Hosted by the island state Fiji, the conference took place from 6th to 17th November at the headquarters of UNFCCC in Bonn, Germany. With 27,000 participants, the conference was the biggest in the history of Germany. After the previous conferences in Paris and Marrakech, the goal of COP 23 was to make a step forward in the implementation of the Paris Agreement by drafting a comprehensive body of legislation that will be enacted next year during COP 24 in Katowice, Poland. Even though there were no big new resolutions planned, the conference aimed to strengthen the international cooperation and above all the cohesion of all states after the United States’ exit out of the Paris Agreement.
The conference was split into two areas: the BULA zone and the BONN zone. I was deployed as a conference room assistant at the BULA Zone (“bula” is a Fijian word for “welcome”), where the official negotiations of the delegates took place. This gave me the chance to listen to many of the negotiations, that were closed to regular participants. The BONN zone served as a space for side events, working groups and networking for all other conference participants, which were representatives of science, the economy, politics, religious groups, environmental organizations and civil society. It consisted of numerous pavilions of countries, information stands of organizations and meeting rooms where most talks took place.
COP 23 featured a lot of new formats and topics that have not been addressed enough. For the first time ever, the so called Talanoa dialogue was created: “Talanoa” is a traditional Fijian word and reflects “a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue” (UNFCCC, 2017). This platform was established to bring together all kinds of participants in order to find solutions in the interests of all parties: science, economy and civil society. The purpose of Talanoa is to “share stories, build empathy and to make wise decisions, which are for the collective good”. This includes sharing ideas, skills and experiences by telling stories and ultimately creates mutual trust, empathy and understanding between parties. The discussions were guided by three leading questions: “Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How can we get there?” (UNFCCC, 2017) From my own experience I can tell that this new platform was very successful and popular amongst participants of the conference. It not only featured informative talks and interesting discussions, but also moving stories of direct victims of climate change. In the end, it is these stories that we can relate to and that keep us motivated to fight against global warming.
For the first time in the history of the COP, a working program on agriculture was put on the agenda. Especially animal agriculture has never even been part of the climate change discussions before, even though it is responsible for 14,5% of all greenhouse gas emissions (FAO, 2013). I attended several side events focusing on sustainable diets and reducing the impacts of the livestock sector on our environment. These proved that besides an ethical point of view there is unquestionable scientific proof that we must reduce our consumption of animal products to tackle climate change. One thing that was quite sobering for me was that even though the catering was 60% vegetarian (which was already a 50% improvement compared to COP21 in Paris), there was still meat and fish served every single day. Sometimes, the veggie meal even cost almost twice as much as the meat option (10,50€ / 5,50€). This does not encourage people to change their eating behaviour. Not to mention, a lot of days there was not even a vegan option as a main meal. However, I believe that the process of shifting people’s diets towards a more sustainable way of eating will take time, and even small steps are a great move into the right direction.
Another first in COP’s history was the invitation for party and non-party stakeholders to a “Presidency’s Open Dialogue” to discuss the NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) and the involvement of non-party stakeholders. In fact, I was able to attend this session, but was disappointed to see the participants merely delivering their statements without any interaction as opposed to having a real discussion. This was a scenario that I unfortunately noticed in many of the other conference sessions as well.
One of the most valuable and interesting things for me was the immense cultural exchange. Never before have I been inside a room with people from every single country on our planet. The events hosted by organizations and country representatives from all over the world were so culturally diverse and showed some of their traditional ceremonies, which I have never seen before. Even though I have already attended several international conferences I have never experienced such diversity. Some of the delegates even dressed in their traditional clothes as opposed to the “Western” idea of business attire.
Since Fiji was the host country, they planned something very special for the official opening ceremony. After a great show of traditional dance and music, Fijian warriors, dressed merely in skirts and sleeves made out of grass, gave a whale tooth as a gift to the German minister of environment, Barbara Hendricks. This is considered a sign of respect in Fiji. Moreover, during the ceremony they also prepared their traditional healing drink Kava, which is made of a root, for Hendricks to drink. Preparing this drink is a proper ritual which took several minutes. Barbara Hendrick’s reaction was funny to watch, since it seemed obvious that she was not prepared for the ritual. Here you can watch the ceremony yourself (from 00:59).
So, what were the outcomes of COP 23? After negotiating for two weeks (until 7 am on the last day!) the parties established a plan of transparent rules and reporting duties. This was an important intermediary step towards the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, the United Kingdom and Canada presented their new anti-coal-alliance: Powering Past Coal Alliance. Their goal is to step away from coal-fired power production by 2030. So far, there are 20 member states, and they aim for 50 members by the next COP in Poland.
What’s more, COP23 was the first certified environmentally-friendly world climate conference: for its contributions to a sustainable execution, the conference was awarded with the EMAS certificate. Of course, there were some critics around the question if such a huge conference can even be sustainable. For example, people argued that the emissions from international participants flying to Germany are contributing to the problem instead of fixing it. I, myself, saw potential for improvement in many areas while I attended the conference. However, in my opinion, the benefits of such a conference clearly outweigh the disadvantages: even though carrying out such a huge event brings along large emissions as well, it also raises awareness about the pressing issues of climate change amongst people from all over the world. Moreover, important negotiations between 197 parties cannot be done in any other way than a physical one. Lastly, sharing experiences for two weeks builds trust and makes new connections that could potentially make a positive impact on our world.
All in all, volunteering during the world climate summit was an incredibly rewarding experience for me. Not only did I get the chance to attend and participate in many of the conference sessions and side events, but I also connected with people from all over the world striving for a better future of our planet. Since I am very interested in all topics related to climate change and my goal is to pursue a career in the field of sustainable development, COP 23 gave me the opportunity to increase my knowledge in this area and expand my network. It was great to see a small nation like Fiji hosting a conference on such a large scale. They both brought the Fijian culture to Germany and encouraged the world to pay attention to the already existing victims of climate change - just like the citizens of their small island state. The conference was a great platform to raise awareness about urgent topics and strengthen international cooperation. We all have to work together to fight against climate change. Like the Fijian prime minister Frank Bainimarama said during the opening ceremony: “We are all in the same canoe.”