10 November, 2016IndustriALL's director for sustainability Brian Kohler blogs from day three of the twenty-second Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22), 9 November in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Important discussions are taking place within a particular committee with a very long, complex (and inconsistent) name. Formally known as the Subsidiary Body on Implementation and Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technical Advice Informal Consultation on the Impact of the Implementation of Response Measures, it is also known variously as the Improved Forum, or the Improved Contact Group on the Impact of Response Measures. This has become the principle area (but not the only one) in which a real discussion of Just Transition will take place.
One proposal that is under consideration there is the establishment of an expert committee on Just Transition measures. Trade unions have supported this idea. However, whether this will be supported by the Parties (national governments) and what form it will take if created has yet to be seen.
The official Trade Union side event within the COP will take place tomorrow.
In other news, the reality of a science denier being elected to the USA Presidency has created in turn surprise and shock followed by deep disappointment and anger.
The bitterness and alienation of a large segment of the population, who have seen their fortunes stagnate or decline over the past few decades, is understandable. Many of them voted in protest to the effects of neoliberalism and the Washington establishment’s failure to care for them. Donald Trump will not solve their problems but he was able to mobilize their anger, season it with xenophobia, racism, sexism, and jingoistic nationalism to win in a race against an experienced and highly-qualified woman.
Consider the people of earth to be passengers on a bus. Controlling the bus is a complicated affair that requires the cooperation of many people. The bus is headed towards a cliff, and just as an agreement to lightly apply the brakes is reached, the biggest and strongest of the co-drivers is elbowed aside and replaced by a madman.
Let us all hope that this is not the reality we face, and that now that the election rhetoric is behind us, President Trump will reveal a wiser self. After all, the same Donald Trump that has called global warming a total hoax has also cited “global warming and its effects” as justification for a building permit application to construct a seawall at the Trump International Golf Links and Hotel, in Ireland!