COP24 Experience: 3 days, 3 takeaways – by Sébastien Willemart

I took part in the second week of the COP24, during the Ministerial Segment. The day before my arrival, I followed heated discussions about whether to “note” or “welcome” the IPCC report on the difference of impact between 1,5°C and 2°C global warming. On flight, I directly felt the atmosphere, getting introduced to Nepalese NGO staff asking for Climate Justice and the Delegation from Senegal explaining the burdensome process of the first week of the negotiations. As a veteran of WWF-Belgium I was delighted to see how direct the NGO was with world leaders.

DAY 1 (9/12)

On the day of my arrival (Sunday) there were no negotiations. Nevertheless, a group of clever minds was actively trying to address climate resilience by integrating the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework. Together with grassroots organizations and policymakers, I discussed the importance of local knowledge, empowerment and finance. The panels were composed of local stakeholders, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, CARE International, World Bank Climate Change Director and LDC Group Chair. We also exchanged our views on water resilience and vulnerabilities in urbanized areas and innovative solutions for public participation in policy formulation (for more, click here). I joined my Couchsurfing friends (from Brazil, Switzerland, & USA), all attending COP24 and focused on Article 6 (Carbon Market).

DAY 2 (10/12) FINANCE

In the morning I took part in talks addressing the resilience strategies using coherent land-energy-water approaches to adaptation and mitigation. Later, I met with the Belgian UN Representative (in my quality of advisor) and worked further on a drafted position to be issued by YOUNGO in a press conference the same day.

After discussing the gender-dimensions of climate-related mobility with researchers, I focused on Climate Finance. Attending sessions on the topic (including of European pledges and Green Bonds) of the Benelux and European Investment Bank pavilion, I had the opportunity to emphasize the need for higher commitment and to gain expertise on existing mechanisms. I obtained insights about enabling and constraining factors both in the public and in the private sector.

I also attended a session of Copernicus (EU satellite program) providing data and knowledge about climate change impact on water distribution in order to bring gaps between service developers and policy-makers. I was then following the Global Covenant of Mayors’ conclusions on its Research and Action Agenda for effective urban responses to climate change. WWF pavilion was also on my list. Then I created web content of the plenary, namely during Germany and China declarations but also Patricia Espinosa (UNFCCC Executive Secretary) and Laurent Fabius (President of COP21) expectations and focus on interests for COP24. Later that day, I had the opportunity to address a speech during my participation in a round table on water/energy nexus as a panellist. I stressed the need for inter-generational justice in decisionmaking and holistic understanding of education to tackle entangled water-related issues. My speech resonated among the private sector representatives and young people in the room. I felt that it was understood and that WYPW point of view was made explicit and visible. I spread the messages of the “Climate is Water” initiative in all the forums I attended and I am confident that it will further disseminate.

DAY 3 (11/12) ENERGY 

I spent a long time in the EU Pavilion the next day. The EU Energy Day Program can be found here. I spoke with one of the two leading candidates for the European Greens in Parliament (Bas Eickhout) on Green Taxonomy (e.g. the definition of sustainable finance) and mentioned the role of the WYWP in Europe. I took part in the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the EU and the ISA (International Solar Alliance), a speech by European Commissioner Cañete on the exit of coal and EU 2050 carbon-neutrality strategy , the Director General of the IEA on the decentralization of energy systems, the Spanish Minister of the Environment (Teresa Ribera) on cooperation in the Mediterranean and Latin America, and many others.

Driven by my friends and by a certain interest in Paris Rulebook remaining issues during COP24 negotiation, I took part in events focused on harnessing carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. I learned a lot thanks to discussion on the lessons of implementation with academics and practitioners (side-event contacts through this link).
My fascination for Energy led me to follow a presentation of the current progress of China’s Global Energy Interconnection Initiative aiming at linking the world’s renewable power sources. I also praised Greta Thunberg’s dedication for climate activism and spoke about Belgian mobilizations. Indeed, 100.000 Belgian people took the streets several days before. I am proud that the Youth for Climate movement has now one of its most visible strongholds in my country for 7 weeks.

My contribution to the representation work of the Belgian Youth Council enabled me to interact with Belgian Ministers of Budget, Finance, Energy and Climate, Jean-Pascal van Ypersele (former VicePresident of the IPCC) and Peter Wittoeck (Head of the Climate Change Department of Belgium), NGOs and trade unions among others.

My 3 key takeaways are:

• Most technological solutions and expertise already exist but there are major barriers to implementation (i.e. insufficient bridging between financial private actors and people in the field).
• The omnipresence of fossil fuel interest lobbying still needs to be fought against. Plenty of clean alternatives are ready to be scaled up and new business models will thrive if encouraged.
• The water sector’s interest representation is gaining visibility in climate negotiations and all stakeholders met are keen to adopt an integrated perspective on SDG6 and SDG13.

I am now determined to connect the European Youth with COP25 Presidency and already began to do so, namely by entering in close contacts with different representatives and institutional figures.