COP22 Needs Some Love and Here’s Why

COP22 begins next week, and the conference is receiving
little love and attention from media compared to the high-spirited lead up to
COP21 in Paris last year. But arguably COP22 is just as important for the
international climate agenda. Here’s why:

• Approximately half of the 193 signatory parties
  have not
  officially joined the Paris agreement. Certainly, the agreement did enter
  into force much faster than expected (crossing the 55 party, 55% emissions
  threshold earlier
  this month), but in order for the agreement to reach its goal of staying
  “well below” 2 degrees Celsius, every country needs to formalize their commitments
  so that their “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions”(INDC) are no
  longer “intended”, but instead a definite reality. COP22 could be another boost
  in momentum to do so. Or, if signatory countries don’t like the specifics agreed
  upon in this conference, it could threaten to stall the ratification process
  for some displeased countries.
• But
  even if a substantial level of ratification is achieved, the devil is in the
  details. COP22’s goal is to look at the broad strokes that make up the Paris
  Agreement and figure out how to make it feasible. Some of these details, like
  the Green Climate Fund, may be contentious, but extremely important to
  achieving emission goals. Notably, many developing countries listed dual commitments
  for 2030 dependent upon the level of international aid they receive. For
  example, in Jordan’s INDCs
  they said they could reduce greenhouse gases by 1.5% on their own, but they
  committed to reducing an additional 12.5% by 2030 conditional on receiving
  enough international climate aid. So a reliable Green Climate Fund with
  sufficient funds is essential to a significant proportion of developing countries
  emission reductions – and crucial in order to stay below 2 degrees Celsius.
• COP22
  will also need to figure out the mechanisms for transferring billions of
  dollars annually in climate financing, especially to countries with corrupt governments.
  Even North Korea signed the Paris Agreement and conditionally committed
  to reducing 32.25% of emissions by 2030 contingent upon international support. But
  many countries across the world, including the US, have debated
  the consequences of providing aid to North Korea, even for food assistance during
  times of extreme famine. It will be a large task for the international
  community to find a way to ensure funds are used appropriately.
• Finally,
  COP22 will be looking for a generally accepted way to monitor and report
  emissions. Many countries across the world value national privacy, but the
  future success of the Paris Agreement relies on at least partial emissions
  transparency to reliably track progress. Significantly, China and the US have
  shown unprecedented
  levels of cooperation for the Paris Agreement, which will hopefully bring a
  mutually-accepted monitoring practice for transparent and private governments
  alike.

In all, the international community at COP22 has a lot of
work to do, so give them some well-deserved love.