10 | New Scientist | 20 November 2021News COP
CLIMATE talks are arenas of high
emotion because, fundamentally,
they are about life, death, money,
family and people’s homes. I saw
this emotion in the bleary eyes of
the sleep-deprived negotiators
at COP26 and heard it in the
chants of protesters outside the
summit’s venue each morning.
Whether they were activists,
negotiators or ministers, most
of the people I met in Glasgow
were steadfast, hard-working
and resolutely uncynical. “It’s
two weeks away from your family,from your friends, eating very
bad food and not sleeping,”
says Kristin Qui, a negotiator
for Trinidad and Tobago. The
day before, 11 November, she had
started work at 8am and finished
negotiations at 10pm. “That was
an early finish,” she says.
Qui was negotiating at the
summit on behalf of the Alliance
of Small Island States, a coalition
of 39 countries, largely from the
Caribbean and South Pacific,
including Jamaica, Tuvalu,
and Antigua and Barbuda. On
8 November, Tuvalu released a
recorded message from foreign
minister Simon Kofe, delivered
knee-deep in the sea at Funafuti,
to remind the summit of the
impacts of climate change.
For those attending COP
in person, “negotiations are not
only physically exhausting but
emotionally exhausting too”,
says Qui. “But you have to
compartmentalise, because if
you engage with that exhaustionyour body is going to be like: I can’t
do this any more.”
Climate negotiations comprise
public meetings and private talks.
In public meetings, countries
say which parts of the proposed
climate deal they do and don’t like.
“It’s where the theatrics happen,”
says Qui. “But the real discussions
happen in informal meetings
where there are no facilitators.”
“There’s a lot of rhetoric from
leaders about the importance of
[the target to limit global warming
to] 1.5 degrees and the importance
of science,” says Frances Fuller,
a negotiator for Antigua and
Barbuda. “But then when you get
down to some of the technical
discussions... there are other
parties in the room that just want
to erase any references to any
foundation of real science.”
It takes effort to stay calm.
“Here I have a job to do and if I
were to go into hysterics right now
nobody would listen to me,” says
Qui. This is harder to do at home,
she says: “When you see that not
enough is being done – you can’t
compartmentalise.”
Arafat Jamal, who works
for the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees,
tells me that not enough money
is given to lower-income nations
to protect them against theworst effects of climate change
that are happening right now –
about 780,000 Sudanese people
have been affected by flooding
caused by heavy rain this year
alone, for example.
Floods aren’t new to Sudan,
but they are becoming more
frequent and intense, causing
a loss of homes, food and
livelihoods. “There are 16 million
cows in the country,” says Jamal.
“But they are not equipped to
deal with mud. They just stand
there and stay stuck.”
Last year, higher-income
countries gave about $20 billion
to lower-income nations to help
them adapt to the effects of
climate change. In Glasgow, they
promised to double this annual
figure by 2025, but many poorer
countries at COP26 said this
simply isn’t good enough.
Many people were frustrated
with the summit’s inability to
bring about more radical action.
But COP26 wasn’t the only show
in town. For the second week of
November, Glasgow was also
home to an alternative meeting:
the People’s Summit, a gatheringof activists and campaigners
who shared their experiences
of pushing for change.
One evening, Clara Ramos,
a lawyer from Brazil who is
part of the Parents for Future
environmental movement, gave
a talk on the legal action she is
taking against São Paulo’s state
government over air pollution.
“I have two sons,” she said during
her presentation. “Will their
survival be harder than mine?”
Ramos says her legal case will
take 10 to 20 years, but that she
is confident of eventual victory.
I found her determination,
along with that of Qui, Fuller
and Jamal, both resolute and
contagious. COP26 was at
times disheartening and nearly
always overwhelming. But those
disappointed with the summit’s
outcome should take hope
from the huge amount of work
that took place – and is still
happening – behind the scenes. ❚
See page 56 for Feedback at COP“ There’s a lot of rhetoric
about the science, but
some just want to erase
any references to it”
Negotiations and activismKIARA
W
OR
TH/UNFC
CCA protester taking part
in a COP26 walkout on
12 NovemberJason Arunn MurugesuAn emotionally gruelling fortnight
for those pushing for change
Tuvalu’s foreign minister,
Simon Kofe, recorded a
message from the sea MI
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