Beginning of Week 2

So, after an uneventful weekend for me and an eventful weekend for the UN, the second week of COP16 has begun.

I am finally recovering from the terrible cold that I had all of last week (the reason I was particularly unengaged this weekend).  I did go into the conference center Saturday morning, to attend spokescouncil as usual.  I also went to a SBSTA (Subsidary Body on Scientific and Technological Advice) meeting.  It basically contained very simple discussion of issues that had been decided in break-out sessions with time for random comments at the end, when Ecuador suggested that the issue of water should be brought into the negotiations.  That afternoon I made it to a pharmacy to get some prescription drugs and went to bed early.

Sunday I spent the day resting; I even went for a short walk on the beach with Reed, Ethan, and Christine. In the meantime, the UN released the new LCA (Long-term Cooperative Action) text.  It is unsurprisingly not a very strong piece, but was created by a much more open process than that at COP15 in Copenhagen (there, a few powerful countries had a closed meeting in which they composed the text).

Today, most youth seem unsure of what to expect from the upcoming week.  YOUNGO decided today in spokescouncil that its campaign focus for the remaining week will be 1.5 degrees Celsius-what I have been looking into for my entire time here.  The 1.5 degree review is mentioned at the end of the LCA text, but 2 degrees is used in the body (in an infamous section called "Shared Vision").
No UN meetings were open today; I was jealous of Lindsay and her official status.
I ended up attending an interesting side event held in the dazzling "US Center" about regional and state action.  Lauren Faber of the California Environmental Protection Agency spoke about the progressive action in California; more people voted against the suspension of their climate bill (AB 32, which commits the state to bringing their emissions to 1990 levels by 2020) than had ever before participated in CA referendum.  Apparently, many states have declared their intention to follow California's example.

There are already regions committing to emissions reductions- the northeast, midwest, and west.  Through these commitments, the US might meet its current target of decreasing 17% from 2005 levels by 2020.  If more states join the movement, perhaps similar legislation will be passed at the federal level.

I attended another side event this evening about the relationship between quality of life and solving climate change.  A representative from the World Health Organization (WHO) spoke about the relevance of climate change to health problems.  A woman from Ghana and man from Switzerland also spoke about how climate change will damage their countries' well being.
I enjoyed another evening chat with Lindsay before catching the bus back to the apartment.
-Laura