United Nations Climate Change Conference

S P E C I A L R E P O RT

UK

Text by Aimee Alado-Blake

Is this how our story is going to end?

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO This is one of the provocative questions Sir David Attenborough asked in his speech to the Conference at the opening of #COP26 World Leaders Summit in Glasgow on 01 Nov 2021.

But before we talk about the Conference of the Parties (COP26) also referred to as the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2021 (UNCCC), currently underway and entering its 2nd and final week, allow me to start by sharing ‘my climate change’ experience in my global south country.

My family is from the province of Capiz known as the “Seafood Capital” of the Philippines. Our main business is in aquaculture (fishponds) and agriculture (sugarcane/corn).

As a kid, we always enjoyed the harvest season in the fishpond as we happily watched tons (5,000 to 10,000 kilos) of prawns and milkfish being harvested through the sluice gate and into the net. Sometimes, we would playfully wade into the mud of the drained pond to collect some ‘stranded’ fishes.

These are some of the happy memories of my childhood with abundant harvest each time. But sometime around late 80’s, the tons of prawns and fishes started to decline. From what used to be thousands of kilos of seafood, it went down to tens of kilos only.

The extremely low mortality rate of the prawns/fishes were early signs of climate change. It was the same with the sugarcane production from our farms.

As I kid, I was already familiar with the global phenomena of El Niño and La Niña and I have seen the consequences of this not only in our business but most especially in the livelihood of small farmers and fishermen.

The Philippines is an archipelagic country of 7,100+ islands (could be less now due to climate change) and because of its geographic location in the Pacific Ocean and the Ring of Fire, it is prone to tropical storms and earthquakes.

Typhoons have always been a part of life in the Philippines. We name the typhoons alphabetically each year and so the very first typhoon of the year would always be from A, then B and so on until Z.

Sometimes, there were so many in a year that we get to Z and then start again from A completing the whole cycle for the year. Because such is the frequency, I got used to watching the devastation on tv or reading it in the news.

There were tens and tens of worst typhoons to hit the Philippines since record began in terms of fatalities and destruction. They were not all Super Typhoons though, some were just non-stop torrential rains but the consequential flooding and landslide perished 25% of the population in Ormoc City in 1991.

In November 2013, the strongest tropical typhoon on (world) record made a landfall on the Philippines. Apart from the super strong winds, there was the unexpected storm surge of up to 10 feet that drowned many.

And although some people from the coastal areas were able to evacuate inland and took shelter in community halls, the building collapsed on them due to sustained winds of 320 km/h and gusts of up to 360 km/h.

Super Typhoon Haiyan (“Yolanda”) is the equivalent of an extremely strong Category 5 hurricane. The tragedy resulted to almost 10,000 fatalities including the missing; 11 million people affected; and around $5 billion of destruction to properties.

The intensity of Haiyan was no doubt a result of climate change. The ocean temperature was incredibly warm that time (around 30C) and no wind shear to ‘tear’ the developing hurricanes apart.

As explained by Brian McNoldy, a tropical weather expert at the University of Miami, “tropical cyclones are basically giant heat engines, powered by the transfer of heat from the ocean to the upper atmosphere”.

Haiyan was the 11th typhoon in 7 weeks in the Pacific and six were super typhoons. The experts noted that it was exceptionally busy and unusually frequent for typhoon that time.

The tragedy of Haiyan affected not only the Philippines but also the rest of the world. Everyone dug into their pockets, shallow or deep, and everyone contributed. There were a total of over $1 trillion foreign aid given to the Philippines.

The aid from the United Nations, European Union and the United States represented 26.77% and the UK was the top government donor giving around $57,588,810.

On 11 Nov 2013 or just 3 days after Haiyan’s landfall, Philippine envoy Yeb Sano, wept as he delivered his speech at COP19 in Warsaw and vowed to fast during the conference in solidarity to the victims of Haiyan until a “meaningful outcome was in sight.”

What’s in a name - COP26?

COP stands for Convention of the Parties. It is the main-decision making body composed of representatives from the current 197 party (mostly countries) signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The COP happens every year. The 26 in COP26 is the 26th anniversary since the first in 1995. This was due to happen last year but due to the pandemic it has been moved to this year. The last COP25 was in 2019 under the Presidency of the Government of Chile but was held in Spain.

The ultimate aim of UNFCCC is to prevent ‘dangerous’ human interference with the climate system. To summarise the Convention, it: • Recognised that there was a problem; • Sets a lofty but specific goal; • Puts the onus on developed countries to lead the way; • Directs new funds to climate change activities in developing countries; • Keeps tabs on the problem and what’s being done about it; • Charts the beginnings of a path to strike a delicate balance; • Kicks off formal consideration of adaptation to climate change.

Negotiations of UNFCCC started in 1992 and was signed in 1994 at the ‘Rio Earth Summit’ together with two other Conventions; UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification.

The Convention was remarkable for

HISTORIC CONVENTION MILESTONES

1979

The first World Climate Conference (WCC).

1990

The second WCC calling for a global treaty on Climate Change (CC) with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) set up in 1988.

1992

UNFCCC was adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio together with two other Conventions.

1994

UNFCCC enters into force

1995

First Conference of the Parties (COP1) in Berlin.

1997

Kyoto Protocol formally adopted in COP3.

2015

Adoption of the Paris Agreement by COP21.

2021

UNCCC 2021 / COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland

At the UN Climate Change Conference (UNCCC) (COP21) held in Paris in 2015, world leaders agreed on the historic ‘Paris Agreement’ containing three key elements:

1. Limit temperature rise to 1.5C 2. Review countries’ commitments to cutting emissions every five years 3. Provide climate finance to developing countries

When CO2 concentration increases in the atmosphere, the earth’s global temperature also increases.

Scientists have a way of testing the amount of CO2 and uses ‘_ ppm’. PPM stands for parts per million and the number tells how many parts of CO2 there are in one million parts of air. So if CO2 is at 277 ppm that means that in one million particles of air there are 277 particles of carbon dioxide.

The term “pre-industrial period” is the reference period 1850-1900 to represent pre-industrial temperature.

The initial goal through climate mitigation is to limit the global temperature increases in this century to 2 degrees Celsius (and further to 1.5 degrees) pre-industrial levels, by substantially halving the greenhouse gas emissions before 2030 and net zero carbon emissions by 2050.BUT…in key reports on climate impacts and solutions from around the United Nations’ agencies, national meteorological and hydrological services and scientific experts, I particularly quote the latest Greenhouse Gas Bulletin:

“The abundance of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

1.5 to Stay ALIVE! Whilst you can quarantine from Covid-19 you CANNOT quarantine from Climate Change!

its time as you can see from the summary of points that it is desirably inclusive. This was at the time when there is not much evidence on climate change and many non-believers even imminent scientists.

But today, the scientific evidence were not only in abundance, but the crisis of climate change became borderless affecting not only the global south (developing countries) but also the global north (developed countries).

What is Climate Change?

In summary, it refers to long term shifts in temperature and weather patterns caused by natural and manmade activities. In the ancient history of man, the shift was mainly due to natural causes and gradual slow shifts.

But since the 1800s the biggest single contributor that exacerbated climate change at its fastest ever were due to manmade activities! Burning of fossil fuels, like coal, oil and gas releases greenhouse gasses like Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4) and Fluorinated gases (man-made gases emitted from manufacturing) to the atmosphere that trap heat and warm the planet.

Moreover, rapid deforestation of our land and ocean forests contributes to the climate change. For every tree that we cut, it releases carbon dioxide that it has trapped for thousands of years in the atmosphere. And CO2 stays in the atmosphere for a long time (between 300 to 1,000 years)!

To understand more about Climate Change and its effects on humanity click—https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change.

Allow HOPE to be our motivation instead of fear!

If working apart, we are a force powerful enough to destabilise our planet. Surely working together, we are

powerful enough to save it. —Sir David Attenborough #COP26 World Leaders Summit in Glasgow, Nov 2021.

once again reached a new record in 2020, with the annual rate of increase above the 2011-2020 average. That trend has continued in 2021.”

“Concentration of carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas, reached 413.2 parts per million in 2020 and is 149 per cent of the pre-industrial level. Methane is 262 per cent of the level in 1750 when human activities started disrupting the Earth’s natural equilibrium.

The economic slowdown from COVID-19 did not have any discernible impact on atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases and their growth rates, although there was a temporary decline in new emissions. Roughly half of carbon dioxide emitted by human activities today remains in the atmosphere. The other half is taken up by oceans and land ecosystems, but their ability to act as “sinks” may become less effective in the future.”

In 1958, when scientists first started measuring atmospheric CO2, the level was 316 ppm which is a little higher than the pre-industrial level of 277 ppm. The world has broken the threshold of 400 ppm in 2016 and has been steadily increasing.

The rise of CO2 in 2016 made it the hottest year since records began in 1880. This corresponding rise of 1.1C than the pre-industrial level in global temperature was the start of the hottest years ever recorded.

The monthly average of CO2 for 2021 is at 419 ppm. That is 151 per cent of the pre-industrial level. A report by World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) - State of Global Climate 2021 finds the past seven years are on track to be the seven warmest on record, based on data for the first nine months of 2021.

In WMO’s other reports it highlighted the impacts to economies and societies of sea level rise, melting of the continent’s iconic glaciers, drought, floods and extreme heat by 2030.

But already, by a mere increase of 1.1 degree Celsius, the crisis is happening now, it is being felt across the globe as what the extreme weather events in the past 12 months have shown us.

The link below shows the effect already on some communities with the 1.1C and what 3C of global warming would look like for the world. https:// youtu.be/uynhvHZUOOo

The ongoing COP26 entering its 2nd week is crucial for the survival of humanity. The recently released report of IPCC before the Conference referred to as “code red for humanity” by the UN Secretary General is alarming and this could be our last chance to save the planet.

But I would like to take comfort in Sir David’s speech at the opening of COP26. We are the smartest species, the greatest problem solvers to have ever existed on earth. With the help of technological advances, we have the power to reverse this trend.

“Allow HOPE to be our motivation instead of fear! If working apart, we are a force powerful enough to destabilise our planet. Surely WORKING TOGETHER, we are powerful enough to save it. He concluded that in his lifetime he witnessed terrible decline and called for us all to make this our lifetime to witness a wonderful recovery.

See you where I will discuss the outcomes of COP26. #ThereisNoPLANetB #WereInItTogether #COP26 This series of articles is brought to you by Atty. Aimee Alado-Blake, UK Editor on ClimateChange & Sustainability

(Series 1 - Nov 2021)

LINKEDIN: ZIP DE GUZMAN

Cipriano “Zip” De Guzmán Jr., LPT known as FilipinoBaritone is an international opera singer, professor of voice, theatre, Japanese and Spanish languages based in the Principality of Andorra on the Pyrénées between France and Spain. He is a two-time recipient of Ani Ng Dangal from the Philippine National Commission for Culture and Arts and winner of International Vocal Competitions in Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, New York, London and Rome. He has master’s degrees in music, en Interpretación d’Ópera at Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu, Barcelona and in Vocal Performance at Elisabeth University of Music, Japan with the highest honours.