(Bab Ighli, 8th November 2016) COP 22 was officially opened on a chilling rainy day in the city of Marrakesh. Opening remarks from Marie-Ségolène Royal (COP21 President) and Salaheddine Mezouar (COP22 President) addressed the right of development of the vulnerable communities in Africa, besides repeating highlighted that sustainable development is very required in Africa. Patricia Espinosa (Executive Secretary) and Hoesung Lee (Chairman of IPCC) also delivered opening speech, reiterated that COP22 will be an Action COP, where mechanism in Paris Agreement shall be clarified and translated into action.
The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP), Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) and the Ad-Hoc Working Group on Paris Agreement (APA) has also kick-started. With that, the focus on COP22 is very much related to determining targeting period of the respective parties, clarification of adaptation and Loss and Damage, as well as Green Climate Fund.
The Malaysian Pavilion has also been set up in Zone D to showcase not just the rich natural resources in the country, but also some of the latest action plan and strategy addressing climate change for instance, The National Ecotourism Plan Malaysia 2016 -2025 which highlighted ecotourism top-spot in Malaysia, and the ecological approach to manage tourism activities in these areas.. A number of programs such as climate finance, renewable energy, and waste management are also being scheduled to take place throughout the 2 weeks at COP22, with Minister of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment arriving on 14th Nov 2016 to officiate the launching of the Malaysian Pavilion.
The first day of Malaysian Youth Delegation 2016 at COP22 was wrapped up with several sessions with youth constituency such as YOUNGO and environmental Civil Society Organisations (CSO) like Third World Network (TWN) and Climate Action Network (CAN), followed by a feast at the welcome dinner. The sessions with CSOs has thus far provided in-depth insights to the youth delegates especially matters on Transgenerational Inequality, the dispute between Global North and Global South, Climate Finance and Technology Transfer as well as understanding the gap between GHG emission and emission trajectories.
Written by Kelvin Diong
Edited by Elaine See
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