Colorado College at COP27

AN380: COP27 in Egypt as Ethnographers

Block 3, 2022

Independent Ethnographic Research Projects

Colorado College at COP27 in Egypt -- Engaging as Ethnographers

The United Nations’ 27th annual summit on climate change, also known as COP27, met in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November of 2022. Of vital importance was the reaffirmation of the basic goal of the Paris Agreement, to confine global warming to well below 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial temperatures. More specifically, the meeting was billed as the “implementation COP,” emphasizing how aspects of the Paris Agreement, finalized at COP26 in Glasgow the previous year, would be put into motion. From how efforts to reduce emissions would be measured, observed and reported, to national plans for adapting to climate-related changes, to how all these efforts would be financed, the docket for COP27 was formidable. In retrospect, the stand-out achievement of COP27 was an agreement to create a fund for Loss and Damage, to address the worst impacts of climate change “on communities whose lives and livelihoods have been ruined by the very worst impacts of climate change,” as the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary put it.

In this context, COP27 may, in hindsight, come to be viewed as a critical turning point for multilateralism. In addition to the crumbling of wealthiest nations’ opposition to Loss and Damage compensation, COP27 saw the formal introduction of non-anthropocentric approaches such as recognition of Nature (capital “N,” significantly) and non-market approaches, all fueled by the increasing importance of civil society voices being increasingly included in the negotiation process.

For the fourth time, a Colorado College delegation joined these participating, civilsociety observer organizations in 2022. This iteration came in the form of a course entitled “Engaging COP27 in Egypt as Ethnographers.” Co-instructors Sarah Hautzinger and Myra Jackson selected ten students from nearly fifty applicants; most had completed the climate-facing prerequisite “Anthropocene,” crosslisted in the Anthropology and Environmental Studies departments. Both courses engage broad questions about the meanings of being human at a time of an anthropogenically caused crisis. Approaching the COP as ethnographers invites a story-telling, “beginner’s mind” approach to many facets beyond the central negotiations: students wrote about the people they met in attendance, what it meant for an authoritarian state like Egypt to host, and many of the side events, pavilions, and exhibits they took in on the periphery of the negotiations.

This zine, therefore, will showcase various projects completed by students observing COP27 during Block 3 of 2022. Each project completed by the students is unique, representing the climate-related issues most interesting and important to them. Therefore, every section of this zine will look different. Some projects incorporate poetry, some engage art, and some highlight meaningful interviews completed at the venue. While every student approached their experience at COP27 differently, this zine finds continuity in recognizing how vast the global climate crisis is. Therefore, responses and dialogues about climate change welcome creative and differing approaches to representation. Overall, we hope that this zine emphasizes the learning our delegation engaged in while observers at COP27. Thank you for taking the time to explore

Colorado College’s continued participation in the United Nations climate change network.

Signed, Mika Alexander Editor in Chief Sarah Hautzinger Professor of Anthropology

Myra Jackson Mindfulness Fellow in Residence, Creativity and Innovation

Engaging COP27 in Egypt as Ethnographers

Class Members:

Mika Alexander ’23

Mary Andrews ’23

Owen Brown ’24 Layla Haji ’25

Naomi Henry ’24

Olivia Jacobson ’22

Rhetta Power ’23

Gracie Roe ’25

Reeve Schroeder ’24

Cecilia Timberg ’24

Table of Contents

Adaptation in Agriculture and Science Communication at COP27 by Olivia Jacobson…………….8

Collected Poems of Mary Andrews: COP27 Edition by Mary Andrews…………………………………..12

Lasting Effects of the Kyoto Protocol: Tensions Over Negotiation Status Regarding UN’s Adaptation Fund on the Rise by Owen Brown……………………………………………………………………….21

The Role of Civil Society and Non-party Stakeholders at COP27 by Mika Alexander………………23

Decarbonization at COP27: Green Hydrogen and the Ocean by Layla Haji…………………………….26

Humans of COP27 and Beyond by Naomi Henry……………………………………………………………………30

Representation of Indigenous Peoples at COP27 by Reeve Schroeder…………………………………..42

Youth Presence at COP27 by Gracie Roe………………………………………………………………………….……46

Exploring the Spheres of the Public and the Private at COP27 by Rhetta Power…………………….48

Information Dissemination at COP27 by Cecilia Timberg……………………………………………………….51

This zine involves projects completed in November 2022. All photos in this publication are sourced from students in the Colorado College delegation. This zine was published in January 2023.

Drawing by Olivia Jacobson ’22

Adaptation in Agriculture and Science Communication at COP27

By Olivia Jacobson

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change convened the 27th annual Conference of the Parties (COP) this year from November 5th to 17th in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The COP has been occurring since 1992 and brings together 192 countries to negotiate commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. In addition to government representatives, the conference hosts thousands of delegates from non-governmental organizations, private sector businesses, academia and civil society, including indigenous people, youth and students. These non-party groups can attend a limited number of negotiations, but they make up the majority of other COP activities, such as roundtable discussions, press conferences, side events and pavilion events.

I attended COP27 as a delegate from Colorado College and participated in all the aforementioned activities, except formal negotiations. My engagement at COP27 was driven by two main areas of inquiry: best practices to reduce emissions and environmental degradation in the agricultural sector, and the nature of scientific communication in these discussions. I collected information through ethnographic participant observation to answer the following research questions: what solutions are most viable for improving agricultural land use? And, how is scientific research being communicated to represent the actors and factors involved? I found that agroforestry and diversification were two of the most common solutions offered and were identified through both scientific research and traditional ecological knowledge. Additionally, there were multiple discussions about how scientific research is conducted and disseminated in relation to climate action, with calls to increase the flexibility of the process.

Improving Agricultural Land Use

The agricultural sector is a major driver of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation. Agriculture, forestry and other land use accounted for 24.87% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2010, making it the second largest contributing economic sector (IPCC 2014). Beyond atmospheric pollution, some widespread agricultural practices cause damage to soil and can lead to eutrophication of aquatic environments, groundwater contamination, and soil acidification (GSDR 2019). Additionally, food production systems are being negatively impacted by climate change, putting global nutrition, health and economy at risk (IPCC 2022). However, with improved management, the agricultural sector poses an opportunity to sequester carbon in soil and vegetation and to provide substantial food supply to the global community.

Based on the COP27 events I attended, the two most mentioned solutions to transform the agricultural sector were agroforestry and diversification. Agroforestry can be defined as a dynamic, ecologically based, natural resource management system that, through the integration of trees on farms and in the agricultural landscape, diversifies and

sustains production for increased social, economic and environmental benefits for land users (FAO 2015). During the roundtable discussion ‘Scaling regenerative agriculture’, Irish Baguilat, a representative of Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development, named agroforestry as a primary strategy for transforming agriculture for small scale farmers in south Asia, because it maximizes vertical space and recycles nutrients (2022). Additionally, agroforestry enables diversification through the dynamic use of multiple crop and tree species, as mentioned by Louise Mabulo in the panel ‘Diversification through Indigenous, neglected and aquatic foods’ at the Food Systems Pavilion (2022). This panel was entirely devoted to diversification, the second strategy commonly identified to transform the agricultural sector. In this context, diversification refers to increasing the number of different seeds or crops being grown in a farm or an agricultural region. This helps increase resilience to pests, diseases and climate events and provides a spectrum of nutrition. In the panel ‘Unlocking climate finance for nutrition and resilient food systems’ at the Food Systems Pavilion, representatives from Djibouti and Zimbabwe both mentioned diversification as a strategy to increase resiliency of agriculture in their countries (2022). Both agroforestry and diversification are viable options in pursuing more sustainable and less harmful agriculture.

The Role of Scientific Research

Throughout the events I attended, scientific research not only provided data and information, but was discussed as a practice in the context of climate action. Across multiple speakers at the side event titled ‘Putting food on the table during a climate crisis’ there were calls to action for increased flexibility in science. Cynthia Rosenzweig, who is in agronomist and climatologist at NASA’s Goddard Institute, stated that the focus of science, as an actor on climate, should no longer be solely on observing climate change, but on offering solutions (2022). This sentiment was echoed by other speakers from the scientific community as well. Greg Sixt from Massachusetts Institute of Technology emphasized the priority of stakeholder voices in research from the ideation stage to dissemination and expressed the need to provide information to stakeholders and policymakers sooner than the standard length of research projects (2022). The latter point was echoed by Jim Hall, a professor of climate and environmental risk at the University of Oxford, saying that research must become more agile to provide insights on solutions in anticipation of stakeholder needs (2022). These perspectives point to a gap in the ability of research to deliver timely solutions in the urgency of the climate crisis.

This gap could be addressed, in part, by uplifting traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) as a form of knowledge production equally as important as scientific research. TEK is the integration of sustainable resource management practices, local environmental knowledge, and cultural beliefs and is typical in indigenous and traditional societies worldwide (Paneque-Gálvez 2018). Traditional ecological knowledge is environmental management strategies and relationships developed over generations; TEK has been practiced and “tested” in communities that have been managing land for millennia, much longer than the existence of modern scientific research. Trusting existing traditional ecological knowledge and investing in indigenous communities who are

protecting land is a way to supplement the drawn-out process of scientific research, particularly in making immediate improvements to the agricultural sector. At COP27, both diversification and agroforestry were strategies identified by scientific research to improve agriculture but were also brought up by indigenous representatives as existing traditional practices that can catalyze climate action and transform food systems.

Bibliography

Abdallah Omar, Dini (Djibouti) and Zhakata, Washington (Zimbabwe). “Unlocking climate finance for nutrition and resilient food systems”. Author notes, November 8, 2022. Recording 04:10-55:00, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGSgKLtW3as Baguilat, Irish. “Exponential Action: Scaling Regenerative Approaches Through PlaceBased Implementation”. Author notes, November 12, 2022.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). “Agroforestry”. Accessed November 16, 2022. https://www.fao.org/forestry/agroforestry/80338/en/ GSDR. Independent Group of Scientists appointed by the Secretary-General. “Global Sustainable Development Report 2019: The Future is Now – Science for Achieving Sustainable Development”. United Nations, New York, 2019: 64-75. Hall, Jim. “Putting food on the table during a climate crisis”. Author notes, November 11, 2022. Recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QAzH9q8XIE

IPCC. “Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change”. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 2014. https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ipcc_wg3_ar5_summary-forpolicymakers.pdf.

IPCC. Bezner Kerr, R., T. Hasegawa, R. Lasco, I. Bhatt, D. Deryng, A. Farrell, H. GurneySmith, H. Ju, S. Lluch-Cota, F. Meza, G. Nelson, H. Neufeldt, and P. Thornton. “Food, Fibre, and Other Ecosystem Products. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 2022. doi:10.1017/9781009325844.007.

Mabulo, Louise. “Diversification through Indigenous, neglected and aquatic foods”. Author notes, November 8, 2022. Recording 8:03:55-8:50:55, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGSgKLtW3as.

Paneque-Gálvez, Jaime, Irene Pérez-Llorente, Ana Catarina Luz, Maximilien Guéze, JeanFrancois Mas, Manuel J. Macía, Martí Orta’Martínez, and Victoria Reyes-García. “High overlap between traditional ecological knowledge and forest conservation found in the Bolivian Amazon”. Ambio no.47 (2018): 908-923. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-0181040-0.

Rosenzweig, Cynthia. “Putting food on the table during a climate crisis”. Author notes, November 11, 2022. Recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QAzH9q8XIE. Sixt, Greg. “Putting food on the table during a climate crisis”. Author notes, November 11, 2022. Recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QAzH9q8XIE.

Collected Poems of Mary Andrews: COP27 Edition

By Mary Andrews

My writing throughout this block has been shaped by the environments, events, and people of Conferences of the Parties (COP) 27, 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. By writing about my surroundings, the people that have inspired me, and the ideas that were offered, a few themes surfaced throughout my poetry that have not been present thus far in my creativity. Those themes include human relationships to food and food justice throughout farming practices and natural disasters, and climate justice and resistance to systems. I also took the storytelling aspect from our class’s focus on the Talanoa dialogues into my writing here and there which was a really fun process to explore in poetry. Further, patterns I have noticed in my own writing prior to this class have been repeated and adapted in this body of work. Creating eutopias with my writing is a practice I have noticed in my writing, and I use it throughout these pieces to create a world in which climate policy and reparations are implemented, and it draws on my own optimism in climate work. Creating portraits of people who inspire me (and sometimes those who disgust me) is another theme throughout my writing that I brought into these pieces to cultivate the feelings I experienced while listening to people and their stories at COP. Lastly, I wrote about the self in the midst of chaos throughout this portfolio sparingly, which is another theme consistent to my work that I adapted to use as a way of conveying the overwhelming nature of the conference and the amount of information being spewed, the amount of people from all over the world, and the largeness of the energy throughout the venue.

Epigraph: “Feed and nourish what your heart is in” -Myra Jackson

I sing myself into the morning Watching ripe faces arrive As the hand slides over to one minute late We take the bait And settle into the storm ahead

Pull cloth over wounds

Over waves rock rigid White water swells and Salt heals head wounds too

Now! Listen

To whirring cranks and shifts

Not welcome to drums pounding, working To hear instead the shuffle of colors Of brushes on clean paper

I can hear overthinking and changing colors too fast Cracks, reminders of your own ability Last minute madness

Soft pale pink petals float slowly across the marble Under foot

Under sun and the cloudless sky Under rooftops covered in vines and oranges, yellows, like little tiny explosions of color And big flat leaves pushed back and forth in the breeze from the sea foam swirls Handkerchiefs wipe sweat and dirt away Exposing a smooth clean new day

There was a little boy Just standing on the corner And his clock read 10 But even then he wasn’t from Those years ago With the air against my shoulders And it’s heavier around his I don’t know why but he’s taller With his head on straight His shoulders With the air around him stronger And he must be even wilder I don’t know how but I’m older Sinking deeper into older Running faster From his shoulders There must be something in the water

Filling the stomach

Blue, blue, black and blue The house burns harder and faster Red flames light the mountain sides and forest floors coating us in ash Now more than ever It is Suffocating seeds And my form of resistance is ordering an oat milk latte It is Shriveling greens back further away into shadows and they droop their necks closer to the dirt each day we worry their faces might touch the ground and be buried there, no longer breathing out the sweet morning air that clears our lungs And we are worried about all 10 billion You billion in here We don’t feel real fear Of the drooping and backing and shriveling and suffocating and what may come to us if we don’t do anything

We fill our stomachs with all clean textures and colors

We are worried about replicating those while billions are Say, logistical bottlenecks

Only terminology

Not real skin and lips, not real fingers tending to the green to the stream to the same ten things only to find they cannot lift you up anymore Filling the stomach is not enough

Goddess-like

Her long dark blue swirling swimming fingers reach out To touch each of us here

Her reeds wrap us tight and fast into community bundles Rock us to sleep now with your sweet bird song and cricket chorus Wrapped tightly now in your blanket of reeds and seeds Each made from a different strain of your grain, of your flowing eddied and streams, of your loom of life, of your neverending sunrise shore Reach out to us now with your long fingers sat on your palest grasses while we wait, Breathe short and stomachs twisted, For our words to shape your fate

She’s giving professor umbridge Talking yourself into progress Reports Research on nuclear your stance is clear: I agree with the esteemed panelists Whose large square shoulders shove mine further into my chair From either side We won’t take your side But I’ll try To catch your eye And plead with mine To set your higher and follow your own gaze this time

We have not met our trajectories They’re deep in the sea Swimming free And we are agreeing on this matter? So what’s the matter? Can we stand up together And leave this room and dig to the middle of the earth where the mud burns hot so we can lay there and let the burning blur your vision because this work starts with a vision But ends when we’ve all walked the stone path out of the heat and into the air It is colder there

Pause, breathe, Bid blue farewell

And welcome green. Goodbye blue rumpled stomachs and a tired wrist. Now tire out my mind’s eye I feel ready to cry

But now I’m not as tired covered in the elements around me And I can sit in the restlessness Ready for another round Ears open at the ready and my pencil steady

What does the River say to you?

On the first day of the year

A mother walks along the riverbank waiting for an answer

The sun scorches down on her neck to keep her warm but her hands seem smaller here to her against the long shadows of the purple sky

Storm clouds gather as purple grows to green and the first few drops hit her face

She tilts her nose to the sun and tries to breathe in the rays one more time but he has already rode his horses into the rain

When she looks down the river speaks to her and tells her to be brave She begins her long walk towards the forest

And says goodbye to her children oak, maple, and dogwood. She travels far under rain filled skies and when they part to blue she stays the night in a bed of moss

They pull the moisture from her clothes and her hair Now at the edge of the forest she walks further to the cactus

She learns of her shields and storing

But here her lungs cannot fill full so she stays the night in the mountains in the shelter of an aspen grove, who as one, breathes strength into her lungs. The next day her legs bring her further to the mangrove trees whose lessons of resilience restore her hope.

After a night under palm’s long flat leaves that show her the kindness in their coconut milk offering She is able to travel further to the mighty redwoods, whose wisdom is unmatched. On the last day of the year a mother returns to her neck of the woods, lays on her back on the riverbank with answers heavy in her heart, with her children oak, maple, and dogwood watching her overhead. She breathes in the cool air of her true home and welcomes the soft snowflakes on her eyelashes.

She sits up and begins her work

What does the River say to you?

Paintings and portraits from COP27 Day 1

COP27, keep coping, keep cropping and talking about doing and doing without thinking and thinking without talking Big business booth and brothers in blue wait for you by buildings bannered and busy Buses to the city

I know you think you’re witty Under the sky hidden by Plastic and wires And I’m already tired And our house is on fire. Even under the metal brier, Voices here inspire solutions Have power to put out the fire Have money in their corner And brother backing their Pavilion theme and panel topics So wasting my chance to listen to you Oh! Leaders and partners and quiet voices and wandering wannabes and tinies, and you from Uganda and you from Armenia, and you from Palestine Is not what I’ll do I’ll listen to you And write about you And all that you do And bring it home Letting those who agree that This is pretty silly And that we should have stopped at COP1 and we should not be on a jetway Getting away But we’re here at 27 Letting them influence me And comfort me And call on me for what they need.

Day 2

Hello, test! Test the limits of the oceans sink Sink your head into the work Work now for your grandfathers

So they don’t have to leave this Earth depending on fate Fate is determined by our hands Hand that swoosh and point and Paint pictures of fire and flood and famine and war and unlivable worlds World, now our world, now our preached and our spending Spending time on being a defender of hypocrisy

Hypocrisies we can’t walk around or above

Above, an ocean gal, like a beacon Beckoning us to connection, to her wide mothers arms, us feeling like grand-child-like, and kin-like, Cope like her

With her long shawl draped cozy-like Dipped in power, in blue dyes like skies and ocean and eyes Mine glued to hers Deep and dark like depths of ocean like bark broken by a breeze blown from seaside into forest wet and wise and tangled in roots and rounded petals and pine needles and sweet sap and thorns and wings and acorn tops broken free from their mother seed from little squirrel paws and stones and sticks and searching eyes and butterflies and dew and you. You are nature and Nature is me and I am nature and We are in danger.

Day 3

If I speak english to my American colleagues about things they already know Recognition floats effortlessly through the air and chokes down my throat For these women, asked questions in english, sitting in plain white armchairs, up 3 steps above us, it is jail or proud resistance on the front line, Pushing for time, A speak for free Free speech floats in front of you too Taking every avenue to reach out and touch it without exposing wrists or checking your left-side shoulder. She is here for her people She is here for the African COP Even yet, she sits here And not in the room with the microphones and the restricted zones Flash, print, proof, used, What they don’t capture is a community built on love, built by hands and skies and trees and reefs and smiles and a child and a circle wide enough to let in communities and cultures that thrive by another water or wood and space for solidarity and not only priority

In the form of joy and different shapes by pencil or planning and polling or preaching or Leading

Since 500 years ago In backyard background, beyond

“The power of people is stronger than the people in power”

And that strength has a voice that’s tongue forms more beautiful more valuable louder warmer words than the person you elected.

Day 4

Blending thousands of strong carried voices mingle dipping down on our ears from the muggy air.

Mixing with feedback and screen crackling creaking wood and pumps hitting the carpet with utmost importance.

A man with three badges takes a call in the corner The IT guy looks so stressed he could cry

A woman updates her cell phone on the patio, singing to her selfie stick over the hum of airplane engines and snack line hellos and groans about the heat And about her feet And about the sound And being overwhelmed

Welcome to this noisy place

Where through the mixture of it all, I search for meaning and a glimpse of my reason For listening to these circles and These esteemed panels These pumps on pallets These silent words These data takers

Tech innovators

Senators

Through the sport coat, gesture casual, confidence is key, frown at the crowd, translations to english, i believes, no examples, vague reflections, new sidewalks, fluorescent lights, for your resume, heaving sighs, and wandering eyes, experts, launches, expensive lunches

I look for you You who know the feel of the mud in your hands and the grass on your knees and the river in your hair.

Take me there

To where the full plate they preach about I can Reach out and pick Where the snakes are not the tempter

Where women’s mistakes don’t become your reason for the ending of paradise She mis-stepped no doubt around your taunting

To where the abundance of her shores and gardens is like the world to a child's eyes where the turtles back can be a home and a muskrat can save the world

Where we are helpless and he is powerful and his little fist clutches riches more wondrous than anything.

To where the sun welcomed by cloud ridden weekdays feels like magic on cheeks and looks like golden speckles on the rushing stream and together they smooth the rocks and feed the mossy green that springs so easily and blooms over everything and feeds the forest.

To where the clean bright white blanket covers trees and ice sheets and pastures once green and rounds the stark edges of the roofs and all around the block, and ice forms

like spears and where a walking stick is her greatest gift of the day and is cherished until decay.

To where sugar flows and asparagus grows and water knows the laughter of me and my friends so well and trees aren't in rows

Day 5

Flooding is the beast today

Wells need to be built, dams for protection

Or our crops will continue to yield only Straw and one resilient fruit, not enough to feed a rebellion Nothing golden Food is a magical way to explore this world

Even through the screen cracked distance I can feel her Rich seeped meaning in these words

Her eyes seem to come through the wall and seer into each of us

Pink painted lips and curls that explode further than the room lets them exist

You can hear the smile in her voice It pulls on each of our eardrums and forces us to curl the sides of our mouth slowly up with hers

It can be magical in this work She shows it And she knows it Drought is the monster today

Unrest floods deeper into everyday life, flushing out your golden strings and hunger bites harder with the minutes

Heat waves are the invaders today

Sweeping communities into lifeless living

All you can do is be still and wait And Breathe And pray This is now our chance As a human problem

A human coalition

A chance now for you to save on your own 4 billion tons of golden gas that belongs here in your garden Who says you can’t change anything

Your liquid sunshine and rays of healing

Creating that golden space you dream of it in your dreams

Only in your dreams it's golden so Bring it out now Build it now

Follow your golden heart now

Your garden can turn golden And green and purple and red

And those 4 billion tons will be lifted off your golden hands and into everything you see around you

Like those eyes in the wall And that smile you can’t unsee

And now we rest In Her voice

Careless like a child And tinkling like a bell that chimes over and over in a windstorm Her words flow out one after another, eager to paint a picture of her country We don’t have your strange ways of normalcy Mine is barefoot in the bush

And my diving certificate painted across my chest like a name tag My captainship and my body as an anchor You have to sing Paint

Drop out of school to campaign Because that world deserves her armor

Her shields and spears alike And I can’t drag my ears away from her And I know the rest of the world she touches won’t be able to drag theirs away either

Lasting effects of the Kyoto Protocol: Tensions over negotiation status regarding the UN’s Adaptation Fund on the rise

By Owen Brown

Amongst all UN-recognized nations, there are roughly two buckets for economic classification: developed and developing economies. This classification has major implications for a country’s stance in negotiations, as developed nations typically push for greater mitigation efforts, while developing nations want more emphasis on adaptation and, a newer point of focus at the 27th Conference of Parties held in Sharm El-Sheikh (COP27), loss and damage support. At COP27, one major agenda item was the Adaptation Fund (referred to hereafter as “the fund”): the fund, as its name suggests, goes towards adaptation-based financing and primarily involves a flow of capital from developed nations towards developing nations.

While attending the third negotiation meeting at COP27, part of SBI 18(b) Fourth Review of the Adaptation Fund, the South African delegation pushed to remove the United States delegation from the decision-making process. But how can one delegation forcefully remove another, and why would they do this?

The fund’s creation still has lasting impacts on who can participate in negotiations. Since it was established in 2001 under the Kyoto Protocol, signatories of the Kyoto Protocol have the right to participate in negotiations of the fund. The United States never ratified the Kyoto Protocol due to concerns over unrealistic expectations for developed nations, and Canada left the treaty in 2011 over the same issue (History.com Editors 2020). Since the United States and Canada are now signatories of the Paris Agreement, they may participate in the negotiations up until the decision-making sessions related to the fund. However, at last year’s COP in Glasgow, the convening body allowed both the United States and Canada to participate throughout the negotiation process, setting a precedent of greater involvement.

At this year’s COP, I observed South Africa’s motion to remove the United States from making comments during the third session and the ensuing ramifications. This event occurred during the third session concerning the fund, and I had attended the first two sessions as well, providing context on delegation positions, goals of the fund, and rhetoric used in negotiation.

This third session concerning the fund was labeled as a decision-making session, for the secretariat and delegates were making final edits to the draft text that had been written throughout the first two sessions. The United States delegation was continuing to make comments at this point, so the South African delegation repeatedly argued that “non-parties should not even be in the room ... I think I’ve been repeating my position for about four years” (2022). While this reference to four years was hyperbole, South Africa repeatedly raised this position in discussion; the majority of the third session was devoted to this individual point. The debate between South Africa and the United States forced many delegations to take sides:

most developed nations sided with the United States, while developing nations, such as the African block and AOSIS, supported their removal from the session.

The secretariat recognized that there was a fundamental disagreement in the room, so she called for the international treaty lawyer to settle the debate. After assessing the situation, the lawyer decided that this was indeed a decision-making session, and the United States, along with Canada, are not allowed to contribute to the discussion. Following the decision, the United States delegation said, “as a Paris agreement member, we are not feeling very welcome at the moment” (2022). Revisiting the technicality of who has decision-making power with the fund overruled the precedent set in Glasgow, showing that the Kyoto Protocol still has lasting impacts on foreign politics today. Following the legal decision, the United States delegation promptly left the room. The decision to leave the room entirely depicts the nation’s foreign policy stance: if the United States financially contributes to developing countries’ adaptation, they will not stand to merely observe. Meanwhile, Canada remained in the room for the rest of the session.

The motives behind United States removal are clear but may have unintended consequences on foreign policy. When discussing pledges made by the United States and other developed nations, South Africa said, these “developed countries continue to lie to us about being committed to the global adaptation” and make inconsistent pledges that continue to be unfulfilled (2022). The Middle East group, African group, and South American group all supported this specific point, as well as negotiating for more specificity around increases in country pledges and transparency in reporting. Removal of the United States and Canada helped amplify voices of those developing nation blocks in the fund’s negotiations and reflects their positioning as the primary receivers from the fund but likely at the expense of future United States cooperation surrounding the fund.

References

1st, 2nd, and 3rd negotiation meetings as a part of the SBI 18(b) Fourth Review of the Adaptation Fund. Delegate quotes and stances were recorded in my journal for the purpose of this review.

History.com Editors. 2020. Kyoto Protocol first adopted in Japan. A&E Television Networks.

The Role of Civil Society and Non-party Stakeholders at

By Mika Alexander

COP27

Most people with civil society status cannot say that they have been able to attend a United Nations conference of any kind. However, some of us are among the privileged who are badged and welcome into spaces of high-level negotiations. After spending months attaining badges and preparing ourselves for the demands of the Blue Zone, Colorado College’s 12-person delegation began our AN380 course excited to finally engage with COP27, the United Nations climate change conference, in a tangible way. Throughout the entirety of the conference, I traversed throughout its various spaces to gain a better idea of the roles civil society and non-party stakeholders play in COP27.

Before venturing into the Blue Zone, I spent three days at a peripheral event hosted by the New York Times called Climate Forward. This space was unique in that it did not require attendees to be badged, and it offered a discount for youth, which took the original daily ticket price of $350 to $0. Seeing other huddles of youth inside the venue, it was apparent that this discount initiative made the space more accessible to people who otherwise would not have been able to afford entry. Accordingly, my peers in attendance and I must have looked incredibly out of place as we gawked over the constant flow of espresso, capuccinos, and lattes from sleek coffee machines, freshly squeezed juices, and extravagant assortments of the prettiest tiny pastries and puddings I have ever seen. After spending a few moments hovering over the sweets and treats, we entered the main auditorium hosting each speaker session. Professionallooking adults filled the room, and we meekly took our seats a few rows behind the front. It was clear we were among the youngest in the room, but that seemed to give us a sense of power. We knew we were desired voices within the audience, and we were prepared to milk that fact.

Despite this feeling, however, event staff and moderators seemed to favor the questions of adult participants. The question-and-answer system was a bit chaotic, with the method of gathering and choosing questions switching every few events. But, they seemed to choose from a pile of questions, and at the end of the very first session, only two white men’s questions were answered. Despite this dynamic, the event’s set-up gave us a chance to approach speakers after sessions to engage in conversation with them. So, overall, the experience was enriching even though youth were not always the most uplifted group in the room.

In the Blue Zone, however, the hustle and bustle of the constant occurrence of speeches, panels, and workshops created an environment in which no one had much time to speak to each other in between events. So, participation in the Blue Zone as a non-party stakeholder with observer status consisted of a lot of watching and listening. Even watching and listening was, at times, a major challenge. Pavilions hosting various panels were in such close proximity to each other that it was almost impossible to clearly hear what each speaker was saying. They had microphones to help speakers project, but the sound systems would sometimes pick up other events’ speakers and

other surrounding sounds, seriously inhibiting the flow of discussions. Even in side events, which were hosted in individual rooms, would encounter the same issues, and speakers seemed to be unconcerned with making sure they spoke closely enough to the microphones. Events and panels encountered many technical difficulties as well. Thus, technology-related delays caused sessions to run into question-and-answer time, which left little to no time at the end for actual engagement with speakers.

In terms of observer demographics, most participants were older professionals rather than students and children. Because of this, even when there was time at the end of sessions to ask questions, engagement mainly came from established adults within their respective industries. However, this year, for the first time in the history of COP, there was a Children and Youth pavilion in the Blue Zone, which hosted many events and attracted COP participants of the underrepresented younger generations. Like the adult participants, though, younger COP goers appeared to be incredibly busy. People I tried to talk to who seemed to be simply relaxing at one of the tables at the pavilion were actually working remotely, preparing for a panel, or taking a much-needed brain break from all of the interviews they already were participating in. For these reasons, it was a challenge finding people to interview.

Fortunately, stationary booth presentations allowed me to speak with a handful of people about their experiences as non-state actors in the Blue Zone. First, I spoke with a woman who asked to be called Lilly representing an environmental education organization based in Taiwan. COP27 was Lilly’s first COP, and she described the environment as “intensive” due to its overwhelming nature. Despite having to overcome navigating the vastness of the Blue Zone, Lilly hoped her presence at COP27 would allow for her organization to scale its work from the local to the international. Noting that she “didn’t see much progression this year on the Glasgow Forest Declaration,” she hopes that her organization will continue to empower young people to learn about and connect with their local forests while reaching a larger audience at COP27.

Second, I spoke with Melanie Quigley, a professor at the Yale School of the Environment. She emphasized her role in supporting delegations that need extra resources while empowering around 30 students to attend negotiations. As a fifth-time COP goer, Quigley maintained the importance of observer parties in the Blue Zone, which she aids through her work with the Yale School of the Environment. She said, “If you look at the statistics, it grows every single year. And I think this year is the largest group of observers coming to a COP.”

Lastly, I engaged in two separate interviews–one with a Filipino named Tonichi and the other with three youth activists–that gave me another look into non-state action in the Blue Zone. Tonichi is a 25-year-old researcher and diplomat at the Manila Observatory working on regional climate systems in the Philippines. “Most of our climate work is very technical but also very diplomatic and political,” he said. “Obviously advocacy and activism is a very important part of the UNFCCC process. But on the tangent side of that, you have to know what you’re up against; you have to be in the system. So this is how we get people to really understand the nitty gritty of this grueling process.”

The three youth activists were each from Colombia, Ecuador and Indonesia, and represented non-governmental organizations focused on environmental and Indigenous advocacy at COP27. “I’m here as a youth delegation from my country. I would like to express my interest; I would like to raise my voice on what we suffer in Indonesia. I think that youth have to be the front-line role to be implementing policy so the government can hear our voices,” said one youth. The two others spoke in Spanish, so I will be spending time translating their words completely and accurately before I quote them.

Overall, each interview, although completely different from one another, gave me a multifaceted look into how sub-national and non-state actors interact with the high-level and restricted space in the Blue Zone. Additionally, speaking with each of these climate activists further cemented an ideal of multilevel collaboration for climate action inside and outside of the policymaking space. Clearly, including non-party stakeholders, and especially youth who will be the next generation of policymakers, in discussions held in negotiation rooms and around the Blue Zone is integral to implementing successful climate-minded policy while maintaining a global mindset committed to repairing the climate crisis.

Decarbonization at COP 27: Green Hydrogen and The Ocean

By Layla Haji

As the world rapidly approaches its ecological tipping point, the 27th Conference of Parties (COP) highlights detrimental practices, assesses worldwide problems, and proposes solutions to challenge climate change and meet a goal of less than 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature rise. This current warming of the planet is primarily caused by the release of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, with carbon dioxide being the highest emitted worldwide (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2022). This leads to the implementation theme of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, as topics of mitigation, adaptation, losses, and damages pose imminent threats to millions of living beings worldwide (Owen-Burge, 2022). Interdisciplinary and multidimensional measures are collectively working towards solutions, with a focus on decarbonization stemming from new sustainable practices and the use of natural environmental aids such as the ocean. Decarbonization encompasses a balancing act: the reduction of emissions through the transition to renewable energy resources and the mitigating process of removing carbon dioxide already in the air. The transition to renewable energy sources across sectors requires the exploration of new technologies and investment into successful tried and true methods. The sequestration of carbon dioxide includes supporting the natural absorption processes of forests and the oceans, in addition to carbon capture and storage. Two main focuses in Sharm el Sheik follow players in both of these sectors, with green hydrogen as an alternative renewable energy and the ocean as a natural carbon sink. This leads to the question: How does the information spread at COP27 surrounding the exploration of green hydrogen contribute to a road map to a net zero future?

Green hydrogen has the potential to transform the energy sector worldwide and as such, remained a key concept explored at a multitude of panels and presentations at COP27. Hydrogen power refers to the chemical element hydrogen, which generates energy when it is split from other components such as oxygen or carbon monoxide (Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 2019). Hydrogen power is used to store excess energy and be utilized when other renewable energy sources are unavailable. Green hydrogen refers to the hydrolysis of water powered by renewable energy sources. Currently, the majority of hydrogen energy production involves the use of fossil fuels, with methane-producing gray/blue hydrogen and coal producing brown/black hydrogen. With hydrogens' ability to release twice the amount of energy as gasoline, decarbonizing and increasing the use of this energy source is essential. As such, green hydrogen was commonly used in the discussion of alternative energy resources among countries, organizations, and think-tank participants. An in-depth look at hydrogen was provided at the Innovation Hub Pavilion within the blue zone of COP27, as they dedicated an entire day to green hydrogen with esteemed panelists including Noam Bossidan from the World Economic Factor, global director of Zero Carbon Fuels Magnolia Tovar, and founding chair of the Deloitte Center for Sustainable Progress Behard Lortez (Schniering, 2022). The cross-disciplinary research allowed for a holistic look at green hydrogen and identified key processes needed.

For hydrogen to become a real player in renewables, it was determined that it needs to be decarbonized to decrease its contribution to carbon emissions. With this decarbonization, the production of hydrogen must be immensely scaled up in the next decade, coinciding with the increased availability of clean energy. This would only be possible if the cost of electrolysis decreased, and investments were poured into developing countries. This funding would build on existing frameworks and create new infrastructure. The synchronization of funding, demand, and supply of green hydrogen create hope for it being a key player in the sustainable energy department of decarbonization.

The second component of decarbonization, the absorption of carbon dioxide in the air is essential because of the critical levels of emissions currently present. While new technologies are generating new ways of carbon capture and storage, the world has a built-in safety net, the ocean. The ocean, covering over 70% of the world’s surface, has successfully mitigated some of the impact of climate change through its sequestration of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (Shutler & Watson, 2020). This sequestration begins with carbon diffusing and dissolving into the surface waters of the ocean then joining the physical carbon pump, biological carbon pump, or carbonate carbon pump cycles (Bopp et al., 2022). The carbonate pump cycle begins with the dissolution of carbon dioxide in the ocean which results in hydrogen ions, bicarbonate ions, and carbonate ions. The carbonate ions then can react with calcium ions to create calcium carbonate utilized by marine life to build shells. The biological carbon pump transforms carbon dioxide into other carbon compounds through the process of photosynthesis (Claustre et al., 2021). Photosynthesis is carried out by phytoplankton that lives under the sea and these alternative carbon compounds circle through the marine food cycle and ultimately end up deep in the ocean. The physical carbon pump transports carbon throughout the depths of the ocean through downwelling and upwelling currents. Downwelling occurs when cold water sinks and the currents cause carbon dioxide to move deeper into the ocean where it remains for centuries. Upwelling currents bring carbon dioxide back up where it is remitted into the atmosphere. Together, these three cycles create the carbon dioxide sink that has stored carbon dioxide in the ocean for years and currently is at risk of contributing to a net emission of carbon with rising ocean temperatures. At such a critical tipping point, the ocean finally received a prominent seat at the table at COP27.

Similar to green hydrogen, the ocean remained a focus in a variety of conversations, with an Ocean pavilion in the blue zone, an Ocean Climate Summit hosted at the Park Regency Hotel, and an entire Ocean/Gender theme day at the COP27 on November 14. Here, the intersection of indigenous knowledge, scientific research, and an overarching love for nature led to one conclusion, the oceans must be protected. Currently, the ocean is facing a variety of obstacles threatening its ability to host a diverse marine ecosystem and corrupting its capabilities as a capture carbon system. One consequence of the increased emission of carbon dioxide is the acidification of the ocean, with about a 30% acidity increase since the beginning of the industrial revolution (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2020). This acidification has

contributed to the bleaching of corals, has reduced organisms' ability to build shells, and decreased predatory behaviors of some marine life that are unable to navigate through acidic waters. Another problem faced by the ocean is the alarming increase in resilient micropollutants and microplastics in the water. The consumption of these micropollutants and microplastic by marine life is threatening the marine ecosystem (National Geographic Society, 2022). These pollutants also pose a threat to living things on land that drink directly from these water systems, even found in drinking water. As the ocean crisis reaches detrimental levels, challenging it showed interdisciplinary focuses at the COP.

Many panels at the COP and the Ocean x Climate Summit, often led by indigenous peoples, emphasized the need to increase awareness of the damage done to the ocean while also showing all that the ocean provides. This focus on education could have a wide variety of impacts, first by decreasing individual harm contributing to the acidification and pollution of the ocean. Then, by granting access to the wonders of the ocean, the inherent connection to nature would help push communities to fight for their rights and survival. A switch to biodegradable and sustainable products would also decrease the landfill directly contributing to the long-lasting pollutants found in the water. The true restoration of the ocean requires contributions from people throughout all sectors of the world, with a combination of actions needed immediately as the world rapidly approaches its tipping point.

COP27, the COP of implementation, emphasizes the urgency of the world crisis, as millions of lives and ecosystems hang in the balance. Improvements from previous years include allowing for contribution of indigenous knowledge, youth voices, and the oceans voice, but giving all equal voices is still far in the future. Currently, decarbonization lies at the center of this united effort, with green hydrogen providing new hope and the ocean being recognized as a historic ally. As the race to maintain 1.5 degrees continues, investment, development, and recognition of green hydrogen and the ocean will continue to provide hope for the future, from this COP to the next.

References Cited

Bopp, Laurent, Chris Bowier, Lionel Guidi, and Eric Karsenti. “The Ocean: a Carbon Pump.” Ocean Climate Organization. Accessed November 23, 2022. https://www.ocean-climate.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ocean-carbonpump_ScientificItems_BD-2.pdf.

Claustre, Hervé, Louis Legendre, Philip W. Boyd, and Marina Levy. “The Oceans' Biological Carbon Pumps: Framework for a Research Observational Community Approach.” Frontiers in Marine Science. Frontiers, January 1, 2021. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.780052/full.

“Hydrogen Fuel Basics.” Energy.gov. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Accessed November 15, 2022. https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-fuel-basics.

National Geographic Society. “Microplastics.” National Geographic Society. Morgan Stanley, May 20, 2022. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/microplastics/

“Ocean Acidification.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, April 1, 2020. https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/oceanacidification

“Overview of Greenhouse Gases.” EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, May 16, 2022. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases

Owen-Burge, Charlotte. “Together for Implementation: A COP27 Message from the Champions.” Climate Champions. UNFCCC, November 20, 2022.

https://climatechampions.unfccc.int/together-for-implementation-a-cop27message-from-the-champions/

Session 2: A Realistic Assessment on the Current State of Green Hydrogen. YouTube. Innovation Hub Pavilion, 2022.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3NJa1ToKyY&list=PLBcZ22cUY9RKvJdiyN v8ZbwffKqVq2yAl&index=26&t=253s.

Shutler, Jamie, and Andy Watson. “The Oceans Are Absorbing More Carbon than Previously Thought.” Carbon Brief, October 26, 2020.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-the-oceans-are-absorbing-more-carbonthan-previously-thought/.

Humans of COP27 and Beyond

By Naomi Henry

Introduction

For as long as I’d been anticipating going to COP27, I knew that I cared most about focusing on the people. Ultimately, my goal was to talk to everyone I could, and to hear about their work and missions in the greater cause that we were all there for. For me, the people are always where the joy comes from in any work. Meeting new people and creating lasting connections is what inspires me to keep trying in this world that we’ve so drastically torn apart. So, for my project, I decided not just to meet people and connect, but to make the effort to really learn about them and hear them through a series of questions I drafted. I conducted over 20 interviews, which I am still in the process of compiling, but this archive contains some of my favorites.

For some insight, here is a list of the general questions I would ask:

- What is your name?

- Where are you from?

- Why are you here or how did you come to be here?

- What organizations, projects, or initiatives are you involved with and could you please tell me a little bit about them?

- What are your main missions and goals when it comes to climate action?

- How did you get into climate activism?

- What do you hope to see come out of this COP?

- What gives you hope?

Jovana Hoschtialek

“At the end of the day, it’s not just us, it’s not just Grenada suffering, it’s everywhere.”

I met Jovana Hoschtialek on the bus ride back to Naama Bay from the Blue Zone, the day we went to get our badges printed. She is 17 years old, and the youth representative of Grenada. The government asked her to come to COP27 on behalf of her initiative, 195 in 365, in which she and her father plan “to travel to all 195 sovereign countries within a year to spread global awareness to all corners of the world.” When telling me more about it, she explained, “we all live on this earth and we’re only seeing what affects us in our homes, and so what we want, with our initiative, is to take the youth around so that the world is constantly paying attention. Not just when everyone’s watching at these two weeks of the COP, where the attention will be on all the problems of climate change for a full year to spread more awareness.”

She also talked a bit about the threat of climate change to Grenada and other small island nations, and especially islands like Barbados, that are significantly flat in their geography. She asked, “when the water rises, where are they gonna go?” Additionally, was the threat to the tourism industry that she mentioned. “Our livelihood and income is based off of tourism,” she explained, “so if we lose half of our beaches, half of our tourism is gone.” Jovana talked about seeing the issue of climate change as a whole, beyond her own home. “At the end of the day, it’s not just us, it’s not just Grenada suffering, it’s everywhere.”

Johann Hoschtialek

Along with Jovana, I met Johann Hoschtialek, her father. Johann is also part of the Grenadian delegation, and when I asked what brought them to COP27, he explained that when the Grenadian government saw what they were doing in Grenada in preempting their trip (195 in 365), they asked Jovana to be the youth representative for Grenada at COP27. Johann came as a chaperone for Jovana.

My conversation with Johann centered largely around the power of the youth. In answering about their main goals and missions of the 195 in 365 initiative, he told me, “we are seeking to get the youth involved around the world and see how we can get other youth who would be interested in the group to go around the world as part of a larger global initiative to make a change.” They plan on bringing a combination of advocacy, education, and inspiration to every place they visit to create connections between people and the climate, and to broaden the network of climate action. Johann feels especially passionate about creating connections between the youth. “What we’d love to happen next, is to get the youth that are here at COP to have a larger conversation–we would love to get as many parties on board to sit and have this discussion.”

Dr. Arvind Kumar

I met Dr. Arvind Kumar at a workshop on human rights and air quality at the New York Times Climate Forward. He was the guest speaker at my table, and I was so fascinated with what he said during the workshop that I spent a good half hour waiting to talk with him afterwards. Dr. Kumar is a chest surgeon from New Delhi, one of the cities with the worst air quality in the world and found his way into the climate justice sphere after more than 40 years of his medical work. When I asked about the reason for this, he explained that as a chest surgeon, he sees three to four pairs of lungs each day, and that over time, he has begun to see a change in the color of patient’s lungs from pink to black dots. From there, he started thinking about the effect of air pollution on peoples' health and thrust himself into advocacy on the issue.

It was interesting to hear him speak about his positionality in this movement. “As a doctor, I’m seeing my role and the role of doctors across the world to tell people that if you don’t control the use of fossil fuels today, your children’s health, your health will be damaged.” He explained that he included children in that statement because, “at least in India, people claim that they care about their children, so when you say ‘your health’, they may not worry so much, but when you say ‘your kid’s health’, well they will stand up and listen.” He then noted the increased risk and damage that children and the elderly face over adults, before circling back around to his main point, being that “therefore, the role of doctors is to inform people, make them more aware. Once they are aware that if I don't phase out fossil fuel, I am going to play with the life of my kids,

“The damage starts before you are born and continues until your last breath, so two options: either you stop breathing, or you clean the air.”

and therefore I have to do it, there is no choice, it’s not a question of choice. There is no choice.” He sees clean air as a human right, and made the powerful point that, “the damage starts before you are born and continues until your last breath, so two options: either you stop breathing, or you clean the air.” Due to these sentiments, Dr. Kumar considers awareness to be the first step in combating the climate crisis. “When you are aware, you will be awakened, and when you are awakened, you will, yourself, take the actions which you need to take as an individual, and you will accept the actions of the governments also.” He feels that this problem will not be solved unless there is peoples’ involvement, which stems from peoples’ awareness, the role of a doctor becoming extremely vital in this.

All of these factors motivated Dr. Kumar to set up Lung Care Foundation, and under this organization, a group called Doctors For Clean Air. Based in India with support from 21 medical partnerships, it is a network of over 300,000 passionate doctors who are working towards spreading awareness of the problem of air pollution. They are also encouraging people to make small efforts on a personal level, and to pressure their local governments to take agency. Dr. Kumar added that they are “trying to create a nation-wide grassroot level of awareness and action to culminate into a national level.”

“I’m really excited and nervous but there are so many young people here that give me courage.”

I met Alejandro Daly at the human rights and air quality workshop as well. He is a young advocate from Venezuela working to get clean air for young people all over the world. I asked what brought him here and he said, “I came here because after four years of

Alejandro Daly

doing advocacy for air pollution, I found it was finally the time to use my voice to make sure that we demand clean air.” He feels like clean air is a topic that’s often left out of the climate agenda and is excited to be in this space surrounded by so many young people that give him courage.

Alejandro’s climate activism started five years ago, when he created an organization in Colombia, called The Right to Disobey, focused on making civil disobedience part of climate action and the refugees’ agenda. He is also working on creating The National Citizen Network for clean air in Colombia which has already mobilized over 15,000 people to take action and do climate strikes (for clean air in particular). Additionally, he has co-founded the Latin American Coalition for Clean Air, which gathers around 50 organizations from seven countries in the region to work on passing policy agendas. They are training people how to monitor air pollution with local sensors in tandem with advocacy for political solutions that are rooted in the public agenda. Lastly, Alejandro is here with UNICEF to engage young people across the world with air pollution.

I met Bodhi Patil at the New York Times Climate Forward during a coffee break. He’s a youth climate solutionist from Canada, focused on the intersection between ocean health and human health, “and how we’re inextricably connected to the blue spaces and the sea around us.” Upon the first things he said, he explained that the ocean is the largest carbon sink, and covers 70 percent of the planet, much like our bodies which are

Bodhi Patil

“Something that connects to everyone is the fact that the ocean is directly contributing to the very air that we breathe.”

70 percent water. I also learned from him that the fluid within a mother’s womb is actually the same salinity as that of the ocean, so we’re deeply connected to its health.

Bodhi is a co-creator of Ocean Uprise and Sea Dragon Studios, programs educating and empowering young people to take local action to protect their watersheds, restore mangroves, improve the health of corals, clean beaches, and divest in fossil fuels. He also works with Sustainable Ocean Alliance, a global network with hubs in 30 countries, which educates and trains young people to be ocean guardians. They focus on improving ocean outcomes by local stewardship initiatives and learning from ocean tech startups, like OnDeck Fisheries which focuses on reducing and moderating fishing bycatch.

In our conversation, he made sure to highlight the connection between the ocean and the air. “Something that connects to everyone is the fact that the ocean is directly contributing to the very air that we breathe.” He continued by remarking that “photosynthesizing phytoplankton–marine greens–and prochlorococcus and synechococcus are responsible for about 50 to 80 percent of the oxygen produced globally, so every second breath we take is from the sea.” Now he is helping to create a project called One World Breath, one half breath from terrestrial forests, and one half breath from sea forests, together unleashing global youth climate action for one world breath. This project is being joined with Craig Foster, from My Octopus Teacher, and Jane Goodall. They are working on storytelling to show stewardship practices and are finding young people around the world who are stewarding their environments and creating a space for them to speak up.

Nicole Yanes

“We don’t see ourselves as a funder but we see ourselves rematriating this wealth that was built our of our lands, that was extracted from our lands, stolen lands, and so we’re rematriating it in a good way and resourcing it, and putting it back into our communities so we can create new systems, new economic systems and everything else, so we can defend our territories, develop our communities, and decolonize our people in the process.”

I met Nicole Yanes on a different coffee break at the Climate Forward. She is Opata, from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico on the United States-Mexico border. She is here to support the Indegenous movement and people here, and their positions. “What brings me to COP is to make sure that human rights, and our rights as Indigenous peoples don’t get violated in the programs and processes that are established from whatever decisions the states make here.” Branching off on this, she talked about the $1.7 billion promised after COP26, to go to Indigenous peoples, forest management, and local communities, and how a recent report stated that they only saw seven percent of that funding come through. “We’re here to push for direct access and funding,” she said. “We’re here to make sure that real climate finance and direct access to funding goes to our communities and is accessible to our communities.”

Nicole is the program officer with NDN Collective, a movement building organization, one hundred percent founded and led by Indigenous peoples, for Indigenous peoples. An overarching mission of theirs is “to build our collective power so that we can have a more just and equitable world for all of us. We know we need to take the lead in certain areas for there to actually be justice and equity for all the people on the planet.” Of the

action they take, they have a climate justice campaign and a Land Back campaign, going to all means and manners whether it be through direct action, voting, purchasing land, or getting grants to Indigenous communities to get their land back. Nicole used the phrase, “more Indigenous lands in Indigenous hands,” to cement this cause.

Part of this mission additionally centers around creating more carbon sequestration spaces and revitalizing stolen lands to create sustainable models and communities that can further preserve and conserve those lands. Since 2019 they have fundraised $100 million and are actively “trying to close the wealth gap by resourcing our people.” Nicole noted, “we don’t see ourselves as a funder but we see ourselves rematriating this wealth that was built our of our lands, that was extracted from our lands, stolen lands, and so we’re rematriating it in a good way and resourcing it, and putting it back into our communities so we can create new systems, new economic systems and everything else, so we can defend our territories, develop our communities, and decolonize our people in the process.”

Alhaj Ashraf

“I don’t want to just see countries pledging a certain amount of money, pledging projects, I want them to sign in on contracts that are going to build new projects, contracts that are going to dissolve away the old systems that we have and replace them with something new. I want to see countries taking the risk to do that…”

Alhaj and I met by the ocean, at a coral workshop provided by the New York Times Climate Forward. He is a graduate geologist at the University of Cairo, from Qatar,

Sudan, and Egypt. His work and research centers around geothermal energy, and he is currently focused on the potential geothermal energy in the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea area. “I feel like geothermal energy is one of the ways in which we can combat climate change in terms of providing renewable, sustainable, and affordable energy to millions of people around the globe,” he responded when I asked for his thoughts on the matter.

He is permanently representing the University of Cairo as an ambassador to summits and conferences all throughout Egypt, but the current organization that is funding his project is the Icelandic government itself. He explained to me that this is because they have a very keen interest in helping the world unlock new potentials of producing energy through the earth, being pioneers of that and successfully relying on renewable energy extracted from the earth for 90 percent of their electricity grid. Alhaj’s overarching mission encompasses access and accountability.

“I want to see a world where people have more opportunities than less. Climate change limits people, it limits our activities, it limits our development, and I think humanity is beautiful, and we are very smart. We are lucky to be smart and have intelligence, and we can use that to better unlock the secrets of the universe.” He is a huge believer in providing better opportunities for people to better understand the universe around us.

Coming out of this COP, Alhaj is hoping to see countries set initiatives. “I don’t want to just see countries pledging a certain amount of money, pledging projects, I want them to sign in on contracts that are going to build new projects, contracts that are going to dissolve away the old systems that we have and replace them with something new. I want to see countries taking the risk to do that, because it is a huge risk for countries to be able to do that, the shift is not cheap. It’s labor intensive, financially intensive.”

Stephen Dunbar

I met Stephen Dunbar at the New York Times Climate Forward, of course, as he is the President International, of the New York Times Company, and facilitated the whole event. We had exchanged a few words here and there throughout the week, the first instance being when time ran out on the last talk of the second day and he looked at me and said, “we have one very disappointed person who wants to ask a question,” and created a space for me to do so. Come the end of the last day of the Climate Forward, and I thought I better try to get a few moments of dialogue with him before leaving. Again, he was kind enough to create some time for me.

Stephen Dunbar is British and French, and from Canada. I started out by asking about his reason for being here. “For the New York Times, climate is the biggest story,” he said. “We have a huge commitment to climate journalism so we like to convene these events to bring all the various constituents together–government, business, regulators, civil society, young people, Indigenous communities–all the actors together to talk about how we can scale climate solution goals to get to the net zero by 2050, which is what COP is all about.” He then listed some more climate events that the New York Times has done, such as London Climate Week, UN Climate Week in New York, and one in San Francisco discussing the positive impacts of technology for climate change and the importance of getting narratives across through storytelling. Along with this he communicated that it was “not just focusing on the urgency of the crisis, but also some

“It’s not a question of money–the money is there; it’s how can government create regulatory platforms that derisk that money, that allows it to flow to the right people?”

of the solutions and hope as well.” It was powerful to hear him say, “and, there is hope, there is hope, we can do it; it’s tough but we can do it.”

He spoke about caring for the climate on multiple levels. On one hand, the New York Times is primarily concerned with seeking truth, and following science. His main concern there is, “how do we help and support the journalism to get out and support all of this coverage of the climate?” On the other hand, Dunbar is very passionate about this cause on a personal level and concerned for his kids. It’s important for him to take actions in his own life, for example, reading a lot on the issue and becoming a vegetarian.

He would like to see a financing breakthrough come out of this COP. “There are trillions of dollars that are waiting to be allocated,” he proclaimed. “It’s not a question of money–the money is there; it’s how can government create regulatory platforms that derisk that money, that allows it to flow to the right people?” He followed this by remarking that this can be done, but it needs political will. “I think encouragingly, a lot of businesses have got this, and they're doing this, and they're moving, and they’ve made pledges–which is very significant,” he said, “but I think the governments need to create frameworks to allow all this money to flow in the right places.”

My final question for him was, “what gives you hope?” He answered with, “my sons.”

Conclusion

This project was extremely valuable to me and something that I will cherish forever. I met so many amazing people and I am excited to stay connected with them and their projects. A main takeaway I gathered from the project as a whole, was how incredibly diverse everyone was in the work that they were doing. I felt this the whole time I was in Egypt but going through my notes and voice recordings afterwards was really what cemented that idea for me. One moment I’m writing up an interview on a youth activist, the next, a doctor, and the next, a geologist, and so on, so forth. The empowerment that came from hearing everyone’s stories, so different yet so unified under the same cause, is unparalleled. It was especially compelling to find such strong and common threads around the power of the youth, storytelling, and Indigenous knowledge in protecting and healing the Earth. I have more hope now than ever and am inspired to hold everything that I learned tightly, and to uplift it, and the people behind it as best as I can. Thank you to everyone who makes these pages meaningful and beautiful, you are the seed of hope.

Representation of Indigenous Peoples at COP27

By Reeve Schroeder

In his speech discussing climate change at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27), President Biden stated that “preserving nature is one of the most impactful climate solutions we have – some Indigenous people, who have – communities have known and been the stewards of these efforts for a long time and generations. They’ve known it” (Biden 2022). Statements like this were fairly common among speakers and leaders at the annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference, which was held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt this year. However, while the importance of Indigenous knowledge and practices are acknowledged throughout many levels of the conference, there are still many disconnects between these statements and the real work being done. In this essay, I explore some of these gaps that I, as an observer, noticed throughout my week at the conference, as well as some of the possibilities for improvement.

The events at the COP, as well as the participants, are organized into varying levels. Indigenous representation (as well as representation of other groups) vary among those levels. The “Blue Zone'' requires a prior authorized badge, and it is where the official events of the conference take place. Generally, these badges are for “observers,” who are representatives of nongovernmental organizations, students, etc., and “party members,” who are delegates that represent their nations. While the Blue Zone contains the official negotiations and events, it also features side events, pavilions, and exhibit booths which can be platforms for civil society and other non-state actors. The Indigenous People’s Pavilion, formally The International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC), hosted various panels and events throughout the COP which brought attention to various local and collective concerns (International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change 2022a). From what I observed during the first week of the conference, this pavilion was a crucial space for Indigenous communities from across the globe to share ideas and practices and advocate for justice within and beyond the COP negotiations. Indigenous Peoples are not recognized as a party (or parties) at the COP, meaning that they are observers who, according to Tomohiro Harada, have to fight from “the outside.” Harada is from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and provides technical assistance to Indigenous peoples on Article 6, Loss and Damage, and Cover Decision negotiation (Crook 2022, UNFCCC 2022a, UNFCCC 2022c). Harada explained that his work focuses on capacity building for Indigenous communities that are “in limbo” at the COP. Because Indigenous peoples do not have their own parties, they are either badged as “observers,” or they are part of and funded by a state party, meaning that they are responsible for representing their state as a whole and thus not able to speak freely. So, Indigenous communities do much work at the COP advocating for their positions to be included in negotiations and texts. In order to do this, capacity building is critical in bridging the gap between Indigenous knowledge and action and official UN language and protocol which can be technical and not accessible. Harada explained that when parties do mention Indigenous communities in negotiations, it is because Indigenous peoples pushed them to do so, and it is a critical

outcome of this capacity building and advocacy work. However, there is still much work to be done to continue to bridge these gaps.

Several speakers at the IIPFCC emphasized how some of these disconnects relate to youth (one of the focal points of this COP). This year, there was a Children and Youth Pavilion for the first time, and there was a themed day titled “Youth and Future Generations Day” (in conjunction with “Science Day”). On November 8th, the IIPFCC hosted a panel titled “Nothing About Us Without Us – Youth Voices in Climate Action,” where Indigenous youth spoke about the importance of youth representation at the COP and emphasized the need to use generational knowledge before it gets lost1. This was optimistic, as Indigenous youth had the opportunity to raise their voices at the COP and disseminate their experiences, an essential part of successful climate action. However, these youth were also adamant in their stance that their voices need more representation at the COP. Several of the youth speakers explained that within their communities, they feel that youth have strength and are listened to, but that they do not feel valued this way on the international scale at the COP.

Another issue of high importance at this COP was “loss and damage,” which refers to the negative impacts of climate change on environments and the societies that inhabit them. Discussions around loss and damage at COP27 were generally focused on the question of finance – who will pay for loss and damage and how much will they pay? However, Indigenous leaders from several communities explained that loss and damage goes beyond economics. Daniel Kobei, executive director of Ogiek Peoples' Development Program, a Kenya-based NGO, stated that “it is not possible for someone to pay for culture that has been lost” (International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change 2022b). On a positive note, the conference closed with wealthy countries agreeing to establish a fund for damage in low-income countries, a notable outcome of this year's COP (UNFCCC 2022a). However, not only does this fund not address concerns about non-economic loss, but it also fails to recognize the rights of Indigenous Peoples. In the wake of this decision, the Indigenous delegation of Cultural Survival stated that, while the new fund is a step in the right direction, “there are no references to Indigenous Peoples’ rights in the text of the decision that established the fund, which is especially concerning given that Indigenous Peoples are among the most affected by climate change” (Cultural Survival 2022). It is important to welcome positive changes, while also remaining critical of representation issues so as to continue to demand better for Indigenous Peoples and all vulnerable groups.

1 Unfortunately, I did not write down exact quotes from this event and the recording is not yet available. I believe that it will soon become available on the IIPFCC website, which is listed in the Bibliography of this essay.

As an observer at my first COP, I was both frustrated and inspired by what I noticed. This essay introduces a few of these issues, but there are many more throughout all levels of the conference, and I am sure that there are levels of complexity that I did not grasp in one week as an observer. In addition, it is worth noting that even the term “Indigenous'' comes with its own complications, as 1. It is difficult to come to a common understanding of an identity that varies greatly throughout the globe and 2. Not everyone who is native to the place in which they live or otherwise could define themselves as “Indigenous” actually wishes to do so. However, I am left feeling inspired by all of the activists that I was lucky enough to learn from at COP27, and I am certain that we have the capacity to create positive change in these areas. A report by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs states that “although references related to Indigenous Peoples have progressively increased, recognition of their rights and strengthening of their self-determination remains a challenge” (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs 2022). I am optimistic that, by paying close attention to these gaps and complexities as they relate to the rights of Indigenous peoples, we can demand accountability from our leaders to do better than mere mentions of Indigenous peoples in their speeches.

Bibliography

Biden, Joseph. 2022. “Remarks by President Biden at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the

Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27).” Transcript of speech delivered at Tonino Lamborghini International Convention Center, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 11, 2022. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speechesremarks/2022/11/11/remarks-by-pre sident-biden-at-the-27th-conference-of-the-partiesto-the-framework-convention-on-clim ate-change-cop27-sharm-el-sheikh-egypt/

Crook, Jonathan. 2022. “COP27 FAQ: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement Explained.” November 2, 2022.

https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2022/11/02/cop27-faq-article-6-of-the-paris-agreementex plained/

Cultural Survival. 2022. “Despite Historic Participation, Indigenous Peoples are Again Sidelined in Major Decisions at COP27.” Cultural Survival. November 22, 2022. https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/despite-historic-participation-indigenous-peoplesare-again-sidelined-major-decisions-cop27

International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change. 2022a. “Indigenous Peoples Pavilion.” IIPFCC. November 2022. https://www.iipfccpavilion.org

International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change. 2022b. “Securing Indigenous Peoples’ Land and Territorial Rights as a Pathway Out of the Climate Crisis.” Talk, International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change, Sharm elSheikh, Egypt, November 12, 2022.

International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. 2022. “Recognition of Indigenous Peoples in Nationally Determined Contributions.” IWGIA. October 2022.

UNFCCC. 2022a. “COP27 Reaches Breakthrough Agreement on New ‘Loss and Damage’ Fund for Vulnerable Countries.” November 20, 2022.

https://unfccc.int/news/cop27-reaches-breakthrough-agreement-on-new-loss-anddamage -fund-for-vulnerable-countries

UNFCCC. 2022b. “Decision -/CP.27 -/CMA.4: Funding arrangements for responding to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including a focus on addressing loss and damage.” November 20, 2022.

https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/cma4_auv_8f.pdf

UNFCCC. 2022c. “Decision -/CP.27: Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan.” November 20, 2022.

https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/cop27_auv_2_cover%20decision.pdf

Youth Presence at COP27

By Gracie Roe

In years leading up to this one, youth climate activism has exhibited itself in many forms. Often taking the shape of anger, protests, or acts of civil disobedience, their methods were rooted in the frustration of inaction and false promises (Neas et Al., 2022). However, it often failed to yield the results they were seeking; ones in which included financial backing for youth-led initiatives, the reform of schools’ climate curriculums, and overall inclusion of all people into climate policy discussions. This background knowledge led me to explore what youth climate activist influence is, and how it was represented at COP27 (this year’s UN climate change conference). To break my research down I will answer the question by honing in on the spaces occupied by youth activists, the major barriers to the work, and what youth-based solutions look like according to the various voices at COP.

Throughout the entire venue of the conference, youth presence felt few and far between. And although there are two different zones, the accessible Green Zone open to civil society, and the private Blue Zone that requires a badge, youth occupancy was minimal in both places. However, there were a few key spots that stood as the hub for youth activists, such as the first ever Children and Youth pavilion, certain spaces reserved for YOUNGO (a network of youth activists and the official youth constituency at the COP), or specific events with the keyword “youth” in the title. In particular, the Children and Youth pavilion, though it was just one of the 156 pavilions in the Blue Zone, was teeming with life all day long. It was there that I met tons of young people from all over the world, including those working with clean energy companies, education nonprofits, their own university, or they were simply there for the experience. It never failed to pack the crowds in. On the other hand, in the high-level negotiation rooms, youth presence was rare if there at all. There was not a single audience member under thirty in the room, and my research uncovered that there were only fifty-five youth delegates in total. To put it in perspective, each of the one hundred and ninety-three countries sent between twohundred and four-hundred delegates each. What chance does a number that small have to make a difference? The negotiation rooms are where the important decisions are made, and so the test of influence is often a measure of if the effects of the actions taken reach these rooms or not. This year youth actions, for the most part, did not. Nonetheless, as a woman from Arizona State informed me, there was a significantly bigger youth presence at this year’s COP than the last. In addition, as she and many others I interviewed affirmed, true youth influence is in our existence.

In noticing the lack of breadth of youth participation, my work shifted to survey what the major barriers to youth activism are. The research unveiled a toxic cycle that proves to be difficult to fix. Firstly, all of the important spaces like the negotiations are written and spoken in the complicated UN language. It is not an accessible language and requires years of training and quality education to even understand. Then, to obtain the

schooling youth must be in an area that provides it, and the schools must receive adequate funding, which they often do not. Without the location-specific opportunities or higher-up connections, it is nearly impossible to get into rooms where their voices would make a difference. In addition, even if youth can get into negotiation spaces, they are only given a minute or so to talk. It is not nearly enough to have their voices properly heard. As African youth delegate Damilola Oguntade said, “people under thirty make up fifty percent of the world’s population, but we’re not at all represented in these decisionmaking spaces” (Oguntade, 2022). Furthermore, my interviews revealed other barriers such as the dangers of being an environmental activist in specific countries, having social media as the only platform to speak out, or adults’ distrust in youth credibility because of lack of age or experience (Hoschtialek, 2022). These barriers serve to uphold the hierarchical structure of climate decision making, and in order to include youth and other minority groups we must reform the system that creates these barriers.

Having focused so much on the negative aspects of youth influence, I also wanted to analyze where the movement got its power. In other words, what are the effective strategies that

youth activists use, and what do youth-led initiatives and solutions look like? What I found is that this generation of activists in particular are revolutionizing climate action strategies by reverting back to our humanistic tendencies to connect with each other. A large focus in the youth work I saw at COP was in storytelling, encouraging others to express themselves creatively, and enhancing intergenerational collaboration from a place of love rather than hate. As numerous panels discussed, we are in a crisis of empathy, not just a climate crisis (Kapur, 2022). In order for any sustainable strategy to succeed, we must come to a consensus about what is sustainable and morally just for all people, and we cannot do that without knowing how to work together. Hence, the general theme of all youth activist motives was to be kind as well as strong, and to inspire action and hope into people. They suggested keeping traditions despite obstacles, incorporating art in climate education, participating in protests, engaging others through social media, and including stories of progress even if the solution is not yet fully formed. These are just a few of the many suggestions that I heard, but in interacting with other youth environmental activists I regained hope for the first time in a long time.

Through my research I have learned about the true influence of youth activists at COP27. I have learned that their efforts are strong but, because of the countless barriers they face, they ultimately did not have the far reach that they hoped for. However, the countless committed individuals that I spoke with inspired me. I met determined youth delegates and a green-oscar-winning filmmaker, founders of youth climate involvement groups and even a nine-year-old environmentalist from Kenya. In the grand view of the entire conference, these peoples’ efforts were minimal. However, the more involvement the climate activism movement attains, the better off at fighting climate change we will be. So, my one overarching question to move forward is this: how can we increase the involvement of everyone, and especially young people and minorities, into climate action?

Exploring the Spheres of the Public and the Private at COP27

By Rhetta Power

The decision to host COP27 in Egypt was controversial; many pondered the ethics of a public gathering on climate action in a country that privately imprisons climate activists. The idyllic resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh provokes questions about the differences between public appearance and private reality. These questions are further exacerbated by the COP itself, an event that simultaneously vaunts the reduction of plastic emissions as a central goal and is sponsored by Coca-Cola, one of the largest plastic emitters in the world. In my time at COP27, I sought to investigate the boundaries between the “public” and “private.” However, through my ethnographic work, I quickly realized that this research could not be restricted to the space of the conference, it appeared in every facet of my Sharm El-Sheikh experience. Although it felt like private and public threads appeared at every glance, for concision I will focus my analysis to four general areas: the COP Green zone, the COP Blue zone, the New York Times Climate Forward Event, and the city of Sharm El-Sheikh itself.

NYT Climate Forward, an event dedicated to sharing voices and topics in current climate change conversations, was hosted at a decadent hotel, the Park Regency Resort. Simply navigating to and accessing this event invoked feelings of entering a deeply private and protected sphere. After journeying on the public bus system (an aspect of Sharm El-Sheikh I will return to later in this piece), my classmates and I were dropped off at the end of a large, winding hill. The Park Regency’s distance from the main road and multiple security points signaled its exclusivity and drive to maintain a private separation from the city. The event itself cost $350 per day, an incredibly prohibitive fee that we were luckily able to evade as student attendees. Within the event, our very attendance required consent to be publicized, as cameras streaming the event were perpetually turned towards the audience. In relation to this, there was a fascinating dynamic with the opportunity to ask questions and speak at this event. I began to realize at this event how familiarity with organizers and faces at the NYT event, built over three days of attendance, worked in our favor for being selected as a question-asker. This theme transcended into other spaces I investigated as well; social connections seem to blur boundaries and change dynamics of exclusivity. Although the NYT event promoted connection, and had our mealtime designated as a “networking lunch,” there was still a VIP room. At lunchtime, VIPs retreated to their own private lounge, while non-VIPs were able to connect in a larger, public room. This dynamic of promoting public connectivity while maintaining private exclusivity was brought up in a panel on our third and last day. One panelist, an activist from Namibia, stated that it “feels like we [climate activists from the Global South] are just here for pictures,” sharing her frustration with being excluded from high-level discussions and negotiations. The diverse panels and voices we heard at NYT did feel contrasted with the negotiations we experienced in the Blue Zone.

The New York Times Climate Forward Event

The Blue Zone

The Blue Zone of the COP is the most exclusive area of the conference, one must be officially badged by the UNFCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) to attend. Funnily, the space of entering the Blue Zone feels more exclusive than being in the zone itself. As an individual only badged for Week Two of the COP, when I came with the entire class to receive our badges on the first day of Week One, I was immediately denied access to the zone. While standing with my other classmates who only had access in the second week, we were approached by COP employees at least three times. They respectfully, but continuously, reminded us that we could not stand in this space, we needed to keep moving. Although there was plenty of room for our group to stand comfortably, without impeding the space of others, it broke regulation for our bodies to cease movement.

This feeling of hyper-visibility immediately dissipated when I entered the space of the Blue Zone the following week. The masses of people (moving, sitting, standing, running) give you a sense of privacy, I often felt the familiar phrase of “being invisible in the crowd.” Within the events of the Blue Zone, I was able to witness dynamics of the public and private at play. At COP, the gathering of different countries, cultures, and languages, means that translation is often needed. As I sat listening to a Women of the Global Alliance Meeting where five different languages were being spoken, I observed how all of us audience members, although we were sitting merely feet away from each other, were also inhabiting entirely separate worlds. The UN provides translation for audience members through small earpieces that translators (also in the audience) speak into in real-time. This practice made me reflect on the responsibility of translation, and how the inherent nature of linguistic conversational translation meant that audience members were potentially getting different private understandings of this public panel.

This panel took place in Area B, the initial entry area to Blue Zone where many country and institutional pavilions were held. The energy in Area B is tangible, people are constantly moving, speaking, or looking as they are about to move or speak. Connections in the courtyard-ish area that connects buildings and pavilions within the area seemed to be even more plentiful than connections and conversations housed within the buildings. This phenomenon perhaps speaks to the connection that can arise from random intermingling, outside of designated areas of networking. Area D, a short walk from Area B, had a very different energy. I noticed how, by changing area, the vibe moved from a sense of chaos to more of an outdoor coffee shop-type setting. The groups of people standing, chatting, and walking turned into small groups of people sitting, and many individuals on their laptops. This is where the negotiations that I observed took place, and this more private and formal mission of the space was reflected in the spatial arrangements and individuals’ behavior.

The Green Zone

The Green Zone is positioned as the most public part of COP, it is accessible to those without a badge. This mission of accessibility was reflected in its wide-open space, resembling an amusement park or sculpture garden. The space seemed curated for an Instagram account, there were plentiful opportunities to take pictures in front of #COP27 signs and aesthetically pleasing backdrops. It was interesting how child-centered parts of this zone appeared. In my first trip to Green Zone, I sat behind a group of Egyptian school children on the bus. They seemed excited for the outing, and it made me reflect on how this space of COP can exist more for the citizens of the host country, while the Blue Zone is this deeply international meeting place. This was further shown by the buildings in the Green Zone almost exclusively promoting Egyptian companies, governmental sectors, universities, and projects. Although this is the more “public” space, its mission and ideological focus seemed more privately influenced.

Sharm El-Sheikh

The city of Sharm El-Sheikh is a resort, it is curated for the tourists who visit it. My experience with the city was further augmented by the presence of such an international conference, it felt like there was an overall awareness of the global attention that would be paid to this peninsula. Most Egyptian shopkeepers that I spoke to made sure that I would tell people in America about how great Sharm El-Sheikh is. However, I experienced many private acts of kindness from local people that I met that seemed untethered to any financial gain. These citizens were the ones who negotiated our public access to events and experiences. It was through private conversation and relationships from those who knew the area more intimately that we were able to experience what felt like the most of Sharm El-Sheikh. This access and goodwill, however, was also accompanied by a sense of surveillance. One classmate shared with me how, after sitting by our hotel pool for an hour, within a minute of deciding to get in the water, was approached by a hotel worker notifying her she was unable to swim. She laughingly noted how they must have been watching. This was a feeling while navigating most spaces in Sharm El-Sheikh, the military presence was unavoidable. In a 10-minute walk to the beach from our hotel, I estimate that I would pass a minimum of five security posts. These men, in their white suits, would not say anything, but it was clear they had noted our presence. Beyond the bodily presence of the military, it was also apparent in the roadblock we had to pass through to access our hotel, and the extensive security at the airport. This constant, albeit background, presence of private military and a sense of surveillance raised considerations of how private my privacy was there. Finally, a notable part of the Sharm El-Sheikh experience was how new much of my surroundings felt. It was clear that all busses had been very recently produced, many with plastic clingwrap still covering chairs and poles. We learned that new lanes of the highway and bike lanes had been created simply for the COP. Signs along roads and highways were clearly brand-new, abandoned buildings were draped with “COMING SOON” signs. These details raised questions for me about how much I could trust any of my perceptions of the city, or how privately crafted my perception had been.

Information Dissemination at COP27

By Cecilia Timberg

Before landing in Egypt, when asked what I was most excited for, I would tell people I was eager to have my voice heard on a global platform. When I began engaging with COP, though, I realized that the most valuable role I could take was not as the speaker, but as the listener.

At COP26, the media made up 3,781 of the participants, making the media presence functionally one-to-one with country delegates. With most of the world unable to attend the COP, the media's role in coverage of these climate conferences is invaluable.

What is the role of journalists in effectively communicating the events of the COP? was my research question at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh. I let the question guide how I engaged with the event, from the events I attended to the stories that I spent time listening to.

Based on past experiences growing up around journalists and working for the Denver Gazette, I had concluded that the greatest power granted to journalists is their ability to decide what they report on. I also observed the use of fear and shock are the main mechanisms of effective journalistic communication.

I wanted, through my experience at COP27, to explore whether there are tools other than shock and fear that journalists can use to get the attention of readers. One of those potential tools that I wanted to focus on was storytelling. Often in journalism, stories are used as a way to personalize data and facts. I asked: Are there other roles stories can take in journalistic pieces? The prime directive of journalism is the public’s right to know, while the prime directive of ethnography is a circular exchange of knowledge and advocacy. How can ethnographic practices enhance journalistic pieces?

I studied the role of journalism at COP27 through the creation of forms of information dissemination. This took the form of everything from watercolor paintings to a traditional journalistic piece following the Loss and Damage negotiations, and everything in between. This portfolio functions as a representation of the many ways that information gathered in a space like COP27 can be metabolized and disseminated.

Sitting in on negotiations at COP27 highlighted for me how difficult it is for most people to understand what is being negotiated, even as it pertains to their lives and livelihoods. The role of the media is to make that information accessible to the general public. Traditionally, this has taken the form of traditional journalistic pieces centered around shock or fear to ensure readership. This translation tends to be one-sided and impersonal.

According to the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (Mar, K.A., et al.), the development of digital formats that “foster trust, reflection, and interconnection” is what is needed to make the decisions being made at COP27 more accessible. I integrated this principle into my portfolio by centering much of the media around either stories themselves or the importance of storytelling.

The Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies had a booth in the blue zone of the COP, where they held events that facilitated dialogues and co-creation of information. I sat into many of these events and observed the power of an open dialogue centered around personal experiences. People were willing to move past differences and personal goals to understand where others were coming from.

I hoped to capture this complexity of perspectives in some of my profile work, especially in my poetry and water coloring. At the COP, it is easy to focus on your own individual goals and experiences because, a lot of the time, you are fighting for your life. If everyone did this, though, no conclusions would come out of it.

During my time at COP27, I concluded that a spectrum of information dissemination forms was necessary to convey the experience. I utilized some pieces to tell stories and others to convey what I was hearing in negotiations in a way that could be understood by the general public. What is important was not the form that the information dissemination took, but instead, the ability of it to capture what was being experienced at COP27.

Work Cited

Mar, K.A., Fraude, C., Bruhn, T. Scapke, N. Stasiak, D., Schroeder, H. Wamsler, C., Lawrence, M.; Fostering Reflection, Dialogue and Collaboration among Actors at the UN Climate Change Conferences, IASS Policy Brief (October 2021), Potsdam, DOI; 10.48481/iass.2021.028

Think of a Plant You Want To Protect-

“I am thinking of a jacaranda tree. We had one in our yard in South Africa.

Once a year, The flowers would fall in unison.

My parents would tell my siblings and I that it was raining purple. We would put on our rain jackets and rain boots, Racing each other outside to dance in the falling flowers,”

I told my neighbor.

“I am thinking of a rosebush, Like the one in my grandfather’s garden,”

She responded.

“I need to touch the ocean,” I told the security guard, When he asked me why I was leaving the event Before the speaker had finished her talk.

“I’d love to join you,”

He responded.

Don’t forget to dip your feet in the water, That you are fighting to protect, To rest against the horizon. Don’t forget to watch the shadows Move across foreign mountains, To watch the full moon wink above you. Wink back.

Don’t forget to laugh with those Crying out for loss reparations, And cry for those already lost.

Share stories, Listen to landscapes, Dream as a movement. Move. Dream. Breathe.

Think of a plant you want to protect,

A memory that grounds you, A person you can’t not love even if you tried.

Tell me why you are here And then let's go touch the ocean together.

Drawing by Cecilia Timberg ’24