My COP26 experience [cycling to the COP, the Green Zone, meeting with OYW Ambassadors]
In this article, I am sharing my experience with the COP26. It features the bike ride from Amsterdam, as well as the activities I joined in Glasgow both in and outside the Green Zone.
On the 31st of October, we left from Amsterdam by bike. While cycling through the city, people were waving at us and cheering us up. The occasional appeal “Glasgow, here we go!” kept our spirits high during the ride. My main drive was the destination (Glasgow), as well as enjoying the journey!
Cycling as a mean of transportation is a totally different experience: its slow pace allows you to marvel at the surroundings and to feel the magnificent nature even more deeply. The English and Scottish landscapes featured green hills, white sheep and an autumnal palette of the colors of the leaves.
After reaching Glasgow, my first activity was to join the Fridays for Future climate march on the 5th of November. This was a remarkable experience, as we marched alongside Greta Thunberg, the climate activist who started the "Fridays for Future" movement, as well as youth from all over the world.
There was an organized Ceilidh (traditional Scottish dance) evening, where we completely immersed ourselves in this cheerful Scottish tradition. What an amazing experience it is to be dancing alongside diverse people who are all driven by the same vision! To exchange words (or dance moves) with Mohammed Awad, President of the Egyptian Green Party and VP of African Green Federation, Elizabeth May (member of the House of Commons of Canada), or John Kidder.
On the next day, the climate march reached the spectacular number of 250 000 participants, according to some media outlets. The streets were adorned by the colors and messages of thousands of banners, while the appeal of “What do we want? Climate justice! When do we want it? Now!” resonated with every participant: indigenous people, socialist parties, anti-nuclear groups, pro-nuclear associations, activists, non-partisan individuals… The group of thousands of diverse representatives felt as one, as it advanced slowly through the city and made its way to the park. Speeches by indigenous people from all over the world were delivered, pleading climate action.
Vanessa Nakate, the First Fridays For Future climate activist in Uganda and founder of the Rise up Climate, shared with patos her story of working on a project installing solar panels on a local school rooftop but a storm destroyed the rooftop. She also sent out the message of "No action is too small to make a difference".
The 7th of November was the day I visited the Green Zone of the COP26. Together with my friend Santiago I participated in a talk on sustainable finance. The panelists offered a holistic perspective on responsible investments and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), as well as what individuals can do. The first step is to choose for sustainable options and divest from fossil fuels. Secondly, we shall give to our values and raise questions to our asset managers, since they act as the bridge between the companies and the investments. Moreover, platforms, such as Make My Money Matter offer templates regarding the investment choices of pension funds. Or you can become an AGM (Annual General Meeting) activist and ask business leaders directly.
We then immersed ourselves into the screening of a 360 degrees movie by Adrian Lahoud and Michaela French in the Planetarium. The visuals fully captures our sense of sight and the narrative told us a story of climate change.
This carefully crafted experience was followed by a panel on climate change and behavior science. It introduced the Climate Nudge, a Finland-based project on researching behavioral insights for climate change mitigation.
The evening finished with movie screenings from the Scottish Youth Film Foundation, where films written and produced by primary and secondary school students showed us the environmental challenges through their lens. What a great initiative allowing children express their messages creatively!
On the following day, I was at the Green Zone again, determined to visit all the stands there. Topics: digital health, advanced manufacturing, urban mining, bio-based materials, artificial intelligence. Moreover, GSK, Reckitt, Microsoft, SSE Energy Solutions, Sainsbury’s had exhibits with information available and representatives to talk to. I met Onno Ruhl from Aga Khan Development Network and asked him regarding his message to young people as me. He told me that “we need young and female leaders”. As if this message was crafted just for me, further empowering me to continue with my actions!
"We need young and female leaders", message to the youth by Onno Ruhl.
This feeling of empowerment was then brought to my meeting with fellow OYW ambassadors: Maybe, Alex, Zubair, Natalija and Jonah. As expected, the conversation dismantled diverse topics and we all left inspired! What a great way to end my Glasgow experience, as on the next day I was on my way to Newcastle.
Upon reviewing the Glasgow Pact, I noted what a crucial role the choice of words for each clause plays! To illustrate, the verbs used range from “requests” to “urges” and there is a connotation regarding “unabated coal”. Overall, the Glasgow Pact focuses on scaling up the climate action and support in terms of finance, capacity and technology offered by developed countries to the developing ones.
Other points include:
- 90% of the world committed to net zero (versus 30% in 2019), India is committed to net zero 2017, US and China are joining forces in tackling climate challenges, the Paris Rulebook is completed, but substantial efforts to reduce emissions is lacking, such as the example of phasing down coal.
- Resilience measurements were launched, namely the UN Race to Resilience metrics framework and the Global Resilience Index. Moreover, the commitment to the collective adaptation finance grew, despite the fact that a $100bn funding commitment remains unmet, leaving adaptation underfunded as only 8% of the climate financing was deployed. The contribution to funding for adaptation is mainly made by governments with a minor participation of the private sector ($2bn).
- 141 governments pledged to reverse deforestation by 2030. However, there is no agreement on gross vs. net deforestation.
Source (with perspectives on the agreements, as well as recommendations for businesses):
I am always happy to hear your views, so please reach out to me!
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-cop26-experience-cycling-cop-green-zone-meeting-oyw-vylkova/
