While the main focus was on the opening plenary session, there was still plenty of action on the fringes as delegates from 190 countries set up their stands.
IFAD asked a selection for the inside track on the messages they want to get across at COP19 and what outcomes they expect from the event.
- ICRAF – We’re trying to get across at COP the importance of agriculture and the contribution of trees to mitigating and reducing vulnerability to climate change in developing countries. We would like to see agriculture and trees…incorporated into any future movement in the climate change agreements. Nevertheless, I’m not sure this COP will have any positive outcomes; I suspect that next year there will be much greater motivation.
Paul Stapleton (right)
- GGCA - The Global Gender and Climate Alliance is a non profit alliance of UN civil society organizations, with the same goal as any other organization present here: finding a solution to climate change. The only difference is that the GGCA would like to incorporate the gender responsive voice within this solution and see more gender equality taking part in the COP conference and decisions.
Abbey Long (left)
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- OI - OXFAM International concentrates on three main areas such as field missions, adaptation financing and energy. We are here to make sure that, even though we know COP is trying to push more private finance, we get enough public money for our financing and we want at least half of it to go to adaptation instead of mitigation. We are also trying to understand what the commitments are for the next 7 years, because the situation right now is very unclear.
(Al Kinley Campaigner & Sara Johnson)
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- PACJA - The Panafrican Climate Justice Alliance wants to get the following points across at COP: 1. keep Africa safe, 2. ensure poverty eradication and food security, 3. share the atmosphere fairly, 4. industrialized countries to cut excessive consumption and pollution, 5. protect and compensate affected communities, 6. polluter pays not the poor, 7. transfer the tools to adapt and develop. This is our voice and these are our demands!
(Robert Muthani)
It is still early to say what the results of the nineteenth Conference of Parties will be, or to even describe the general mood among the participants. What we can say with certainty, is that the atmosphere is stimulating and everyone has something to say.