Robin Gwynn

Copenhagen - voices of vulnerable countries

One of the positive outcomes from Copenhagen was the striking way in which the voices of some climate vulnerable countries are beginning to be heard and exert influence in the thick of the negotiations. The leaders of Bangladesh, Ethiopia, the Maldives amongst others made it clear that they believed it was worth pocketing the areas of  progress, particularly on climate finance, while continuing to press for a more comprehensive overall agreement in the months ahead.

President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives encouraged leaders to support the Accord:


The Prime Minister and Ed Miliband have made clear that they think the same, and are keen to work more closely with such progressive countries as we seek ways to build on the Copenhagen Accord. View video footage from an event this week where Ed Miliband answered questions from campaigners, stakeholders and youth groups. The Prime Minister linked up via a video conference stream.

So looking ahead, 2010 will be a time for developing our strategies and moving forwards. That will build on the achievements of this year - for example the Climate Vulnerable Forum in the Maldives, and the participation of some such countries in the major multilateral meetings, as we initiated at the London MEF this autumn.

Another major legacy of Copenhagen is the way it has placed climate issues in the consciousness of countries around the world, including many which are now much more aware of their vulnerability and determined to do something about it. In many cases that means addressing climate change as a cross-governmental issue for the first time, recognising its power to affect the whole of national life. In the grip of our own winter freeze this Christmas, it's perhaps worth reflecting how the climate can turn the world in which we live upside down - as people more obviously on the global front-line, many without effective coping strategies and resources, are already aware.

Posted at 16:24 23 December 2009 by Robin Gwynn  |  Comments[0]

Friday morning in Copenhagen

It's Friday morning and I'm on my way home - thereby reducing by one at least the thousands of people packing in to the conference centre today to witness world leaders take upon themselves the full weight of this truly global issue.

There seemed to be a lift yesterday afternoon, following the US announcement of support for long-term climate financing (using the figure first tabled by Gordon Brown in June) - and a sense of crunchy engagement growing between leaders. But that still needs to find a way to mesh with the detailed negotiating over the preceding months and years, including through last night.

A key concern of many vulnerable countries has been the maximum temperature rise target which should be adopted, based on the science. I asked Vicky Pope of the Met Office Hadley Centre about this.

Barely after recording that in the UK Delegation Office, it was sad to see the full effect of what Vicky had been explaining in a BBC report of the continuing drought in East Africa and its tragic impact on people, livestock and their habitat. The urgency of dealing with that was fully brought out in a further discussion with Dr Leonard Nurse who comments here on the climate vulnerability affecting the Caribbean and other regions.

Posted at 13:07 18 December 2009 by Robin Gwynn  |  Comments[0]

President Nasheed, Saleem Huq and Prince Charles

Leaders have been arriving over the past day or so, which has raised expectations for progress despite the complex inter-locking issues still to be resolved. You can track developments on actoncopenhagen.gov.uk.

On my side, it's been good to hear the voice of the vulnerable countries being sounded increasingly confidently, with widespread acceptance of their predicament. That has best been summed up by, once more, President Nasheed of the Maldives, in his widely acclaimed speech to the Conference plenary. The President covered all the key ingredients of a deal, including the need for both industrialised and emerging economies to rise to their responsibilities. He also spoke clearly about the need to summon the global political will, followed by the necessary technology - and for more trust in the process. I asked Saleem Huq immediately afterwards for his reactions.

You're probably wondering what it's actually like here. That's very hard to describe and probably depends on your expectations or experience of anything similar. There's an element of "parallel worlds", with several thousand people in one large sprawling but enclosed venue encompassing everything from climate campaigning in a festival-like atmosphere, to the multi-streamed negotiations themselves to which access is much more restricted. Add innumerable side events and conversations in the many (basic) cafes, security restrictions, working all hours (literally on some negotiating strands), and the likelihood of bumping into a world leader or celebrity campaigner round any corner, and you'll begin to get the idea (personal best famous person spotted so far - Prince Charles).

Posted at 10:54 17 December 2009 by Robin Gwynn  |  Comments[0]

Copenhagen climate conference

I'm now in Copenhagen at the beginning of Week Two. The stage was set early on Monday morning with Ed Miliband and Douglas Alexander's message at their press conference that we are very close to "midnight" in negotiating terms, and that the conference collectively needed to respond with corresponding urgency.
   
Amongst others reflecting that theme was President Nasheed of the Maldives, who called for urgent progress given the pressures facing his country and others which are similarly climate vulnerable. Water and Irrigation Minister Ngilu of Kenya and Environment Minister Burian of Tanzania spoke at an IIED event organised in parallel to keep up the momentum on the vulnerable voice. Saleem Huq of IIED provides his daily progress updates from COP 15.

You can read about other developments today on the ActonCopenhagen website.

Posted at 12:07 16 December 2009 by Robin Gwynn  |  Comments[0]

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

Following the Maldives Forum, the next major opportunity for the voice of climate vulnerable countries to be heard was at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), just held in Trinidad.

The Commonwealth represents one third of the world's people and over one quarter of the number of countries - many of them already feeling climate change impacts. As a group it also includes industrialised, emerging and smaller developing economies. So we were keen for the Commonwealth to show how such a diverse network could work together, in a common spirit, to pave the way for a good outcome at Copenhagen.

That involved close liaison with the Secretariat, the Trinidad Government as hosts of the meeting, and other Member states. The effort involved has lasted several months, and came to fruition in the Communique on climate change, and in the leaders' discussions which concluded it on the day. It's well worth looking too at the short film on climate change we produced, with young Commonwealth voices, to frame the issues for top-level decision-makers.

The spirit and tone of the Commonwealth message are particularly welcome in the last few days leading up to Copenhagen. We must hope that will feed into the UN negotiations proper, which tend to be more head-to-head between established country blocs. The need to generate trust and credibility is paramount, as I heard from fellow participants from developing countries last week at a seminar on "Climate Justice" in Berlin, convened by major German think-tanks and their Foreign Ministry. In many ways that will come down to the practical positions and offers made by different groups of countries, such as the UK proposal at CHOGM to establish the "Copenhagen Launch Fund" to provide fast-start financing in the short-term for those who need it most.

I'll be attending part of the Copenhagen talks: more on that in my next blog. 

Posted at 20:57 01 December 2009 by Robin Gwynn  |  Comments[0]

Maldives forum day 2

The Forum has ended and I'm on my way back, through unseasonably stormy weather. Travel between the many islands which make up the Maldives is mostly by boat on open water, over rough seas if necessary - even between the main airport and the capital of Male on a neighbouring and crowded island, surrounded by its own sea-wall. The strong winds and rain, unexpected at this time of year, have been a dramatic backdrop to the Climate Forum and underlined how much the weather affects every aspect of life. Waves battering the shore emphasise the fragility of the low-lying islands too.

In fact I was shocked to see how far beach erosion is already taking place - as shown on my first video from the Forum. On that you can also see Zoona, President of the Maldives Diving Society, talking about the climate impacts she's observed and the effects on the tourist economy and local livelihoods. Countries like the Maldives are being hit by a triple climate whammy: rising sea-levels eating at the remaining land, warmer sees bleaching coral and affecting the supply of fish and other marine life, aided and abetted by increasing ocean acidity from greater concentrations of Carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere.

At the Forum itself  I thought there was a strong sense of creating something new, including the determination to set an example to bigger economies on the need for a global low carbon future - and renewed determination to press for ambition at Copenhagen. Vice-president Waheed of the Maldives voiced this when commenting on the way he had come to see, on a recent visit to Bhutan, that mountainous countries faced real dangers of climate vulnerability too, though different from those faced at sea-level. On this second video you can hear the views of others on the Forum just after it finished, including President Nasheed of the Maldives, who hosted it.

Posted at 14:39 11 November 2009 by Robin Gwynn  |  Comments[1]

Maldives forum day 1

The Maldives Forum for Climate Vulnerable Countries began this morning (Monday) and has got off to a quick start. A number of countries are here at mostly Ministerial level from the Caribbean, Africa, South and South-east Asia, and the Pacific.

From President Nasheed of the Maldives down, speakers have been calling for an ambitious outcome from Copenhagen - but also for vulnerable countries to take actions themselves to protect their futures, especially in the area of low carbon development. These messages will develop over the two-day event.
        
What's been interesting to see has been the recognition across continents and different forms of climate impacts, that such countries share a common threat. This could build into a determination to create a louder voice from such countries in the final month to Copenhagen, and beyond.

I'm at the Forum, accompanied by my colleague Sabra who works on climate and other issues based at the British High Commission in Colombo. We're looking out for video material to give a sense of what it's like here (not helped by unseasonal wind and rain storms), and what participants are hoping for. In this first video we have a look at the extent of the erosion that's already taking place in the Maldives, thanks to sea level rise.

Posted at 09:01 10 November 2009 by Robin Gwynn  |  Comments[1]

Climate Vulnerable Countries' Forum

The next opportunity for vulnerable countries to get together to deliver a political message is the Climate Vulnerable Countries' Forum to be hosted by the Maldives on 9 and 10 November. The Maldives conjures up images of a luxury tourist destination of beautiful beaches, reefs and crystal clear water. But because of its physical make-up, like other low-lying island states it is also extremely vulnerable to climate change already, and into the future. And the livelihoods of the Maldives people and others in similar environments are under direct threat: sea level rise causes erosion and contamination of fresh water supplies, and more destructive storm surges; while sea temperature rise kills the corals from which tourism benefits, and disrupts migration routes for the fish on which other business depends

So it's no surprise that President Nasheed of the Maldives has made climate change a top priority. Earlier this year he flagged up the risk that the population of countries like his would have to plan to move elsewhere, raising a complex range of issues. (Some communities in the Pacific are already facing that reality). Recently he convened an underwater Cabinet meeting to draw attention to the sea-level issue, as I commented before (it's amazing the number of people who've mentioned that to me - it really grabbed attention around the world).



The UK supports the convening of this Forum, for reasons I've covered in my previous blogs. We do not see it as an attempt to create a new negotiating bloc at the UN, or to cut across existing processes in any way. But we do see a need for countries around the world, especially the bigger economies, to increase efforts including at the political level to achieve a good outcome at Copenhagen next month. One month before that, a direct reminder of what's at stake for climate vulnerable countries, and how they propose to move forwards themselves, couldn't be better timed.

The participants at the Forum will be a diverse range from climate vulnerable regions, ranging from the roof of the world (Nepal) to those facing threat from the sea (Bangladesh and Vietnam), with representatives from mainland Africa and the Caribbean and Pacific islands too. The Maldives have invited the UK and other countries to attend as observers. UK Ministers have agreed that I should do so, so I will be travelling out there over the weekend. I'll have a camera with me so hope to be able to send back some footage of what is, I think, the first get-together of countries with such a stake in the outcome of Copenhagen.

Posted at 18:32 06 November 2009 by Robin Gwynn  |  Comments[1]

Vulnerable countries find their voice

A practical example of our desire to help climate vulnerable countries find their voice, was the invitation to a number of them to attend the Major Economies Forum (MEF) which Ed Miliband hosted in central London earlier this week.

This was the sixth meeting of that group, bringing together the world's largest established and developing economies to look at climate issues outside the framework of the main UN negotiations. As hosts and co-chairs with the US, we agreed to invite some vulnerable countries to participate for the first time throughout, and Lesotho and the Maldives were able to do so at Ministerial level. That allowed the meeting to hear views direct from such countries on critical issues such as climate finance (as a number of NGOs have also urged us to do). That in turn should inform our and other countries' positions in the run up to Copenhagen.

One unintended consequence of the attendance at the MEF of Maldives Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam, was that he missed the underwater Cabinet meeting held last Saturday in the Maldives by his President. Minister Aslam told me he was particularly sorry about that as he'd been doing the preparatory diving training in with his collleagues over the previous weeks. However, I think it adds to the story that, at the time the Maldives Cabinet was so dramatically drawing world attention to the consequences of global warming - one of their key members was on a mission to take that same message in its technical and political complexity to the heart of the world's biggest economies.                                  
                             
If you haven't already picked this up, you'll want to look out for the 4 degree map which our Ministers launched yesterday. It brings out starkly the threat not just to the less developed, poorer regions of the world - but to us all. That's a sobering reminder that the moral and economic case for helping the countries already on the global climate frontline, is integral to generating the will to protect the whole human race.   

Posted at 20:56 23 October 2009 by Robin Gwynn  |  Comments[0]

Helping Climate Vulnerable Countries to find their "voice"

I said before that my role centred on helping climate vulnerable countries to find their "voice", particularly in the run-up to Copenhagen. As we approach the last few weeks of intensive engagement, here's a bit more about that.

The Foreign Office done a lot of thinking over the past couple of years about how we can add to the overall UK Government effort on climate change. That is, after all, arguably the world's number one global issue - given its effects on everyone alive now and in the future. So - as my fellow Foreign Office bloggers are showing - we've been looking at ways to raise awareness of climate issues worldwide, and to link climate to national political, economic and social issues as well as the environment. Whatever their stage of wealth or development, nations across the world need to factor climate change into their thinking and planning across the board.

That also means engaging a broader group of leaders, from Heads of State down. Ultimately action on climate needs political will. Which is where the Foreign Office worldwide network comes into its own as an influencing tool - working with leaders to understand the implications of climate change in their country and region, and what they can do about it.

Within that framework I've been looking with DfID at the large number of countries, many of them on the global frontline of climate change, which so far have had less of a say in the negotiations leading up to Copenhagen. Often such countries lack individual political or economic power, and didn't themselves create the problem - but have been the first to suffer from the effects of past emissions. We believe that by acting together to maximise their influence, vulnerable countries can exert real leverage on both the richer, industrialised countries and the emerging newer economies in pursuit of a high ambition outcome from Copenhagen.

I'll develop that idea in my next blog. But I'll just finish here by saying it was good to be invited yesterday evening to speak at the 20th birthday party of an organisation, FIELD (Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development), which has long campaigned in this area. I won't claim that we always see eye to eye on everything, since you wouldn't expect a Government's perspective always to be aligned with civil society expertise. But I think our desire to work on common objectives, and preparedness to discuss and address differing views,  mutually strengthens us and benefits those we are trying to help, notably in the vulnerable countries themselves.

Posted at 00:11 17 October 2009 by Robin Gwynn  |  Comments[2]

Typhoon Ketsana

How tragic an understatement that last comment has proved. While I was visiting Hanoi, and then on to Manila, I was aware that colleagues in both Embassies were keeping a wary eye on the weather forecasts, including the possible effects on my own tight travel programme. There was a mild tropical depression over the region which at that stage, in early September, didn't develop. Barely three weeks later we have all watched in horror the battering that first Manila and the surrounding area, and then Vietnam, took from full-scale typhoons. It's been sad to hear from colleagues of the devastation faced by individuals and familes, including in some cases those I met during my visit - such as the Christian Aid representative in Manila. Daphne Villanueva has kindly agreed to me adding this link to personalise such a widescale event.

It may sound cheap but it really does drive home the human impact when you meet someone who then suffers in such a way. We need to be careful not to confuse short-term weather patterns with longer-term climate change - let alone the other major environmental disasters also seen across Asia over the past week. But equally, it's important to acknowledge the power that the weather has to affect life and livelihoods around the world - and following from that, why unchecked climate change is so dangerous. There is some scientific base for saying that the intensity of storms is increasing with warmer sea temperatures, though not necessarily their frequency - though that's pretty academic if you're unlucky enough to be caught in the path of a hurricane in the Caribbean or an Asian typhoon. I hope it doesn't take a similarly catastrophic weather event in the UK or Europe to drive home the reality of the threat to us all from changing weather patterns which are already being affected by man-made global warming.

Our Ambassador in Thailand shares his experiences of Typhoon Ketsana and discusses the impacts of climate change on Thailand.

 
All of this gives added urgency to our objective of protecting poorer and more vulnerable communities around the world from climate change, as part of the global deal needed at Copenhagen. More on that, and my role in it,  in my next update.

Posted at 10:56 09 October 2009 by Robin Gwynn  |  Comments[0]

Vietnam tackles climate change

Visiting Vietnam for the first time has been an eye-opening experience. It shares with many other countries an extreme vulnerability to climate change - sea-level rise will impact on the livelihoods of millions in the river deltas and along the extended coastline, putting food security in jeopardy alongside other impacts. (A recent study by the Asia Development Bank, supported by the UK Government, found that rice production could halve by the end of this century if nothing is done).

But the Vietnamese Government has got hold of the threat and is responding. Both the President and PM are involved, with Ministers from a range of Departments working together to implement their National Plan. It's an example from which other vulnerable countries can draw lessons. It was also good to see how a country like Vietnam is keen to seize opportunities to develop a low carbon future, eg in renewable energy and energy efficiency - without waiting for the world's bigger economies to lead the way. Again - an example to others.     
                                        
The Vietnamese are also keen to explore my particular brief - to see if climate vulnerable countries can work together more to exert positive pressure for an ambitious outcome at the Copenhagen Climate Conference this December. We believe it's important both for moral and economic reasons that the bigger economies of the world should take account of the plight of vulnerable people around the world in working for an ambitious outcome at Copenhagen.

On a personal note, I didn't see much of Hanoi beyond the meeting venues, but even in that time was struck by the relaxed feel of the city. Relaxed that is unless you were driving, given the huge number of scooters and mopeds on the streets and the at-most casual observance of road rules. At times it felt as if we were being enveloped by a gentle flood as humans on two wheels flowed up to and around our vehicle, with all road users apparently giving way gracefully to each other without any obvious temptation to road rage or other frustrations. Would the concept of "naked streets" work so well in the UK, I wonder? Amazingly enough I saw no accidents or collisions of any kind despite the thousands of individual moving objects at times - though I'm reliably informed by colleagues in Hanoi that accidents do happen, and that the onset of rainy weather quickly removes the romantic quality of the scenes I witnessed.

Posted at 17:31 07 October 2009 by Robin Gwynn  |  Comments[0]