Vikeras shared on facebook:
“If we didn’t have the pressure from the youth on the streets, we would have never reached this level of urgency on the climate crisis.” UN Special Envoy Luiz Alfonso de Alba
UMN faculty member in Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering (BBE) Tim Smith shared a powerful moment on twitter:
Awesome dialogue on climate change and the rights of young people…
*children: countries less important to CC, listen to us, we aren’t stupid; *ministers: we’re already including you enough, each country is different, trust our experience. Youth:1; adults:0 – rematch! #cop25
UMN staff member in Ecology and Evolutionary Behavior (EEB) Kate Barry tweeted:
High Ambition Coalition won’t walk away from #COP25 w/out clear call for enhanced NDCs w/ high ambition in line w/ best science. @HACoalition on front lines of climate change; lives are at risk. Called out USA, Brazil, Australia for blocking progress toward agreement. #MNCOP25
“Water has no borders, the air has no borders. Indigenous women are the defenders of life.” – Daiara Sampaio. Women for Climate Justice Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of Climate Change. #COP25 #MNCOP25
Local climate education organization Climate Generation’s Sarah Goodspeed gave @MPRnews a great summary of the negotiation issues at COP25. She was also an organizer of cross-sectoral meetings of Minnesotans at the conference, facilitating conversation between state, city, non-profit, education and business leaders before and during the two weeks of the climate change conference in Madrid. Hear the story!
