23 December 2015 – The Conference of the Parties 21 (COP21) took place in Paris this year between 30 November and 11 December. Newsclip Media Monitoring conducted an analysis on the media revolving around COP21 to establish the climate change-related trends, and what the challenges are going forward.
Written and compiled by Renato Venter
COP21
COP21 aims to achieve three key objectives. Firstly, the conference seeks to reach a legally binding agreement for all the countries in the world, which differs from the Kyoto Protocol that only concerned industrialised countries. Secondly, the conference would like individual pledges from countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions for the next 10 to 15 years. Lastly, there is a need to mobilise funds from industrial countries to help less-developed countries to adapt to the effects of climate change. The need to reduce emissions would help in the prevention of global temperatures rising by 2°C (Ottinger 2010: 415)
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Although these aims attempt to change the way in which climate change is handled, the conference has not given strict checkpoints for countries to achieve. The reliance on trade agreements seems to be the only way of ensuring that expectations are met. Using trade relations implies that countries value their integrity and wish to show other global partners that they are reliable and able to commit to long-term plans.
The process of international trade relations operates under good faith, as described by Michael Burger, executive director of the Sabin Centre for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School. In operating in good faith, countries try to maintain their own honour and promote the idea that they are reliable and trustworthy.
Climate change in 2015
The effects of the current El Niño cycle has been the largest to date since 1997/1998. The weather phase has seen devastating droughts and violent storms across South Africa. Collins and colleagues (2010: 396) have expressed that greenhouse gases have an impact on El Niño phases. They are further quoted as saying that “The trade winds will weaken, the pattern of SST {Sea Surface Temperature} change is likely to have a zonally symmetric character with maximum warming on the equator, and the thermocline {thin layer in a body of fluid} is likely to shoal and flatten” (Collins et al 2010:396)
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The increasing effects of global warming have seen weather patterns change to a point whereby some regions have become uninhabitable. Beijing is currently on “red alert” due to the heavy smog caused by the pollution in China. The
Conference of the Parties aims to reduce these incidents and encourage countries such as China to refocus their resources into greener energy.
C40 Cities Awards
During
COP21, Johannesburg and Cape Town were announced as international winners for climate action. The City of Cape Town was commended and awarded for
Adaption and Implementation which recognised their Water Conservation and Demand Management Programme. Cape Town Mayor, Patricia de Lille, accepted the award and is quoted saying that “We are extremely proud of the City’s WCWDM programme which has been instrumental in establishing Cape Town as a national leader in reducing water demand and losses. I was greatly honoured to receive this award on behalf of all residents of Cape Town who have worked with us to reduce water demand and implement water conservation measures”.
Johannesburg won in the
Finance and Development category for its Green Bond initiative, a funding model for green projects which has only recently received funding for implementation.
The two cities have been praised as being Africa’s only winners.
The EcoMobility World Festival
During October 2015, the
EcoMobility World Festival was brought to South Africa. The festival took place in Sandton City, Johannesburg for the entire month and was aimed at promoting greener alternatives to transport. Private cars were restricted to certain areas of the city and the use of public transport increased substantially. It was during the event that a declaration was signed in order to be presented at
COP21. The declaration encourages shared mobility, replacing car-centred cities with people-friendly ones and increased public transport.
Through the examination of the analysis on the
EcoMobility Festival, conducted by Newsclip Media Monitoring, one can see that the event garnered mixed reactions from commuters in Sandton.
While the festival proved to be successful, the organisers and spokespeople - such as Johannesburg mayor, Parks Tau - have expressed that South Africa has a long way to go before adopting only clean energy.
Key Speakers
Various world leaders have attended the
COP21 conference, and within the group of leaders, key countries have been pointed out as potential deal-breakers of the event. China has expressed that although they have joined the donor list to fund climate change, they do not want their voluntary role to be inscribed in the Paris Agreement. They insist that only richer nations should have a financial obligation. The United States has also expressed concerns about their financial duties in stating that the obligations allow for too large a liability for compensation. India has claimed that they cannot reduce their carbon footprint without the guarantee of financial aid and green technology. Saudi Arabia has also been noted as a potential threat to agreements as they have called for sustained investment in oil output capacity. This comes in spite of the move away from fossil fuels, yet, the country has largely based their economy on oil production
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Following the initial threats to the movements towards green energy, US President Barack Obama has stated that his country recognises their role in creating the problems (with regards to climate change) but they also accept their responsibility to act on it. Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador, has commented that an international court should be established to enforce environmental debts.
One prominent key speaker was Bill Gates. Gates announced the “Breakthrough Energy Coalition”, which will unite two dozen billionaire philanthropists to sponsor energy that does not produce carbon emissions. CNBC has commented that there is a triad of energy solutions that excite Gates. These solutions include solar chemical technology, flow batteries and solar paint.
African Green Media explains the energy solutions as follows:
“Solar chemical technology essentially uses solar energy to create hydrogen, which can be used as fuel or for commercial purposes, such as making fertiliser.
The second idea, a flow battery, could redefine how we store electricity. By utilising a rechargeable liquid electrolyte inside two pairs of tanks, flow batteries are much more sustainable than lithium-ion batteries, which is the current gold standard for electricity storage.
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Lastly, there has been mention of solar paint. The idea of solar paint is more easily accessible and maintainable for more developing countries. The paint works upon a light-sensitive dye which can generate electricity. The painted areas can be transformed into a solar panel almost instantaneously. Using solar paint could possibly solve multiple problems in continents such as Africa, where solar power can be easily harnessed, and allow for many residents in rural surroundings to gain access to electricity.
The Paris Agreement
The events during
COP21 have led to an agreement in Paris whereby 195 nations have pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions to avoid a global temperature rise of 2°C. The agreement is not legally binding but has not been deemed meaningless.
It has been the belief of conference-goers that through social pressure and international relations, countries will remain faithful to their agreements at
COP21.
When looking back at previous agreements, such as that of the 2009 Copenhagen agreement, the European Commission has explained in a press release that the 2009 agreement failed due to the lack of commitment from countries and that countries did not want to clearly define the differences between developed and developing countries. It is hoped that
COP21 will bring forward more commitment and change towards a better environment.
Key issues which have come from the 2015 agreement include:
• To peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and achieve a balance between sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century,
• To keep global temperature increase "well below" 2°C (35.6°F) and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C (34.7°F),
• To review progress every five years, and
• $100-billion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020, with a commitment to further finance in the future
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The agreement has been noted as being “historic” and a beacon of hope when fighting against harmful trends in climate change, although these claims have not been validated. To truly understand the impact that the conference has had, they will need to review and keep themselves updated with the progression of developed and developing countries towards a greener future. The previously mentioned trade relations used to control a continued development may not provide adequate solutions. Various political and economic issues may arise and spoil current relationships. For a movement towards a more sustainable future, world leaders should address the weaknesses and strengths of their countries and determine which sources for fuel can be sustained and profitable.
The Custom Emoji for COP21
Twitter has designed three custom emojis for
COP21. The emojis are designed to look like the following:
1. An image of the earth in the shape of a heart,
2. A green Eiffel Tower, and
3. The
COP21 logo.
When hashtags such as #COP21, #ActionDay, #ClimateChange and #GoCOP21 are used, the custom emojis will then appear in tweets.Twitter is using the event as a platform to display their recently launched Moments feature, which shows users the best and most prominent tweets and content. The Moments feed for COP21 has featured tweets from renowned journalists, video clips of speeches by presidents and images of protests surrounding the conference.
Twitter is using the event as a platform to display their recently launched Moments feature, which shows users the best and most prominent tweets and content. The Moments feed for
COP21 has featured tweets from renowned journalists, video clips of speeches by presidents and images of protests surrounding the conference.
Twitter has shown support for the conference, but the custom emoji initiative is not a new product by the company. The custom emoji has been introduced for companies such as Coca-Cola and
Star Wars. Ross Hoffman, senior director of global brand strategy at Twitter has explained in an interview with techcrunch.com that the emojis are used to create more awareness and test partnerships between
Twitter and their corporate users. Hoffman has not disclosed the success of the emojis but has commented that the product is a relatively new market offering
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Conclusion
The 21st
Conference of the Parties failed to finalise a legally binding document to combat the dreaded 2°C rise in global temperatures. The conference has, however, allowed for talks about greener solutions to energy to be discussed. Various countries have pledged to certain standards and agreements, but they can only be held liable by their current and future international trade relations. South Africa has played an important role in the conference through showing that it was the only country in Africa to not only win one, but two,
C40 City Awards.
The investigation and implementation of green energy may not be finalised by conferences such as
COP21, but it does open the door for awareness and urgency when considering the use of fossil fuels. Social platforms such as
Twitter has allowed for this awareness to grow, in an attempt to try and get more people involved in changing the way we consume energy.
To download the analysis as a PDF, click
here.
About Newsclip
Newsclip has over 30 years’ experience in media monitoring and content management, providing clients with meaningful and measurable media solutions. Newsclip monitors the full media landscape in South Africa, along with an expanding African portfolio.
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1 Ottinger, R.L. 2010, Copenhagen Climate Conference – Success of Failure?
Pace Environmental Law Review, vol27, no.2 pp 411-419.
2 Collins, M., An, S.I., Cai, W., Ganachaud, A., Guilyardi, E., Jin, F., Jochum, M., Langaigne, M., Power, S., Timmermann, A., Vecchi, G. & Wittenberg, A. 2010. The Impact of global warming on the tropical Pacific Ocean and El Niño.
Nature Geoscience, vol3, pp391-397.
3 http://steelburgernews.co.za/afp/124543/the-players-who-can-make-or-break-a-paris-climate-deal
4 http://africagreenmedia.co.za/bill-gates-announces-the-breakthrough-energy-coalition/
5 http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35084374
6 http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/17/twitters-custom-emojis-make-their-brands-debut-with-shareacoke/
*Image courtesy of AFP