{"id":2822,"date":"2019-12-23T01:22:59","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T09:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/?p=2822"},"modified":"2020-02-07T02:15:16","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T10:15:16","slug":"7-questions-about-cop25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/blog\/2822\/7-questions-about-cop25\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Questions about COP25"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 25th United Nation\nClimate Change Conference (COP25) was held from 2-13 December 2019 in Madrid,\nSpain. With so many and increasing conferences about climate change every year,\nwhat impacts would and could this biggest meeting in global scale make to ease\nclimate emergency and how do we in Hong Kong connect to it? You may want to\nread on to find out more why COP25 matters to you and me.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Glacier melt sends an unignorable warning to the world. \u00a9 Greenpeace \/ Nick Cobbing <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

1. What is COP25? How is it different\nfrom IPCC?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

COP\n(Conference of the Parties) is the longest and largest UNFCCC (United Nations\nFramework Convention on Climate Change) climate summit in history to evaluate\nthe progress in fighting climate change. Held annually since 1995, COP marked\nits 25th<\/sup> anniversary this year, therefore shortened as COP25.<\/p>\n\n

IPCC\n(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), established in 1988, consists of\nworld\u2019s top scientists at the invitation of the United Nations. Through the\nconsultation, analysis and deduction of scientific and technical literature,\nthe panel sets to provide objective information and study the impact of climate\nrisks on aspects including nature, politics and economy, as well as to find\nsolutions in response to such problems.<\/p>\n\n

COP\nfocuses on formulating climate-related policies and agreements, and is attended\nby UNFCCC member nations. Meanwhile, IPCC is meant to gather thousands of\nscientists and experts to join research and publish reports, offering\nprofessional advice on climate to governments of the 120 nations.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emission is our top priority in relieving the climate risks. \u00a9 Daniel M\u00fcller \/ Greenpeace <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

2. How is Paris Agreement related to\nCOP25?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The\nParis Agreement passed in 2015 was one of the most searched keywords related to\nclimate in recent years. It was also a consensus finally reached after 20 years\nof hard work by the COP. A key action item was that every nation must review\ntheir Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) every 5 years. While the first\ncheckpoint is fast approaching, it\u2019s still too early to conclude whether the\nnations are finally willing to address climate risks, but hopefully we would be\nable to get more clarity after the COP25 conference.<\/p>\n\n

In\nits latest report published in 2018, IPCC recommended limiting global warming\nto 1.5\u00b0C. This will help free 11 million people from heat waves, 61 million\npeople from droughts and 10 million people from impacts of sea level rise, in\naddition to saving numerous species of animals and plants which are going\nextinct. Nations must now re-enact laws and revisit their previous Intended\nNationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), and set a more ambitious carbon\nreduction target.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Greenpeace urges for the setting up of the Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary to protect the global marine ecosystems and alleviate climate risks. \u00a9 Christian \u00c5slund \/ Greenpeace <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

3. What were the key messages of\nCOP25?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

This\nconference looked into the targets set during the 2015 Paris Agreement to\ndiscuss the implementation details of all the nations, but there has\nunfortunately been quite a few twists: US President Donald Trump announced the\nnation\u2019s withdrawal from Paris Agreement last month, which dealt a severe blow\nto the effort; Chile President Sebasti\u00e1n Pi\u00f1era pulled out of hosting the\nconference last October due to local instability, but luckily Spain was willing\nto fill the void so that COP25 could still be held as scheduled.<\/p>\n\n

The\noriginal host Chile decided to focus attention on the world\u2019s most powerful\ncarbon sponge and generator of oxygen \u2013 the oceans, and therefore this\nconference has also been called \u201cBlue COP\u201d. <\/p>\n\n

We\nurge all country leaders to get down to business and focus on reducing the use\nof fossil fuel and CO2 emission through measures such as actual regulations on\ncorporates and energy transition, instead of using the oceans as just a\npolitical bargaining tool.<\/p>\n\n

Ocean Fertilisation<\/strong>: By dumping iron filings\ninto the oceans, it stimulates the growth of algae and phytoplankton, which\nwill then absorb more atmospheric CO2. But there are risks behind \u2013 it may lead\nto oxygen depletion in the oceans, or even the release of some kinds of\ngreenhouse gases which are more dangerous than CO2!<\/p>\n\n

Blue Carbon Credits<\/strong>: Corporates can purchase\nblue carbon credits to support the climate-threat-prone coastal areas in\nfighting natural disasters, as well as to facilitate the remediation work along\nthe coasts, as a way to offset their carbon footprint.<\/p>\n\n

Marine\nlives are good at sequestering carbon, so it\u2019s fair for us to adopt a \u201cblue\ncarbon\u201d approach to combat climate change. To tackle the problem, we<\/strong> see\nthe importance of protecting the natural ability of the marine lives to\nsequester carbon, while artificial technologies like \u201cOcean Fertilisation\u201d only\nscratch the surface. Fundamentally, governments and corporates must shift away\nfrom using fossil fuels<\/strong> to lower the emission of greenhouse gases,\nalleviating climate change at its root.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
A healthy ocean is not just a regulator of temperature, but also home to countless marine lives. Pictured is a coral reef in Papua, Indonesia. \u00a9 Paul Hilton \/ Greenpeace <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

4. What was the importance of this\nyear\u2019s COP25?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

As\n2020 is the time to review the NDCs set in 2015, this year\u2019s conference\nstressed on checking the progress of the nations in hitting their targets, to\nmake sure they are not merely paying lip service.<\/p>\n\n

The\nworsening climate risks and more frequent extreme weather have impacted us in\nmany different ways, and political leaders must take action to address these\nbefore it\u2019s too late. We hope that all nations can set their NDC targets by\nfirst quarter of next year. But sadly this year\u2019s outcome is\ndisappointing<\/a> that most politicians made no concrete commitment to lower\nemissions or to recognise the climate emergency we are facing now.<\/p>\n\n

5. What is \u201cCarbon Market\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Paris\nAgreement has asked the nations to set actual carbon reduction targets, but\nsome nations are using their economy and technology development as an excuse to\ndelay their implementation of relevant policies. This has given rise to the\ncarbon market \u2013 in which nations with high carbon emissions can buy carbon\nemission allotments from those with lower emissions, so that they appear to be\nmeeting their targets on the surface, but in fact not really helping the\nclimate protection at all.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
The phase-out of coal is critical in reducing CO2 emissions. \u00a9 Greenpeace \/ Sabine Vielmo <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

6. What is the role of Greenpeace?\nWhat plans do you have?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace\nhas been an advocate when it comes to climate protection and justice. Every\nyear, we send experts and professionals to attend UN climate summits and strive\nto provide practical solutions and strategy through international relations and\nlobbying.<\/p>\n\n

We\nalso set to help country leaders formulate more proactive climate policies\nthrough direct actions that reflect public concerns, especially the fossil fuel\nphase-out.<\/p>\n\n

Despite\nthe unacceptable result of COP25, Greenpeace will continue to stand with and\nsupport vulnerable communities affected by climate impacts, pressure on\ngovernments and corporates to rethink how they work and put forward an emission\ntarget that matches with the climate emergency we are facing now.<\/p>\n\n

7. What can we do in Hong Kong?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Although\nHong Kong isn\u2019t a member of the UNFCCC, the threats brought about by climate\nchange including extreme weather and sea level rise will undoubtedly have an\nimpact on various aspects such as economy, livelihood and safety, which concern\nall of us. Apart from staying tuned for the news globally, you can also show\nyour support towards Greenpeace in continuing our advocacy for climate\nprotection. We cordially invite you to join us in urging the SAR government to\nformulate concrete plans to address climate risks, set more ambitious emission\nreduction targets and implement low-carbon and energy transition policies.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Students and residents of Hong Kong have staged three protests this year to voice out their climate concerns to the government. \u00a9 Greenpeace <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

While\nbig improvements to the environment will not happen overnight, any decision now\nmay result in a far-reaching impact on the futures of billions of people. It\ntakes the concerted and dedicated effort from each of us to save the planet,\nprotect precious ecosystems and stand with the people.<\/p>\n\n

Further\nReadings:<\/p>\n\n

At COP25 leaders must\nprove they can hear us<\/a><\/p>\n\n

COP25: The politics are polluted<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 25th United Nation Climate Change Conference (COP25) was held from 2-13 December 2019 in Madrid, Spain. With so many and increasing conferences about climate change every year, what impacts would and could this biggest meeting in global scale make to ease climate emergency and how do we in Hong Kong connect to it? You may want to read on to find out more why COP25 matters to you and me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":2826,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6],"p4-page-type":[26],"class_list":["post-2822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-energy","tag-climate-impacts","p4-page-type-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2822"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2833,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2822\/revisions\/2833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2822"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=2822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}