In 2015, FAWCO's UN Reps Team and Environment Team collaborated to inform FAWCO members about the proceedings of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP21) held in Paris from November 30 to December 11, 2015. The UN Climate Conference in Paris was of historic importance. While no one from the UN Reps Team or Environment Team were able to attend the Conference, we reported on what was happening. In addition to general background information on UNFCCC (and definitions of the UN’s alphabet soup of abbreviations), we posted summaries of previous UN environment meetings.
In 2016, motivated by the interest of members of AIWC Cologne, FAWCO applied for Observer status at the UNFCCC so our UN Reps could participate in Climate Change Conference sessions in Bonn. We were granted Observer status and three members of FAWCO's UN Reps Team attended meetings in Bonn in May 2017. FAWCO joined the
Women and Gender Constituency of Observer NGOs at the UNFCCC and will continue our coverage of and involvement with the climate conference process.
By UN Rep Stacey Kimmig, AIWC Cologne
The June interim climate discussions have ended, but it is difficult to say just how much progress they brought to the ongoing climate discussions. At the opening plenary, a speaker was raising concerns about the ability to hold effective online discussions, as many countries do not have reliable internet connections. She then disappeared...
By UN Rep Ayuska Motha, AIWC Cologne
We are now in week 2 of a 3 week block of virtual sessions for our UN Rep work at the UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, actual negotiations on implementing the Paris Agreement to keep global warming to below 1.5C are not taking place right now.
By UN Rep Ayuska Motha, AIWC Cologne
2020 has seen the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations put on hold. The Conference of the Parties (COP) Climate Summit was postponed from December 2020 to November 2021 while many countries struggled to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and all its short- and long-term repercussions. This decision was made very...
Joan Evers (AWC Madrid), a member of the FAWCO Environment Team, attended COP25 and interviewed Dr. Lara Lazaro, a Spanish environmental economist. You can read the interview here.
By Joan Evers, AWC Madrid
Spain’s capital hosting this meeting was a last-minute change. Santiago, Chile had been scheduled to welcome the world’s climate delegates until unrest in the country caused the Chilean President to back out. And even Chile hosting the event was not the original plan as Brazil had been first slated to do so, but also backed...
Photo by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth
By UN Rep Ayuska Motha
The COP25 negotiations finally ended 44 hours later than they were scheduled to and it is a time to take a look at what has been accomplished. From the big picture perspective, many are disappointed since this was supposed to be a COP of action. Hopes were high...