After days of preliminary meetings and logistics, this Monday we finally started our dive into the Blue Zone (the designated section of COP for meetings and events). Needless to say, it was a lot. There are dozens of rooms with different delegations, debriefings and meetings and all happening at once. Without due diligence planning and general know-how of the event structure, it is easy to drown in the sheer magnitude of information and just stuff. In the time I spent today I was able to witness a few things:
Firstly, the setup of countries’ and organizations’ pavilions. Countries and groups set up what are essentially their booths in the COP27 version of comic con. In varying sizes and structures, pavilions provide a space for groups to do a number of things: create meeting and presentation spaces for their deligations, highlight specific issues that they care about, or present some drinks and culturally significant products that are in some way connected to climate awareness. The booths also appeared to be a way for countries to demonstrate (or at least attempt to) their commitment to the cause.
Secondly, I was able to witness several meetings between diplomats and UN climate experts. This was a particularly interesting experience for me in that not only was I able to hear what diplomats and experts were talking about, but I was able to see first hand the intricacies and subtleties of diplomacy at work. It was my first experience where I was able to see what diplomats said in the room, what they actually meant by it and what this says about their actual ability to change things. It is clear to me that there is a level of jargon and formalities that I am still learning to understand.
The main take away that I have gotten from my short period of time here is that COP27 is a valuable event, but maybe not for the ways people expect it to be. COP27 is a phenomenal coordination and networking event for climate activists, world leaders and the global community at large. It is an evolving event where people can come and demonstrate how their research or experience fits into the climate narrative. COP27 has also evolved into a civic event for issues related to, but not solely about climate such as racism, human migration, LGBTQ+ rights, human rights in general, socioeconomic justice and so on. It is a platform for which countries are held accountable on an international stage for their commitment towards global change. Now this doesn’t mean that COP solves all of these issues. There are of course issues with disingenuous intent and logistics that make tackling any issue of such a scale a long and grueling process.
However, COP appears to me to not be the climatic moment where the world decides to suddenly fix itself in one harmonious, righteous decision, but rather is a marker that demonstrates that there are enough people in this world who are focused on having international dialogue to find solutions to our most existential threats. That, to me, demonstrates a level of long term investment and commitment that is something to be hopeful for in dealing with larger than life issues such as climate change.